Devils Roses 01 - Cursed

in my head, but I needed to see him again. I needed to prove he was real. Something about him was driving me insane.
    I thought about him day and night. I could hear his voice. He was talking about my veggie burger and chewing next time. His face and words were the only memory I had. I recalled seeing him in the bathroom at Shane’s, but the memory was fuzzy.
    I looked over, noticing the kids at school whispering and watching me. It wasn’t one group of kids. It was all the kids in the courtyard. I tried not to notice. It was hard going from complete unknown, to that girl who got drugged and nearly raped.
    I held my books tight to my chest and looked toward my class, but I saw Blake walk up to the class door. I cringed thinking about being around him, and for the first time ever, I decided I needed more air than chemicals. I decided to ditch and go to Shane’s house. Mr. Mac saw me running the wrong way, well maybe not running. “Aimee, what are you doing?”
    I looked down at the ground ashamed. “Sir, I need to go home. I’m feeling sick.”
    He laughed. “You are the worst liar ever.” Mr. Mac knew me better than any other teacher. His youthful look had people believing him to be just a youngster; but he was smarter than any teacher in the school…even the fossils like the lit teacher.
    He walked toward me, looking extremely concerned. “Are you having a problem getting back into the swing of things?”
    I nodded. “Yeah, it seems hard to focus now. I’m tired a lot lately.”
    He looked down on me and pointed to the chemistry room. “I’m going to walk this way, and if you follow great, and if you don’t, I might not notice cause I’m pretty preoccupied with the marks on the test we took two weeks ago. The ninety-eight you got probably earned you a day off from class, if you want to think about it that way.” His eyes grew dark. “I truly hope you’re feeling better, Aimee.”
    I looked up into his dark-brown eyes and smiled, relieved. “You’re the best, Mr. Mac. Thanks.” He nodded and walked away from me, strolling casually toward the chem lab.
    I hobbled over to where Shane was taking his welding class and waved at him through the shop doors. He looked at me, puzzled.
    He walked over, looking sexy in his coveralls with his welding helmet lifted up and bits of grease and dirt on his face.
    He smiled at me as he opened the door. “Aimes, what’s up? You taking shop now?”
    "Uh, no. Not unless an early death for us both, is on the syllabus." I held my hand out. “I need your truck keys. I want to go to your house for a bit. I think your yard is haunted.”
    He burst out laughing and fished his keys out of his pocket. “You are the weirdest girl I have ever met. I notice you’ve gained a bit of weight, by the way. I meant to say something ‘cause you’re filling out again. Want me to come?”
    "No. That's cool. I'll be back before class is over to give you back your truck." I took the keys and grinned at him. “Thanks, this is a good look for you too. I think if you wore this to the spring formal, I might want to dance.”
    He winked and closed the door.
    I turned on my heel, feeling very flirty. I knew it was that I felt so safe with him. I knew nothing would ever come of our flirting, even though deep, deep down where I never let myself go, I hoped it would.
    I went to the truck, feeling a small sense of freedom mixed with a lot of guilt. I never skipped, ever. The one good thing about being a straight-A student, was that at the end of the school year, it was pretty well sorted out what your grade was going to be. We had two and a half months of school left, and I was at a ninety-three percent average. Skipping out one day wasn’t going to cost me too much.
    The drive to Shane’s house was about five minutes, and for some reason, I couldn’t help looking in my rear-view. I was not a very good criminal.
    I pulled into the driveway and hopped out of the truck. My ribs were hurting, but I ignored it and walked quickly up to the house. I was so hopeful, it was ridiculous. I wandered around the outside of the huge grey house. I looked behind myself sharply and then peeking around corners. If anyone saw me, they would instantly assume master spy or total idiot. I was going with the latter. I looked like a moron sneaking around the bushes and the vibrant green grass.
    I decided the woods were my best bet.
    I looked around, stopping midway across the lawn to listen for anyone who might