Page 125 of Haunt Me

“He’s not.” I look at her sharply and she shrugs. She is tall and slender, the opposite to her sister’s pint-sized curviness. They are both gorgeous. “He’s ashamed. He blames himself for what happened to Eden. He thought she had died for so many years, and he… he still can’t realize she’s alive. And that she turned out ok.”

“Ok?” I scoff. “She turned out amazing.”

“She did,” Manuela agrees, wiping her eyes angrily, as if they are tearing up without her consent. “And it’s in no small amount thanks to you, I guess.”

I’m shaking my head already. “She was amazing when I met her,” I tell her. “You have no idea how amazing.” She nods solemnly, and I decide to put us both out of our misery. “You’re Manuela, right?” I shake her hand. “Nice to meet you in person.”

She smiles up at me cheekily.

“And, of course, Faith,” I turn to Faith, but she brushes my hand away and hugs me so fiercely I lose my breath.

“Thank you for that,” I whisper into her ear as she’s hugging me. “I needed it.”

“I know,” she whispers back. Her face is one big smile. “You look like a statue up close.”

“Shut up.”

“No, you do. Manuela had a mini panic attack at the sight of you. I’m more dignified, of course.”

“Of course.” I let her go, suppressing a laugh. She’s managed to calm me down in a few seconds. I won’t say I underestimated her, because I didn’t, but she might actually be made of magic.

They both have their dad’s red-brown hair, but that’s where their resemblance to Eden ends. Manuela is tall and willowy, likeher dad, and she has light blue eyes and a soft mouth. Faith is shorter than Eden, with wild, strawberry blonde hair and shining, smiling eyes. I feel like I have known them forever.

I remember my manners and introduce them to James, who proceeds to demand they call him ‘Pan’, which they do, giggling. Then he instantly steals both their hearts. He makes himself at home on a comfy-looking couch I just noticed is here, sitting down on it without being asked to. Then he proceeds to make himself at home on it, getting snugly sandwiched between the two girls, and Eden’s sisters start fawning over him.

I roll my eyes so hard my head hurts.

“James,” I bite out his name under my breath, but he isn’t even listening. He is giving his full attention to something Manuela is telling him, smiling up to her, dimples and all. Faith, seated on his other side looks at him adoringly.

“Annoying, isn’t it?” A voice says behind me. “How they will immediately become obsessed with any half-decent looking man, as if they have never seen one in their lives?”

I turn around to meet a guy about ten years older than me with a baseball cap and a kind face. He is wincing, as if he can feel my embarrassment. I like him straight away.

“Isaiah Pan.” I give him my hand. “I am Eden’s friend.”

He shakes my hand, and me too a little bit, he’s that strong. “Nice to meet you,” he says, and not ‘I know’, like I had expected. I am liking him more and more. “Justin Olson. Manuela’s husband.”

“Do I need to apologize for my brother?” I wince.

“If you do, then I need to apologize for my wife,” he smiles. “Besides, I feel like I am about to apologize for the avalanche of fangirling that is about to attack you. They are restraining themselves, because you only just got here, but…”

“I think we are over that,” I smile.

He raises an eyebrow at me. “Over the fangirling? These two? Over Issy Woo? Never!” He must see the color drain from my face, because he bursts out laughing. “Man, you should see your face. Believe me, you would be even more freaked out if you were living in the same house with one of them,” he points his thumb to Manuela, “and were forced to learn all your songs by heart. Which, I do, naturally.”

“Ughhgm,” I say.

“I just wanted to welcome you to the madness, as a fellow outsider.” He taps me lightly on the back and then leans in andwhispers: “You won’t be one for long. Not if these two have anything to say about it.”

He nods towards Manuela and Faith’s heads, bent over something James is showing them on his phone. Ok, I’m getting jealous over here. In the corner, next to the window facing the thick rows of bookshelves, my mom and Eden’s dad are quietly talking about loss. I am not going anywhere near them. My only other choice is to plonk myself right between James and Faith.

Faith doesn’t seem too happy to be separated from my idiot brother, but I don’t give her a choice. We’re a bit snug, four people packed into a three-person couch, but none of us seems willing to move.

Justin glances at us from the other end of the room and sniggers. Lucky bastard.

Could this get any more awkward? I guess it can. But it’s up there already.

“Right,” I say to Eden’s sisters. “Tell me about the day you guys first met Eden.”

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