I was a nervous wreck as I walked into school on Monday. I was expecting the worst. Whispers, snickering. But nothing happened.

I was on edge, expecting it to happen at any moment but it never did. Joey avoided me and I barely saw him.

From the lack of gossip I had to assume he had kept what I had told him to himself and for that I was relieved. Like not having to park up and move kind of relieved.

“Don’t celebrate too soon,” Damien muttered under his breath beside me. “He could just me making you squirm before he tells everyone you’re a nut case.”

I shrugged. There was too many people around to respond to him.

He could be right but I couldn’t live, waiting in suspense to if he told every one I was crazy.

It was stressful enough worrying about the reaper and wondering when he was going to reappear to collect my soul. So far Damien hadn’t been able to come up with any solution other than the one where he killed me and brought me back to get rid of the Reaper’s mark.

It was an absolute last resort. But at the rate we were going it would be our only option.

It was a frightening thing to consider. To die and hope Damien would revive me. Although I wasn’t convinced Damien would be able to ‘kill’ me, so far it had been his instinct to save me.

After school while I was doing my homework on my bed my phone rang. I frowned when I saw the caller Id. It was Joey.

Why was he calling me?

I answered breathlessly, nervous as to what he would say.

“It’s Joey.”

I held my breath.

“Will you meet me at the park now?” he asked.

“Um…” I was debating if it was a good idea or not. The last time I had, things hadn’t gone well.

“Please.” It was the pleading in his voice that reached me.

“Okay.” I moved off my bed to stand and began to pace.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Uh…sure…ten mins,” I mumbled looking for my shoes.

“See you soon,” he said before ending the call.

I found my one shoe and pulled it on.

“Can you trust him?” Damien asked.

I put my hand to my hammering heart. I hadn’t even noticed he had reappeared while I had been talking to Joey.

“Jeez, can you not do that?” I muttered, looking under my bed for my other shoe. I grabbed it and put it on as I stood.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Damien warned. His forehead slightly marred with a frown.

“Maybe he is more open to it now that he has had some time to process it.” I shrugged. I had no idea why he wanted to meet up, all I could do was hope that he wanted to hear more about what I had to say.

Parker appeared. “Where are you going?”

My already rapid heart beat took another another surprise and I had to take a moment to catch my breath. “You guys keep doing that to me and we wont have to worry about the reaper anymore.”

They just suddenly appeared out of thin air without any warning. It was disconcerting and every time it took me off guard momentarily, it was impossible not to be affected by it.

“I’m going to buy both of you a bell.”

“A bell?” Damien questioned quizzically.

I nodded. “At least I’ll hear you.”

Parker chuckled and Damien glared at him.

“Like a bell that a cat wears?” Parker asked.

I nodded. “Exactly.”

Damien looks even less impressed.

Then something occurred to me. “Parker do you have a secret that only you and Joey would know?”

Parker frowned thoughtfully.

“How will that help you?” The question was directed from Damien.

“I need some way to prove that I’m not making this up.”

“We are the only ones who know I broke a window at his house when I was ten. He covered for me and told his parents, he had done it.”

I nodded. “Any others?”

“I know Casey Green cheated on her boyfriend, Charles, with him in tenth grade. I was the only person he told.”

“You sure?” I needed iron clad secrets that I could use to convince him that I wasn’t crazy.

He nodded. “He wasn’t proud of it and felt guilty when they broke up because of it. Casey never revealed his identity.”

“Thanks.”

“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Damien muttered.

“Noted,” I said, brushing past him.

I was on a mission and feeling a little hopeful that I would be able to fulfill Parker’s request to give Joey a message from him.

I had a purpose, a way to payback Parker who had stayed to try and help me.

When I got to the park I was alone. Damien and disappeared along with Parker.

I took a brave breath trying to work up the courage to face Joey especially after our last encounter.

He was alone at the swings. He stood when he saw me arrive.

I didn’t know what I was walking into, all I could was hope that he was open to what I might have to say.

“Thanks for meeting me again,” Joey said when I reached him.

I shrugged.

“I owe you an apology,” he added, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “It’s just you took me by surprise..you know.”

I nodded. “I’ve never done it before but I can imagine it wouldn’t be an easy thing to hear.”

He frowned. “You’ve never done that before?”

“Usually I ignore them and they leave me alone. Parker was different. I knew him before he died.”

He studied me. “I miss him-” He rubbed his brow as he stopped abruptly.

“It’s not easy to lose someone you’re close to.”

“You have no idea.” He gave a long emotional breath.

“I asked Parker for some secrets only the two of you would know this is for real and I’m not crazy.”

He swallowed. “I know you’re not crazy.”

“You sure? If someone told me they had a message from my dead friend I would think they were crazy.”

“I think you’ve been through far too much to do this as some sort of joke. I don’t believe that someone who lost her whole family as tragically as you would make this stuff up. You just took be by surprise that’s all.”

“You really have a high opinion for someone you don’t know.”

Other than knowing about my accident where I lost my parents and the fact that I could see the dead, he knew nothing about me.

“The thing is Tessa. I do know you.”

I frowned. I was pretty sure I had never met him before I moved here. Taking a closer look I still couldn’t place him. Joey wasn’t a guy any girl forgot. He was good looking with baby blue eyes and dark silky soft hair you just wanted to run your hands through. It was weird that I would notice that type of thing. I didn’t usually look at guys in that way.

“It’s been a while. I was in elementary school with you.”

Despite his statement, I could not for the life of me remember him. He was a stranger before I met him here.

“Was this before or after my accident?” I asked.

“Before. We moved away days after it happened.”

“The thing is it’s difficult to remember a lot from before it happened. I have some memories but the less dramatic ones are harder to recall.”

He nodded. “I’ve often thought about you.”

I was having the weirdest conversation. This was unexpected.L to say the least.

“Really?”

He nodded. “I couldn’t imagine losing my family like you did.” He shrugged. “It just stuck with me over the years.”

Remembering back to when my life changed so traumatically wasn’t easy. I didn’t want to think about the past, I wanted to stay in the present. Even if my life hung in the balance.

“I can also see auras,” I announced, hoping to change the direction of the conversation from my family tragedy.

“Really?” He cocked an eye brow up.

“Yeah.”

“What does mine look like?”

“It’s …ah warm and vibrant.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked and I felt a little more comfortable that I had successfully diverted the conversation.

“You’re friendly, outgoing.”

He smiled. “That’s cool.”