Page 49 of Chasing Your Ghost

“Maybe it’s just as well,” the woman continued with an awkward laugh. “I spoke to Miss Markova this morning, and she said you’re a brilliant dancer. You probably wouldn’t give any other girls in the senior division a fighting chance.”

“I probably wouldn’t even get selected to dance, let alone place,” Riley corrected her. The kiss-ass routine was getting kind of ridiculous. “The people who enter practice a lot harder and longer than I do because they want to make a career out of it. I only dance three times a week, and chances are it’ll be even less when I start college.”

Edith shifted uncomfortably, looking at a loss for words. “Are you excited for classes to start?” she finally asked.

“I am,” Riley replied shortly. She and Olivia might be getting along now, but she hadn’t forgotten the unforgivable mistakes her mother had made. Edith would not be getting behind her defenses.

Edith nodded, her pale eyes unrelentingly filled with hope. “I thought you and I could go shopping for school supplies and some things for your dorm room a week or two before the semester starts. We could buy some clothes as well if you like.”

“I already have everything I need,” Riley lied, hating the way Hugh looked at her with sadness and disappointment.

They finished eating soon after that. The rest of the meal had been wrapped in uncomfortable silence, but Riley smiled when she entered the pool house. Asher was waiting for her on the bed.

“How was dinner?” he asked.

“It was good. I’m happy Noah’s back for a bit. Maybe he, Olivia, and I can do something together tomorrow. Watch a movie or swim or something.”

“Seems like you’re getting along with them really well.”

“I am, especially now that Olivia’s not biting my head off every five seconds.”

“It’s weird,” Asher mused. “Olivia’s usually so sweet. I don’t get why she hated you so much at first.”

“It seems pretty obvious to me,” Riley sighed, walking forward to make herself comfortable on the bed beside him. “Olivia has had Edith’s full attention for her entire life, and then I just pitch up out of the blue, and she’s no longer an only child.”

Asher narrowed his eyes in thought. “But she knew about you. She knew she wasn’t an only child.”

“Yeah, but I never came to her house before this point. I’m infringing on her territory, you know.” Riley sighed. “She was jealous even though she had no reason to be. I’m out of here as soon as college starts. Maybe she realizes that now.”

“So she tolerates you now because she knows you’re leaving soon?”

“I guess, but I think it’s more than that. The more time we’ve spent together, the nicer she’s been. I think she just needed to get to know me as me and not this image that Edith’s created of me over the years.”

“Maybe you’re the one who should go into psychology,” he said, the smile evident in his voice.

Riley chuckled. “Nah, I’ll leave that to you and your dad.” The words were out before she could realize how badly she’d messed up.

Asher’s expression turned cold and hard, every muscle in his body tensing.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” Riley said, wishing she could kick herself for being so goddamned stupid, for letting herself forget for just a few seconds that Asher had no future. A painful lump formed in her throat. She’d never felt so guilty.

“It’s okay,” he replied flatly.

She shook her head as her eyes began to sting. It wasn’t okay. How could she have been so cruel? “Asher, I’m sorry.”

“Let’s just forget about it, okay,” he said, his tone not allowing for further apologies or argument.

“Okay,” she agreed quietly.

Riley reached over to grab her laptop from the spot it now permanently occupied on her bed when it wasn’t in use. She was so tired of looking for answers that didn’t want to be found. The truth of what was happening to Asher had eluded them for too long, and she wasn’t sure how much longer they could continue before they’d have to admit defeat.

She typed a combination of words into the search bar she’d likely used before, sighing when the results were all purple instead of blue. She scrolled back to the search bar and typed in a new set of words, wanting to throw her laptop across the room when her luck wasn’t any better.

“I need some music,” she grumbled, reaching for her phone and tapping aggressively on the screen. She was upset and grumpy. There was no use denying it, and she was doing a bad job of hiding it.

So, she did what any self-respecting eighteen-year-old would do and blasted the kind of music that would allow her to lean into that anger instead of diffuse it.

Asher smiled when “American Idiot” by Green Day started playing. “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any hotter,” he said with a shake of his head.

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