CHAPTER 10
Everyone else sees a transfer student.
I see a ghost wearing skin.
Jack takes the empty desk like it belongs to him. No hesitation. No confusion. He moves like someone who remembers gravity.
The teacher stumbles over his name. Jack smiles politely. The class relaxes around him instantly, like he’s tuned to the right frequency.
Publicly perfect.
Privately, his eyes never leave me.
My phone buzzes.
JACK: don’t react
JACK: please
I keep my face blank. Quiet. Observant. My heart is doing something violent, but no one can see that.
When the bell rings, the room erupts. Chairs scrape. Voices crash into each other.
Jack waits until the hall empties.
Then he leans close enough that I feel warmth. Real warmth.
“You did this,” he says under his breath.
“You’re alive,” I say.
His jaw tightens. “I don’t think I’m supposed to be.”
Someone laughs down the hall. The sound makes him flinch.
“They followed me,” he says. “I can feel it.”
“Who?”
“The house,” he says. “Or what survived it.”
He straightens, steps back into the version of himself everyone can see.
“Meet me after school,” he says, louder. Normal. “We should catch up.”
Like we ever did.
Like this is casual.
As he walks away, my locker slams shut on its own.
Hard.
