The Space Between Heartbeats by Melissa Pearl Read Free Book Online

not really there. They’re an illusion, just like I am. Nothing but ether and air.
    “Nicole?”
    I glance up at Dale’s whisper. His face is pale and his hands are trembling, but he is walking back down the corridor, inching toward me. I sniffle loudly and brush my tears away.
    “I’m here,” I manage.
    His gaze darts in my direction and he starts speaking to the locker next to me. I move over so we’re facing each other. His warm brown eyes are hesitant, uncertain. “I don’t hate you. I just—” He breaks off. Two breaths rush in and out of his nose, then he swallows. “This is insane. This can’t be happening.”
    “It is. I swear I’m not messing with you. I don’t know why you can hear me, but you seem to be the only person who can. Please, I need—”
    He suddenly laughs. It’s brittle and loud, verging on hysteria and perforating the space between us.
    “I’m talking to a ghost, right? You’re a ghost . . . or something?” His voice pitches on the last word.
    “I’m not dead.” I say the words slowly and clearly, willing myself to believe them.
    “So what does that mean then? What are you?” he asks.
    I lift my shoulders and sigh. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
    For a moment, he just stands there. Then he shakes his head, his curls bouncing in front of his eyes. “I’m sorry, this is just too weird,” he says. “I must be losing my mind.”
    He turns on his heel and urgent panic sizzles through me. I yell after him, “Please, Dale! I’m not dead, but I will be if you don’t help find my body.”
    My loud outburst is followed by a stony silence until gradually, as if in slow motion, Dale spins back around to face me. His whole demeanor has changed, suddenly serious.
    Dropping his bag to the floor, Dale looks all around the hall before whispering, “What’s happened to you?”
    “I’m not sure. I mean, I’m here, but my body . . .” My voice starts to quiver. “I’m down an embankment in a wooded area and I don’t know how I got there. I can’t remember anything.”
    “What’s the last thing you do remember?”
    “Amber drove me to study group at Matt’s house.” A string of broken images flutter through my brain. Loud music by the lake. A big fire. Drue and Nixon throwing stones into the water. Trent’s arm around my shoulders as we drank out of Solo cups. Matt standing with Penny while she giggled at Adam’s joke, Adam’s eyes on me the whole time. Amber on a log, making out with some guy from her biology class.
    Dale snorts in disgust. “Study group? Don’t you mean the party?”
    I nod, wishing I could bring the pieces of my memory into focus. I must know what happened—I lived it—but it’s lost in the depths of my mind, floating just out of reach, like an untethered balloon making a break for the sky.
    “Nicole? Am I right?”
    I’m about to snap at him for making me answer twice, when I remember he can’t see me. “Yeah, the party . . . whatever you want to call it.”
    Dale looks serious as he nods and tucks a curl behind his ear. “Okay, so you left Matt’s house and . . .”
    “I don’t remember leaving Matt’s house.” I squeeze my eyes shut, willing more images to surface, but everything stays murky, blank.
    Dale’s voice is laced with concern. “Why do you think you’re going to die?”
    I recall the pain as I awoke in the forest, the blood on my fingertips. I open my eyes. “I’m hurt. I hit my head and my arm is killing me and I think I’ve broken my leg.”
    “How do you know that? Can you feel it now?”
    “No, I went back to my body.” I shudder. “That’s how I know I’m not dead. I’m down some steep slope, surrounded by trees. Everything hurts. When I tried to move, I blacked out again. I don’t know what to do . . .” My voice shakes as tears threaten once more.
    “Shhhh,” Dale whispers gently and I’m surprised by how much I wish he could touch me. “It’s okay. I—” He holds his breath.
    His expression is