Pusher

nine.

I didn't have to fake being sick anymore. I was pretty confident the next time Maverick so much as looked at me, I would vomit out of anxiety alone.

When I sat down in Current Events, my stomach was twisted into a thick knot, but even after the tardy bell rang the seat next to me remained vacant. This didn't calm me much though. Maverick walked in late so often that Mr. Montgomery had given up on scolding him for it.

As soon as roll call was finished, I swiped two newspapers off the front table and dragged my chair back to Ellie's table. Her long, scarlet hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her pleated skirt was just barely long enough to pass the dress code. She paired it with knee socks, the ones with cartoon pizzas printed on them.

"Is a janitor going to find your scattered remains hidden across the schoolyard tomorrow morning?" she asked me, eyes briefly flitting over my appearance.

Ellie lived in her own little world, and while it made perfect sense to her, most of what she said went right over my head.

"Babe, you look as pale as a ghost," she explained, "and I can't fathom why you'd stick around in this hell hole unless your spirit was bent on trying to bring your killer to justice."

"I wish it were that simple," I said and pulled apart the pages of the newspaper. My eyes scanned over the articles, but it might have well been written in another language. The words didn't register at all. My mind was stuck on the knot in my stomach and the sound of Maverick's voice echoing around the inside of my skull. Everything else was background noise.

"Don't leave a girl hanging. Give me the details." Ellie leaned forward, manicured fingers spreading across the pages as she tried to capture my full attention.

I had been friends with Ellie for long enough to know that a short summary wouldn't suffice, so I lowered my voice and started from the beginning. She interrupted me to ask questions every chance she got, but I managed to get through it all by the time Maverick finally waltzed into class. I kept my head low and eyes on El.

The last thing I needed right now was another confrontation with him.

"So are you going to keep selling?" she asked, distracting me from the irrational spike of panic that raced through my heart.

"Do I really have a choice? I can't just stand by and do nothing while my mom loses the house. I'm just going to have to be more discreet about it."

"Hun, I love you to bits, but everyone in this town has a mouth the size of Alaska. Someone is going to talk and Maverick is going to find out, one way or another."

I groaned and dropped my head into my arms. Ellie was right. There really wasn't an easy answer to this one.

"I'm not saying you have to stop, I'm just being realistic here," she said. She nudged my arm until I lifted my reluctant eyes to hers. "What did he say to you? Exactly?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "It wasn't technically a threat, I don't think, but it sure felt like one."

"Don't be afraid of that jerk. He wouldn't hurt you. He doesn't have the guts."

"Tell that to Dante's black eye," I muttered. My eyes rolled over the black print, but once again the letters meant nothing more to me than squiggly lines.

"Even I want to hit Dante anytime he opens up his mouth. He probably had it coming anyway," she said with a wave of her hand. Clunky rings wrapped around her fingers. "But you on the other hand — hurting you would be like kicking a puppy."

"Are we really sure he's above that?" And with the comment, I couldn't help it, I peered over my shoulder to get a glance at him. Maverick's dark eyes were already looking right at me, and I felt what little color I had left in my face drain from my cheeks.

When I whipped my eyes back to Ellie, there was a guilty slant to her mouth. "Probably should have warned you he's been staring, but I didn't want to freak you out any more than you already were. On the bright side, I've got some candy in my purse if you want some."

She reached into her bag for emphasis and threw a couple lemon flavored suckers onto the table. She unwrapped one but I didn't bother. My mouth felt dry and sour. The last thing I wanted to do right now was eat.

"Under the circumstances that my scattered remains are found any time soon, I expect you to make sure the police know Maverick is the number one suspect," I told her.

Ellie returned with a tight smirk, the corner of her mouth pulling to one side. She propped her elbow on the desk and held out her pinky to me. "As long as you use your ghostly powers to hook me up with a really hot guy, preferably a living one."

I hooked my finger with hers and released a light laugh. The taunt knot pulled inside my middle relaxed just a little.

"Deal."