FIRST LOOK - Adventures in Funeral Crashing #2
Have you been waiting for MORE Adventures in Funeral Crashing? The wait is almost over! The book will be out in February 2012!
This is it! This a first look at Adventures in Funeral Crashing #2! Drum roll please!!!!!
Chapter
1: Homecoming Dancing
I
was going to the Homecoming Dance with Ethan Ripley, the most popular guy in
school, even though I was the weird girl. Could life get any better? No, I
didn't think so, at least not in the foreseeable future.
Wow,
I couldn't believe how hot Ethan looked dressed up in a suit and tie. His tie
was a bright blue and it made his eyes stand out even more than normal. I was
already dying to run my hands through his dark, wavy hair. It was funny, I'd
never really thought much past how amazing he already looked in just jeans and
a T-shirt, but there was something about a suit and tie that made my stomach do
loops. I just never knew that until this very moment. That was probably because
this was my first time being on a date to a dance with a guy I thought was
really hot already. Well, Ethan was actually my first date to a dance ever,
actually.
I
thought I looked pretty good too, at least that's what I gathered from the
double take Ethan did when he saw me as I answered the front door when he arrived
to pick me up. I was wearing a silvery
blue dress with spaghetti straps. It was just past the knee and flowing, yet
clingy in all the right places. My shoes were these really amazing silver
sandal heels and because I had a tendency toward the clumsy and always felt
rickety in heels, I had practiced in them, so I wouldn't fall or, simply, look
like an idiot walking in them. I had even gone through the trouble to get my
hair done at a salon, so it was up in a twist with curls and I had a couple
tendrils of hair framing my face. When I looked in the mirror, it was a little
scary. It almost didn't look like me, especially after I put on my make-up. I
almost wished I had gone to a makeup counter and had that done too. Then I
really would have wowed Ethan. Next dance. It was hard to believe that I was
already thinking about a next dance with Ethan! I couldn't help it. He was just
so amazing. I was gushy about him, I'd admit to that. Well, to myself at least.
He didn't need to know. I hoped that he was at least half as gushy about me. I
mean, I thought I looked pretty great and I wouldn't normally be saying that.
Nobody
would have known that I was in the hospital only a week ago. Yeah, that's
right, the hospital and I did have a scar, but it was covered up as best as I
could with make-up. I was shot while solving Ethan's half sister's murder case.
The upside was that for two whole days afterward, Ethan stayed by my side
almost around the clock. It wasn't that serious of a wound, thank goodness, but
it was still nice of Ethan to stay with me. Ethan even brought me a couple
peanut butter banana milkshakes from my favorite coffee shop, Wired. I love
peanut butter banana milkshakes so that was super awesome of him. They are
heaven on earth! He didn't need to do that either. Just having him to talk to
and pass the time with would have been enough. Well, that and the kissing.
I
mean, even though I was out sick from school and really had gotten injured, it
had been a pretty amazing week just hanging out with Ethan. Ethan had gone back
to school already, but I had hung out with him after school, when I wasn't out
looking for a Homecoming dress, resting, and getting better. It was probably in
that order too, but hey, I really needed a dress for the school Homecoming
Dance!
That
reminded me, I was going to have a ton of homework to catch up on when I did go
back to school on Monday. I hadn't done anything besides read novels and recuperate
and I knew I was going to be totally behind in my classes. I didn't look
forward to that. My usual pile of homework was always enough work for me and only
just balanced out okay with my after school job at Palos Video Store. Focus,
Kait, focus. You're about to be at the Homecoming Dance with Ethan Ripley, now is
not the time to worry about making up homework or think about going back to
work.
Ethan
and I were about to walk into the Homecoming dance together. A few weeks ago I never would have believed that
this moment could happen even in my wildest dreams. Just goes to show you,
anything is possible!
We
handed our tickets to the teachers at the front entrance and walked into the
main hallway. There were a few couples talking in the hall, but I could see
that the majority of them were down the way near the lunchroom and the gym.
Ethan and I walked slowly down the corridor. We were about to make our
entrance. I felt a little nervous.
"You
ready for this?" Ethan asked, grinning down at me.
Ethan
thought I was worried about nothing. He didn't need to be worried, he was used
to the whole being popular thing. The only thing popularity had gotten me, though,
was a weird girl reputation, so I was understandably nervous. The whole school
was about to watch our entrance. That totally freaked me out.
I
nodded despite my nerves. Still, I couldn't help but hold my breath as we
walked closer and closer toward the area where the entire school was probably
gathered, watching and gossiping about the arrivals of all of the new couples
like we were on the red carpet of some Hollywood awards show. I knew we were
going to be a huge target for the chatter. I braced myself.
And,
then we were in the lunchroom. I knew people were staring. I wasn't the
expected girl that Ethan would bring to the Homecoming Dance and I knew it,
even if he didn't seem to get it. People expected someone like my ex-best
friend Ariel to be on Ethan's arm. She was popular and gorgeous and well, at
the dance with someone else. A college guy, Troy Matthews, that I met and went
out on a date with first and introduced her to, actually, even though she's my
ex-best friend. I could see a circle of Ariel's friends and hanger-oners
surrounding them at a table just inside the gym, next to the dance floor. Ariel
was playing the - I'm here with a college guy card for all it was worth. That
was so totally Ariel and one reason we weren't friends anymore. There were a
lot of other reasons too, of course.
I
knew I was being overly insecure about walking into the dance with Ethan and
about what other people might think. I couldn't help it. The thought that the
most popular guy at my high school might just actually like me back totally
freaked me out. That sort of thing only happened in movies like Sixteen Candles or She's All That, not in some weird girl who crashes funerals' life. Yet,
it was really happening to me. It was flipping me out, albeit in a good way.
"Want
to dance?" Ethan asked, breaking into my a zillion miles per minute
thoughts.
"Yes," I said, gratefully. Anything was better than standing in the lunchroom awkwardly, watching all the people look back at us and gossip to each other.
"Yes," I said, gratefully. Anything was better than standing in the lunchroom awkwardly, watching all the people look back at us and gossip to each other.
Ethan
didn't seem to notice, though. I really envied that quality about him - the
obliviousness to all the gossips. He just went with it and then did his own
thing, no matter what they said. It was pretty cool, actually. I admired him
for that.
Ethan
took my hand and led me toward the gymnasium. My heart did a little flip as his
hand touched mine. I couldn't help but gasp as we walked all the way into the
gym. It had been transformed into a romantic Homecoming Dance room. Yes, it was
still the gym where I was forced to play basketball and volleyball (and I was
horrible at both), but there was something about the decorations and all of the
dressed up couples. Sure, the gym was only decorated with cheap streamers,
balloons, handmade signs, and paper mache, but it was still breathtaking just
because it was very simply, the most romantic moment of my life. At least it
was the most romantic night so far.
I
gripped Ethan's hand a little tighter. He smiled down at me. I smiled back at
him. I wished it could all last forever.
Ethan
led me toward the dance floor, past groups of people that I had stopped paying
attention to because for me, it was suddenly just Ethan and I at the dance. For
at least a moment, nobody else mattered. I didn't even care what song was
playing. My first high school dance with a date and we were actually going to
dance! He wasn't one of those - I don't dance guys, where you spend the whole
night staring at each other and eating way too many of the chips and cheese and
crackers because you have nothing better to do. I've been there and done that
when I've gone by myself, which I did once.
It
was freshman year and I'd gone to the Homecoming Dance alone, mostly to just
see what it was like. Well, and my mom really wanted me to. I mean, the way
everyone built it up, it was supposed to be this amazing dance, really romantic,
and tons of fun, except that it totally wasn't. First off, Ariel, who was still
kind of my friend at the time, ditched me for her new friends, Sarah and Megan.
Ariel and I were already getting rocky in our friendship, but I didn't expect
her to start making fun of me to her new friends when I approached her at the
dance. I left after they started laughing at me. Then I spent about ten minutes
trying to look absorbed in the food at the snack table. That was, until I
noticed that Ariel and her friends were going group to group to say something
mean about me. So, I hid in the bathroom for an hour before calling my dad and
asking him to pick me up.
Actually,
I ran into Ethan on the way out of the bathroom that night, now that I thought
about it. He smiled at me in greeting as I walked toward the exit, while he
walked back toward the gymnasium. He was being polite and didn't know me, I
knew that even then, but the kernel of my crush started growing with that
slight encouragement. We'd already met before, when my mom was in the hospital,
but he didn't remember that, I didn't think. Maybe somewhere in the recesses of
his head, a kernel of a crush had been growing for Ethan too that night. Maybe.
Probably not, but Ethan still made my night by smiling at me even if it didn't
mean anything. That night, it was the only encouragement I'd had - the one
bright spot. I got home and my mom was already way sick with cancer by then and
I didn't have the heart to tell her how much that Homecoming Dance totally
sucked, so I told her about the boy who smiled at me outside of the bathroom
instead. Consequently, my mom thought I
had an amazing time because I had developed a crush. I was pretty gushy about
that smile. I'd admit to that, but the truth of the matter is, crushing is
never fun if it's unrequited. Now, once it's requited...that is a totally
different story!
At
least I was finally getting that great experience I had heard so much about. I
wished I could share it with my mom now, when it was actually true. A wave of
sadness blew through me. I missed my mom. I wished she could have known that a
mere year later, I'd be at the Homecoming Dance with the smiling boy I had
gushed on and on about.
"Kait!"
I heard a girl yell behind me and it shook me out of my thoughts.
Ethan
and I had just reached the other dancers and were about to join them. I turned
to look, wondering if the call was for someone else. I didn't really have any
good friends in high school at the moment, but there was always a first. Ethan
followed my gaze.
Surprised,
I looked to see Suzie Whitsett dragging Kyle Jones towards us. I felt a sudden
warmness fill my heart at seeing my friends from Chemistry class. This was the
first time I had ever seen them outside of our Chemistry classroom and they
were actually acknowledging me instead of pretending they didn't know me. It
wasn't me being insecure, by the way, talking like that - it was the simple
truth. Ever since my ex-bff Ariel and I had ceased being friends, I had become
the freaky weird girl and I had stayed that way all through high school so far.
So, this was a very nice first - being at the dance with a date and stopping to
talk to what might just be blossoming from more than just lab partner friends
into real friendships.
"You
guys look so great," Suzie gushed. Normally she was the quiet girl, but
since I had helped her and Kyle get together, it didn't seem like she was so
quiet around me anymore.
I
felt myself turn beet red at the compliment anyway, "Thanks. You guys
too."
Suzie
turned the full force of her smile on Kyle. He stared back at her like there
was no other girl for him in the universe. They were such a ridiculously cute
couple.
"Hey, man,"
Mike Finnigan said, suddenly appearing next to Ethan. He was at the dance with
one of Ariel's bffs, Sarah, and had dragged her along to say hi to his best
friend. I could tell Sarah wasn't so thrilled to see me, although she was
probably taking mental notes so that she could relay them back to Ariel.
I
looked around for Dave Rickerson who wasn't usually far behind Mike and Ethan,
but he must have been dancing with his date. I wondered who he had brought to
the dance. Wow, we were almost starting to form our own group, Ethan and I. It
was an odd group too - a strange mismatch of popular kids and totally unpopular
kids. Luckily, everyone was being nice to each other despite that, at least so
far.
I
was only just getting to know Ethan's friends, Mike and Dave, but I liked them
a lot. They had come to visit me in the hospital even though they were just Ethan's
friends. Their motto seemed to be that any friend of Ethan, was a friend of
theirs and they thought it was really cool that I had helped him find out what
had really happened to his half sister. Nobody had believed in Ethan's suspicions
at first, that she had been murdered, except me, and Ethan had turned out to be
right. The fact that I believed in Ethan and supported him in his search, thus,
gave me mad points in Dave and Mike's book.
"You
look hot, Kait," Mike said to me, to his date Sarah's annoyance.
Ethan smiled and squeezed my hand.
He and I both knew that Mike was just trying to make me feel comfortable in
their group. Still, I glanced at Sarah again and hoped she'd complain to Ariel
about me. She didn't need to know that Mike was just being nice to me.
"Thanks, Mike," I said,
smiling back at him.
There was a bit of a silence as our
weird group took each other in. I tried to think of something to say to kick-start
the conversation, but I was drawing a blank. Mike and Ethan were both sports
nuts although Ethan also wrote songs and avidly read sci-fi novels. Kyle was
mostly into all things science. Suzie liked to read about as much as I did,
which was a lot. I had absolutely no idea what Sarah was into besides make-up
and boys. We were all pretty different, actually.
"So, the gym looks pretty
cool," I said lamely to our group, trying to break the awkward silence.
"The Pep Club decorated
it," Sarah said proudly, like she was the Pep Club, instead of just a
member. "Well, with the help of some other clubs too, but I was here until
late last night decorating."
"It looks great!" Suzie
said, chiming in.
Everyone took a second look around,
as if just taking in the decorations. I mean, it was super romantic, but I just
noticed it was themed.
"I like the theme: A Night in
Paris. Super romantic," I said, trying to keep the conversation going.
It was well done, actually. There
was a big banner at the front of the gym, where the DJ was, announcing the
theme for the night. A fake Eiffel Tower stood in the middle of the snack table,
separating the snacks and the beverages. An Arc De Triumphe was the entranceway
into the gym. The tables scattered around the dance floor were covered with white
tablecloths and silver stars. The mood lighting was ultra romantic, with small
fake candles sitting on the tables.
"Yeah, it was all Madison's
idea. She's our club president. Ariel said it was her idea, of course, but I
heard Madison suggest it first," Sarah said.
I stopped myself from asking more
about what Ariel had said. Was Sarah really criticizing Ariel? Was there
dissension among the new group of bffs? I was dying to know, but there was no
way Sarah was going to give me any juicy gossip if I asked her. The group
lapsed into silence again. What were we going to talk about?
"It looks very cool,"
Ethan said, trying to get the conversation started again.
The first notes of a romantic slow
song were starting to play. I started swaying to the music. Couples formed all
around us. We all watched them as we tried awkwardly to think of a conversation
piece.
"So, how about we dance?"
Mike asked Sarah.
"I'd love to," Sarah said.
"Bye guys," Mike said, as
Sarah dragged him away, totally grateful at the chance to get away from us.
Kyle turned to Suzie, "You want
to dance too?"
Suzie nodded and turned to us,
"See you guys later."
Then they walked away too, hand in
hand. Ethan and I were finally alone. We stared at each other, suddenly awkward
with one another. I felt a little nervous. We had been about to dance before,
but suddenly the air was charged with possibilities.
"Dance?" Ethan asked.
I nodded and took his hand. Ethan
led me a little ways onto the dance floor and placed his hands on my hips,
drawing me toward him. I hooked my arms around his neck. I could smell his
cologne. He smelled amazing. We started moving to the notes together, side to
side. My stomach was doing nervous excited flips. Now this was the best moment
of my life.
Ethan looked down at me and I looked
up at him, our eyes meeting. I leaned up to kiss him. I really couldn't have
asked for a more romantic Homecoming Dance moment. It was so perfect, but just
as our lips were about to touch, we both jumped as the music stopped with a
screech, ending in dead silence. Then I heard the girl screaming, and
screaming, and screaming.
