Read Online The Departed by J. A. Templeton - Free Book Online

the length of the chalkboard. Surprisingly, everyone heard it. On the chalkboard, there were nail marks.
    “What the hell?” a girl said behind me. “Where did those lines come from?”
    Dana made a reference that I was telekinetic like the girl from the movie Carrie, and that I had made the noise and marks while remaining seated.
    Mr. Monahan walked back into the room with Aaron on his heels. Two bright blotches of color stained Aaron’s cheeks. He glanced at me, and ever so slowly the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
    I breathed a sigh of relief. Aaron’s sterling reputation must have kept him from visiting the principal’s office.
    Mr. Monahan cleared his throat in exaggerated fashion. “I want to make myself abundantly clear to every last one of you. I do not want to hear one more negative exchange of words in this classroom. Is that understood?”
    “Yes, Mr. Monahan,” everyone said…except for me.
    Mr. Monahan skewered me with his gaze. He had the art of intimidation down.
    I nodded and he looked down at his desk. “All right, now that we’ve wasted ten minutes, please open your textbooks to page forty-two.”
    I opened my book and watched Peter from the corner of my eye. He sat on the desk, legs kicking back and forth, just like a kid would do. Why would Laria draw attention away from the argument I’d been having with Dana? Wouldn’t she have enjoyed it and even egged it on?
    That question would continue to eat at me for the rest of the morning.
     

Chapter 7
     
     
    Throughout the day Peter tried to get my attention, even putting his face right up to mine during Science. I didn’t miss a beat and pretended to look right through him.
    Laria played the part of an innocent eleven-year-old boy well. “Peter” genuinely seemed wounded by my lack of attention, and he was nearly screaming at me to notice him.
    Misgivings ate away at me. What if I were wrong? What if Peter really was an eleven-year-old boy who had desperately been seeking someone to talk to? What if Laria wanted me to believe that she was Peter?
    I was so confused, and conflicted. Although it was tough, I ignored him. By the time lunch came around, I was ready for a distraction.
    “Were you late this morning?” Kade asked, as he slid onto the bench beside me.
    I hadn’t seen him when I came into the cafeteria. As usual, he looked gorgeous and my heart swelled.
    “Yeah, I was late.”
    “I thought so. I looked for you. I called once and even texted.”
    I slid my phone out of my pocket and flipped to my messages. “I didn’t get a call or a text from you.”
    He removed his phone from his pocket. “I swear I called and texted you.”
    “Sure you did,” I said teasingly.
    He didn’t return the smile. “Seriously, I texted you. I was worried, especially with everything that’s going on.”
    I was touched by his concern, and more than a little bothered that the phone messages weren’t registering on either one of our phones.
    He frowned. “I called from my car, and then texted before the bell rang.”
    “I got a late start. My dad left for Edinburgh this morning…”
    The missing phone and text messages were suddenly forgotten. His eyes lit up, a smile tugging at the edges of his lips.
    The blood in my veins turned warm. I knew that look. I grinned and shook my head.
    “I almost called you late last night, but it was too late,” he said, becoming serious again. “I had been online researching hauntings, and I came across a video clip of a family who had been dealing with the spirit possession of their son. The boy was being scratched; he was acting out of character—depressed, angry, and saying things that didn’t make sense. His mum said he was even using a different vocabulary, words he wasn’t even familiar with. He essentially became someone else.”
    “What did they do?” I asked.
    Across the table, Cait and Cass had stopped eating and were listening intently.
    “The family brought in a ghost hunting team