Read Online Ghost Betweens by E. J. Krause - Free Book Online

about you." This time the smile spread over his entire face and he gave Josh a light punch to the shoulder.
    Zach exploded towards Bill. "What the hell, Jefferson? You trying to start something with my boy?" He cocked his fist back and clocked Bill in the face. Bill fell back, luckily away from any machines or other weights, though blood streamed out of his nose. Zach jumped on top of him, but before he could start pounding, a bunch of guys, Josh included, pulled him off. Bill, now over his shock, leapt up and looked ready to throw down for real, but too many guys were in the way. And by that time, Coach Martin was there, clearing a path to get to Zach.
    "What the hell's going on here?" bellowed Coach Martin.
    "He hit me," Bill said, pointing at Zach.
    "He hit Josh," Zach said, now as calm as if he were in class ready to take a test.
    "Bullshit," Bill yelled.
    Everyone looked at Josh. "We were just joking around. I don't know why he jumped Bill." Zach looked as if they were debating which weights to lift next.
    Coach Martin dragged Zach towards the door. "Jefferson, get to the nurses office. The rest of you knuckleheads should get back to lifting. Coach Roberts is in charge."
    The JV football coach stepped forward and barked, "You heard Coach Martin. Get to work."
    Josh ran over to Zach before he was out the door and said, "Why did you do that?"
    With his free hand, Zach shoved Josh away. "Get away from me."
    Coach Martin yanked him out the door, and Josh heard him say, "I don't know what the hell your problem is today, Riley, but you need to knock it the hell off if you want to stay on this team."
    Something had happened in that house on Friday. Something that had changed Zach. He never did anything like this. Was Kendra affected, too? He'd have to take her aside and really dig into what happened on Friday.
    "Hey, Josh," Greg called. "Might as well finish our workout."
    "Yeah, alright." All that could wait until after school.
    *****
    Josh and Whisper arrived at Mr. Baxter's room at the same time. Before he could get a word out about Zach, she said, "Kendra got in a fight in sixth period. She hit a girl in the face and bloodied her nose."
    They stepped inside, and he said, "Zach did the same thing. All because the guy was joking around with me and hit me in the shoulder. He went nuts."
    "She did too. The girl told Kendra to shut up. And she was totally kidding when she said it."
    At the same time, they said, "Something happened in the farmhouse on Friday." They looked at each other and laughed.
    After a few seconds, Whisper pulled herself together. "We shouldn't laugh. This is serious."
    Josh, with a smile still on his lips, said, "Yeah, I know. I had to fight hard not to say 'Jinx,' though."
    A grin crossed her face again. "I know, me too. But what about them? Neither seem like fighters to me."
    He shook his head. "They're not. Zach mouths off when he's pissed, but he wouldn't ever hit anyone. And Kendra gets in people's faces, but she's all talk, too. This isn't either of them."
    They looked around, noticing for the first time that Mr. Baxter wasn't there. "Think he went up to the office?" Whisper asked.
    "I don't know. Maybe he left a note."
    They looked on his desk, his podium, and a few of the other tables around the room, but no note. Just as they finished exploring, Mr. Baxter walked in.
    "Sorry about that," he said. "I went to check my mailbox, and I saw Mr. Riley and Ms. Phelps. Did you two see the confrontations?"
    They both nodded and relayed their stories. When they finished, Mr. Baxter nodded. "They're both calm as can be in there now. Looking at them you'd think they were in the office simply to deliver a message, not find out how long their in-school suspension will be."
    "There's something I didn't mention in the email to you on Friday," Josh said.
    "Let me guess. About Mr. Riley and Ms. Phelps?"
    He nodded. "We met a girl there. She looked to be about our age, and they both seemed to recognize her, but she