“Just something Enzo said,” I answer. That’s kind of the truth, anyway.
“Yes, my little brother does have quite the sense of humour,” she says, rolling her eyes.
Her little brother? You have got to be kidding me.
“Little brother, huh?” I direct my question to Enzo, whispering.
“She’s the only spirit teacher in the school, there was no choice but to put me in her class when I was marked by spirit,” he answers, shrugging.
“Now. I want everyone to tell me one thing they know about the spirit mark,” Stacey asks and looks at Enzo with an arched eyebrow.
“The spirit mark makes it possible for us to see spirits that stay around for a short period of time after their deaths,” Enzo answers in a bored tone.
“Mackenzie?” Stacey asks, and I try to think of anything my dads and mum told me. My mum has spirit, but she always said it’s useless. When she lost someone close to her, she couldn’t see their spirit and since then, she never tries to use the power.
“That spirit is extremely unreliable,” I answer, and she nods.
“Spirit is useful to find out clues for murders,” Steve adds next.
“Ow,” I say, when I feel something poke into my side. I turn to see Enzo smiling at me, holding a pencil in his hand which he is flicking between his fingers. I go to ignore him and listen to Stacey, when he does it again. I turn in time to see him use air to float his pencil back over to his hand.
“Stop poking me,” I say through gritted teeth and he just shrugs, looking forward.
“Is there a problem, Mackenzie?” Stacey asks.
“No, Crowe was just flirting with me and graciously, I very gently let her down,” Enzo answers, and I narrow my eyes at him as my cheeks start feeling warm.
“Well, if we could have your full attention, Mackenzie, that would be appreciated,” Stacey says. Although, she shoots her brother a look that says just how much she buys what he said. He shrugs at her, not the least bit bothered. I nod and lean back in my chair, listening to the conversation she is having with Ryan about how we can see the spirits of animals as well as people when I feel a poke in my side.
I don’t say anything this time, but I do glare at him. He only looks back at me, his eyes drifting over my body slowly and then looking back at Stacey.
I don’t think he is going to get a chance to save me in the future. No, there’s more of a chance I’m going to try and kill him.
“How was spirit? See any ghosts?” Kelly asks as I sit next to her on the table at lunch. My eyes meet Enzo’s, as he sits down next to a couple of guys at another table, and he smirks at me. Jerk.
“No, but I do have a guy in mind to kill and test if I can see his ghost,” I say, and she laughs.
“Who?”
“The hot jerk who saved me from the fire. He just spent three hours poking me with a pencil,” I say, nodding behind her. She turns to look at Enzo, and then she laughs loudly as she looks at me.
“Maybe he wants to poke you?” she says, and I glare at her as I pull my hair up into a high ponytail.
“He won’t be doing any friggin poking, no matter how hot he is. He is still a jerk,” I reply, and she laughs.
“Sure.” She smiles, the humour in her voice is thick. She doesn’t believe me.
A large hand slides down my arm as I look up to see Locke as he sits next to me. Locke looks amazing today, dressed in a tight, white shirt and brown shorts. My eyes drift to all the muscles under his shirt that I can see outlined.
“Hey, Kenz, how is my firestarter?” he asks, and I narrow my eyes at him as I pick up my sandwich.
“It was an accident,” I reply, choosing to ignore his question, and he laughs. I freeze as he puts one of his big arms around my shoulders and whispers in my ear. His lips are so close, that they brush the top of my ear, and I can feel his warm breath on my neck.
“Guess what?” he says, and I struggle to swallow the bite of sandwich I have. Man, this guy smells nice up close, and the brief brush of his lips against my ear has given me goosebumps.
“What?” I ask, as my eyes look around the room and catch Enzo’s. Enzo watches me and Locke, his eyes seeming darker than ever, and he gets up, storming out of the room in anger. What is his problem?
“We have water class together next. I personally can’t wait to see you in a bikini,” he says and brushes his lips against my ear one more time before moving away. He starts eating like he said nothing, and Kelly gives me a cheeky look. I did manage to find my phone last night in one of my suitcases I hadn’t unpacked yet. The academy app is really cool and has my timetable, and a lot of other useful stuff on it. The water class had a note saying to wear a swimsuit, and then I was lost for an hour when I found the games.
“I have to go, but I’m sure Locke will take you to your next class,” Kelly says as she stands up.
“Of course I will,” Locke replies, and she winks at me before walking away. We eat the rest of our food in silence, with me being aware of how close Locke is to me the whole time.
“Come on, or we will be late,” he says standing up and holding a hand out for me. I slide my hand into his. He doesn’t let go as we walk out, instead he links our fingers together.
“The swimming pool is in the basement,” Locke says as he walks to the doors of some elevators I didn’t see before. They are under the stairs, hidden out of sight. Locke presses the button just as I hear the first bell ring. We get into the elevator, which only has one large green button. After pressing it, I feel my stomach jerk as it quickly descends. We reach the ground, and the elevator chimes.
Stepping out, we walk into a massive room. There’s a huge, circular swimming pool in the centre of the room filled with sparkling, clear-blue water. The room has high ceilings and no windows, just bright lights on the walls. It’s not dark at all in here with the pool floor lights too. On one side, is a row of twenty singular, changing rooms and waiting for us is a woman with long, grey hair. She smiles and walks over. The woman is wearing a black swimming costume, and despite her age she looks good in it. I hope I look that good in a swimming costume at her age.
“Please get changed and then meet us out here,” she says. I nod, letting go of Locke’s warm hand when we get to the empty changing rooms. I strip down inside, leaving on my red bikini and go to check my phone. It’s flat. I know I should have left it on charge longer last night. Damn academy game apps I stayed up playing.
“Wow,” I hear when I walk out of the changing rooms, and Locke is standing a foot away from me. I should be the one saying ‘wow’. Locke has on tight, blue shorts that show off way too much, and I can’t look away. His chest is firm, with a clear eight-pack, and I can see quite a few marks all over him. When I finally look up to his bright eyes, he is staring at me, and he takes a little step forward.