"Why not?"
"Let's just say the hashtag's changed."
"To what?"
Dale sighs and looks to the floor.
"You don't want to know, okay?"
My forehead crinkles and I swallow down the hurt. It must be bad if Dale's not willing to show me. I hate that I'm so desperate to see it even though it will probably hurt like hell.
"Tell me. I need to know."
"I'm not doing it." Dale goes to stride past me and I stand in his way. He walks straight through me and we both shudder. He spins around with a gasp. "DON'T do that to me again. Ever."
He let's out his breath and rubs his forehead.
"Tell me what it says or I'll do it to you for the rest of the day."
He groans and throws his hands in the air.
"None of these people you hang out with care about you. You're obviously missing and all they've done is started a twitter frenzy about what might have happened to you!" He pulls out my phone. "Some of these tweets are foul, Nicky. How can you be friends with these people?"
His sweet desperation at my plight pulls on heart strings I never knew I had. My eyes burn as I snap back, "Because they don't care about me."
Dale's shoulders drop and he stares at me in confusion.
I swallow and continue like an idiot.
"They're too shallow to dig any deeper than the clothes I'm wearing, or the shoes I have on... or what party I'm going to... or who I'm sleeping with. They don't care about what makes me tick... and they don't want to know anything about who I really am. They'll never know and that's just the way I want it."
"Never know what?"
"Nothing." I swallow. "I meant they'll never really know me." My cover is so pathetic, but Dale mercifully lets it slide.
"You know that's messed up, right?" The smile that follows his sweet statement is too cute.
I bite my lips together and nod.
"You okay?"
I clear my throat in reply to Dale's quiet words.
"Come on let's go drive around the national park for a while."
I cross my arms and follow him.
"I just have to stop at my locker first."
His pace is still quite fast, but I manage to keep up with him as I follow him to his locker. We pass Sophie on the way, she gives him a shy smile and he nods back.
I want to tease him again, but force myself to come up with something else. I need him on my side, not telling me to shut my mouth again.
"What's youth group?"
He turns to look at Sophie then back at me with a suspicious glare.
"I'm just asking what it is." I raise my hands.
Stopping at his locker, he dials the combination and looks to make sure no one is nearby. "It's just a bunch of kids from my church. We get together every Friday night and hang out."
"And do what? Read your bibles?"
His eyebrows bunch together as he tries to hide his grin. "Sometimes. Not always. We usually just get together to have some fun."
"What kind of fun?"
"Games, paint ball, movies... last Friday we handed out glowsticks, turned out all the lights and danced our asses off."
I laugh. "To hymns?"
"Okay, your misconceptions are frightening."
He closes his locker and zips up his bag.
"Well excuse me, but I've never been to church before."
"Maybe you should come check it out."
"No thank you." I frown.
He looks a little insulted, but that half smile works its way through and pops his scar to the side.
"You think the only way to have fun is to get drunk, buy clothes, date losers and say bitchy things about people?"
I take a step away from him. Although they were said with light humor, I knew he meant every word.
"Wow." I swallow. "You really don't like me, do you?"
His eyes wash with quick regret as he hitches his bag onto his shoulder.
"I let you keep the dog tags, didn't I?"
I watch him walk away from me, not sure whether to be insulted or touched. Hanging out with him is the most confusing thing I've ever done. I stand there like an idiot, not sure what to feel.
My ghostly body takes charge and runs after him before I can stop myself.
I catch up and we walk side-by-side. He clears his throat and sniffs then glances over his right shoulder.
"I'm on your left."
His smile appears as he glances down at me. How can someone look so sure of themselves and so awkward at the same time?
"I can't imagine you dancing." The words tumble out before I can stop them.
Dale chuckles and whispers, "Believe me, if glow sticks hadn't been the only form of lighting, you couldn't have dragged me from a chair."
I grin.
"Did you go all Footloose on their butts?"
"You better believe it, baby."
Laughter rings out of me. It's such a surprising sound I actually stop walking. It is almost foreign to my ears... I haven't laughed like that since...
I swallow and frown.
No one can make me laugh anymore, at least not the genuine kind that's bubbling in my belly right now. How did Dale manage to do it?
Images of him Gleeking-it-up on the dance floor bring on a fresh wave of giggles. I swallow them back and chase after him.
Dale is standing at the school exit chatting to Adam Hutton. The guy is like Thor next to Dale. His broad frame takes up most of the doorway. I shuffle up beside them as they walk out the door. I can sense Dale listening out for me, so I give him a heads up.
"Behind your left shoulder."
He nods then tunes back into Adam's conversation.
"... wants me to apply to all the big east coast colleges. Where do you think you'll go next year?"
Dale shrugs.
"Not sure yet. I still need to check out some course guides and figure out what I want to do. It's only September, I don't want to get caught up with the whole college thing until I absolutely have to."
"Yeah." Adam forces out an awkward chuckle.
What's he got to worry about? He's going to be valedictorian for sure. The guy works harder than any other student at this school, not to mention the fact he's a star athlete and on the student council. The guy's so golden he's practically a statue.
I wonder how he came to be friends with Dale?
"Are you okay, man? You look kinda tired." Dale slaps him on the shoulder.
Who am I kidding? Dale is so nice to everybody, who wouldn't want to be friends with him.
Adam runs his hand through his shaggy blond hair. "I didn't sleep well last night. I worked late on an assignment then couldn't switch off." He shrugs and shoots Dale a nervous smile. "I'm my own worst enemy."
Dale grins and fishes in his pocket for his keys.
"Catch you later, man." Adam gives him a wave and saunters towards the bus stop.
"Hey, you want a ride?"
Adam's square face brightens with a smile. "You sure? That'd be awesome, thanks."
"What? Why?" I frown. I don't want to share the car with anyone else. I want to talk to Dale uninterrupted. "Do we really have time for this? Don't we have some pre-dark searching to do?"
Dale shoots a stern look in my direction. "He's on the way," he whispers.
Adam lopes over to the car and opens the passenger door.
Dale opens his door and pretends to fluff around with his bag, giving me time to jump in the back.
"Thanks," I whisper, still a little sulky.
He throws his bag in the back with a wink. I can't help smiling.
I shuffle back in the seat as Adam starts talking again.