"Why are you two so quiet?" Maeve demands, poking at her undercooked chicken.

"Nothing," Jaxson responds while shooting me a solid stink-eyes in between his phone scrolls.

The Insta-feeds and Twittersphere blew up after lunch. People couldn't stop talking about this new "beef" between the crazy ginger and the new kid. I'm pretty sure Jin got like two hundred more followers because of it. However, I'm pretty sure I lost one of my only followers—Jaxson.

"Vel?" Maeve demands, obviously aware of the looks Jaxson has been giving me.

"Nothing," I mumble as I wait anxiously for Jin's next message.

"Seriously guys," Maeve slams her fork down to give us her typical mean mug. "I normally can't get you two to shut up. What am I missing?"

"Ask Vel," Jaxson says, slumping down in his chair.

"Seriously?" I shoot Jaxson a dirty look.

"What's wrong?" Maeve looks almost revealed that it's me and not Jaxson that's the problem—typical.

"JAXSON is mad at me because his girlfriend's cousin doesn't like me."

"Rina's cousin..." Maeve's voice waivers a little.

"Yeah, Jin Caldwell, you know them quite well, you sold them my house, remember?"

"What'd you do to him?" Maeve looks concerned.

"I didn't do anything to him!" Well, not intentionally.

"Vel..." Maeve insists, looking freaked out. She's probably wondering if she'll have to "explain" me to them now like she does to everyone else.

"Is this real life? You guys are just like all the other assholes!" I yell as I slam my chair back to leave. I don't need to sit here and take this—this shitty chicken isn't worth it. My stomach feels like shit, and I don't even have an appetite anyways. I turn to drop one last rage comment before storming off. "You know Jaxson, I honestly expected Maeve to think it's all my fault, but I really thought you of all would be on my side."

As I storm off to run up the stairs tears well in my eyes. Seriously? Why am I so upset? This whole hate thing is fake, but everyone's reaction to it is real. And the way Jaxon is treating me because of it is real. Maybe Jaxson isn't my best friend like I thought he was, maybe he's just my friend because he has to be. As I slam the door, my phone buzzes in my pocket. The excitement of a new message has my tears running dry. I open the phone and jump onto the bed.

I'm here...

Ur early?!?!

I couldn't wait, we have soooo much to do.

Can you climb?

??

I'll throw down a rope

Why u have rope?

Tell u latr

?

Come on! I text as I run over to the Lowe's bag to unwind the unexpectedly expensive rope I purchased earlier today. I low key felt like a serial-killer buying it, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Running to the window, I open it and throw one end of the rope down. Soon, I see Jin creeping along the side of my yard. I have to cover my mouth so I won't laugh at his ridiculous stealth stride.

"What?" He whispers up to me as soon as he reaches the bottom of my window.

"You look ridic," I whisper back down, cupping my mouth to make my words echo down.

"I'm sorry, but do I look like an American Ninja Warrior to you?" Jin says, looking at the dangling rope.

"SHH!" I shout back down. "Jackie Chan your way up!"

Jin rolls his eyes before grabbing the rope. "Just don't let go!"

I shoot him a thumbs up before wrapping the end of the rope around my waist to hold on. Before I know it, Jin's weight pulls me halfway out the window, but I brace myself and wait until Jin appears.

"That was a big mood," he laughs as he basically tumbles through my window.

"BIG MOOD," I agree, watching him collapse on my floor.

"That was a major burn!" Jin says, grabbing his forearms and rubbing his red hands as his arm veins pulsate and bulge. I hadn't really noticed because he's super skinny, but he is also low key ripped. I feel weird noticing, so I look away.

"What the hell is the rope for?" Jin begins, as he digs through his backpack.

"It's for..." I begin but pause, afraid he'll freak out.

"For what?"

"For my new prediction..."

"Which is?" Jin looks overly eager as he flips out his notebook.

"Okay...hear me out first," I begin cautiously as Jin scoots closer. "If we're already proven our hypothesis—"

"That if Vel Shamrock falls asleep, she'll haunt her old bedroom," Jin interrupts as he flips through the pages.

"Yes, let me finish!" I continue, trying not to smile at Jin's dumb, excited face. "Since we proved that, my next prediction is that if something stops Red Lady from being able to leave, she won't be able to haunt her old bedroom.

"Okay, it's true," Jin says, standing up to pace around.

"What's true?"

"You're insane!"

"SHH!" I yell, jumping up to cover his mouth as footsteps move outside my door.

Jin looks shocked as my hand plants across his mouth, our stomachs touching, our faces close enough to kiss.

Three hard knocks bang against the door.

"Vel? Is someone in there?" It's Jaxson.

Shit. Jin's eyes widen as I shoo him towards my closet door.

"No, I'm on the phone," I yell, my voice shaky from the adrenaline.

"...With who?"

"It's private!" I demand running to the door.

"It better not be fucking Maverick, I heard what you said earlier..."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?! MAVERICK?!" I yell into the door.

"It's like I don't even know you anymore..." I hear Jaxson's fading words as I rest my head against the door.

A quiet creek comes from my closet. "Close one," Jin says, stepping out of the mess hidden in my closet.

"What's wrong with my prediction?" I ask, immediately getting back to business. I'm not going to let Jaxson's words ruin our fun. Our fun...I wonder if Jin thinks it's fun too.

"Red Lady is a ghost, and ghosts are like air or some shit, how am I supposed to tie a rope around air!"

"Well, I didn't think that far ahead, obviously," I say, embarrassed. He's not wrong.

"Besides, that's not going to help us anyways."

"Why not?"

"We need to figure out WHY Red Lady is haunting, not try to stop her from haunting."

"Umm, no, we definitely need her to stop haunting!"

"It's like that whole if you teach a man to fish thing, you know?"

"Umm, no, I don't know?" He's the one sounding crazy now—still cute, though.

"If you give a man a fish, you'll feed him for a day, BUT if you teach a man to fish, you'll feed him for life."

"So, let me get this straight, you want to teach me to fish?"

"No," Jin says, putting his hands on my shoulders, coming closer to me again. "We don't want to stop Red Lady from haunting for just one night. We want to stop her forever."

"Okay," I say, shifting around uncomfortable at the fact that I'm close enough to kiss him again and thinking about it. I shake my head to focus. "How do we do that?"

"We need to find out WHY Red Lady is haunting in the first place."

"How?"

"Fishing," Jin says with a smile.

"Fishing?"

"Yes, fishing for answers."

"Where do we start?"

"With your family history."

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