Spiritdell Book 1 Read Free Page B

question, I push the button that synchronizes the external flashbulbs with the camera. Everything's white-hot, and the room is filled with the sound of every word being spoken at once. Then, black. Silence. Absence of light and words.
    Through the blackness, Julie yells, “James! Breaker!”
    James yells, “Zan! You blew the breaker.”
    “You think?” I reply. Some people laugh. “Sorry,” I say to the dark shapes around me. Someone bumps into me from behind, and I stumble into some people, causing them to complain about food and drinks being spilled on them. The room is all elbows and knees and irritation. “Sorry, sorry,” I say. I'm all turned around, worrying about tiny Austin being knocked down in the dark. I need to protect her.
    The basement's hot, the air moist and lacking in oxygen. There must be seventy people crammed down here, and it's not bright here at the best of times, let alone in the evening. Within seconds, blue squares float everywhere as people turn on their phones, faces lit in crisp, unearthly blue.
    “I'll go flip the breaker switch, that'll fix it,” James calls out from a few feet away. “Everybody STAY CALM.” More laughter, and at that, people begin their conversations again in the thin blue light.
    I pivot around, searching for Austin.
    “So, tell me about yourself,” I say to her in the darkness.
    “I work at The Bean,” she says, glints of light reflecting off her teeth. “Full time. I graduated last year, and I haven't gotten around to college just yet.”
    “College?” That makes her at least two years older than me. 
    The lights come on and everyone applauds. Someone resets the stereo, and the music comes on, mid-song. Julie's pouring margaritas now, so the blender's off for the moment.
    I seize my opportunity and take two photos in rapid succession, while Austin is still distracted.
    “Get my good side,” she says, pointing to her right cheek.
    “If everyone has a good side, does that mean they have an evil side too?”
    Without hesitation, she points to her left cheek. “Get my evil side too.”
    “Nah, I'm sure you don't have an evil side.” I take a few more photos, just in case. What else can I say to keep her talking? Definitely nothing about school, as I don't want to draw more attention to the age gap. “Got any summer plans? Some of us are going to the lake tomorrow.”
    “I don't plan that far ahead,” she says.
    “You don't plan for tomorrow?”
    “I like you,” she says. “Will you walk me home after the party? Unless your girlfriend minds.”
    “Seriously, I don't have a girlfriend.”
    “Then why's she over there mentally stripping off my skin to wear as a hat?”
    I turn to catch Raye-Anne glaring our way. She quickly looks away, sipping her margarita.
    Austin walks past me, leaving my photo booth, leaving me. “Find me when things wind down.”
    As I watch her walk away, I notice her hair is surprisingly long—almost down to her waist, and neither straight nor curly. I love her , says the idiot voice in my head. How ridiculous! I just met her. I guess I'd like to love her. That's more accurate and reasonable. I wish the party were over, but it's barely ten.
    Julie puts a glass of margarita in my hand. “Check this out. Salted rim, and spiked with a bit of tequila. Dad let us have a small bottle, and I'm stretching it out. Taste. Not bad whatsoever, huh?”
    She's shoving the glass at my mouth, and since the best way to deal with Julie is to do as she commands, I take a sip. It's salty and sweet, bitter and cold. The chilly liquid draws a line down my throat and into my stomach. “Wow.”
    Her eyes are big with delight. “I know, right?”
    She steps a little closer, and I back away. I say, “You'd better take that pitcher around before it melts.”
    She bites her lip, then walks away.
    Some guys from the photography club start poking through my equipment and I don't even care if they get fingerprints on the lenses. Austin said I could