I grabbed the dress, lace gloves, and a pair of button-up boots. Racing for the shower, I sent up a silent prayer; please don’t let me trip on stage. At least my boots don’t have laces. That should help even the odds.
I emerged an hour later in full dress and makeup. I strode to my full length mirror, skirts swishing. I’d chosen black and white striped stockings which showed above my boots where the skirts of my dress were cinched at the knee. The back of the dress flowed down to touch my boots about an inch above the heel. Oversleeping meant I didn’t have time to paint my nails, but the lace gloves I wore covered the flecks of old black nail polish.
I was finally ready. I fist pumped the air above my head and stared back at my reflection.
“Time to graduate,” I whispered.
*****
I sat beside my parents on an uncomfortable folding chair and fidgeted with my cap. I couldn’t wait to throw the thing into the air, and be rid of it for good, but first I had to graduate.
The sun was rising high into the late morning sky and the heat was already unbearable. It felt like I’d been sitting in the heat for hours. Another drop of sweat trickled down my back. Why did they have to hold the ceremony outside? Not that I wanted to spend the day inside a smelly gym, but at least in there my makeup wouldn’t run. I felt like I was melting.
“You look lovely, dear,” Mom said.
“Thanks,” I said
I caught motion to my right and perked up. Were we starting? My stomach filled with the flutter of vampire bats, but it was only Gordy waving. I waved back at Gordy and Katie who were taking their seats.
At least they wouldn’t have to sit here as long. My parents had insisted on coming early. Looking at the program, I groaned. They were calling students in alphabetical order. With the name Stennings, I would be one of the last students to walk the stage. I just hoped that they called me Yuki.
A hand on my shoulder made me jump.
“Can I borrow Yuki for a moment, Mrs. Stennings?” Cal asked.
Ah, rescued by my knight in furry armor. My mom loved Cal, she’d totally say yes.
“Only for a few minutes, Calvin,” she said. “They are preparing to begin.”
“Be right back,” I said, already rushing to leave.
Cal held out his hand and I climbed over the chair to exit the row of seats. I followed Cal to where Simon stood waiting beneath the shade of a tree.
“Simon has a graduation gift for you,” Cal said.
Hell must have frozen over.
“Yes, I would have waited until after the ceremony, but Emma’s parents have invited me to a family cookout,” Simon said. He looked slightly ill. I wasn’t sure if it was the thought of attending a cookout, meeting Emma’s parents, or eating tofu dogs and veggie burgers. “Calvin told me about your decision to pursue painting as a career.”
I nodded, wondering what kind of gift Simon would give me. A paint brush? A sketch pad? Instead he handed me a business card.
“If you’re serious, and want to show your work in Boston some time, I know a guy with an art gallery,” he said. Simon glanced at the card in my hand and a grin tugged at his lips. “Tell him Simon sent you.”
Simon knew a guy with an art gallery? Of course he did, Simon had connections everywhere. Usually they were black market connections, but I doubted he was talking about a shady art gallery. Then again, this was Simon.
“Is this guy some kind of forger?” I asked.
“Not anymore,” he said, shrugging.
Great, Simon was hooking me up with a former black market art dealer. But the guy had gone legit. I slid the card into my pocket. Who knows, maybe I’d have Emma look him up online and make sure he had a legitimate gallery.
“Thanks Simon,” I said.
He drifted off to sit with Emma and I took a step back toward the rows of seats.
“Wait,” Cal said. “I haven’t given you my gift yet.”
“I thought we were exchanging gifts later,” I said. “I don’t have yours with me.”
“This is just part of your gift,” he said.
Cal handed me an envelope. I could feel something hard inside and when I opened it, a key slid out onto my palm.
“The key to your heart?” I asked.
Cal leaned down and let his lips brush mine.
“You already have that,” he said. “This is a key to the flea market. You are now the renter of stall number thirteen.”
I jumped into his arms and he spun me around.
“Really?” I squealed.
“Really,” he said. “We can go there after we have tea with your parents.”
Cal really was the best boyfriend ever.
We rushed back to our seats and the ceremony began. With thoughts of my new art business racing through my head, time flew by. Before I knew it, they were calling Emma’s name. She would be taking the stage again later for her valedictory speech. I was so freaking proud of her.
As soon as she stepped onto the stage a cheering and round of applause met my own. I looked around, seeing my friends smiling and clapping, but the cheering wasn’t coming from the seats where students sat with their families. Did Emma bring her own fan club? It was possible. She’d volunteered at a lot of local businesses that helped animals.
But when Calvin took the stage the cheering began again. Cal hadn’t volunteered with Emma, so who were the people cheering?
Soon, too soon, it was my turn. They called out for Vanessa Stennings. Of course they wouldn’t get my name right. Oh well, I’m almost out of this place. Goodbye, Wakefield High.
I walked up onto the stage, careful not to trip as I took the stairs one at a time. I wanted to run. My lungs tightened and I started to see stars. But no, it wasn’t stars. The golden glow was hovering over a family that stood arm in arm behind the rows of seats.
Rose Peterson had returned to witness one final victory.
I looked out past the now forgotten crowd to see Sarah Randall’s smiling face. Sarah and her family cheered, laughing and clapping. They were cheering for me.
A blinked away tears and took a shuddering breath.
Senior year had been difficult—discovering that Cal was a werewolf, dealing with my emerging psychic powers, the car accident with Emma, and being bullied by jocks. Looking out at Sarah’s smiling face, I realized something important. My ability to smell spirits of the dead was not a curse, it was a gift. A weight lifted from my chest and for the first time in months, I could breathe again. My life may be difficult, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I raised my hand and waved.
###
Author’s Note
“My heart, always so strong in the past, was like the fishnet stockings that clung to my legs—torn, shredded, and full of gaping holes.”
--Yuki, Brush with Death
The Spirit Guide series has been an emotional journey for me. These characters have been raised up, knocked down, and tormented, by bullies, ghosts, and their pasts, and yet they continue to pick up the pieces with a smile—until Brush with Death.
In the newest installment of the Spirit Guide series, there are chinks in the armor of these characters, and its beginning to show. You can’t glue Humpty Dumpty back together over and over again and expect his smile to remain perfect. There will always be a twist to his lips here, a dark shadow beneath his eyes there. And that’s what I wanted to show in Brush with Death. These characters are amazing and strong and true to themselves, but they are damaged.
Do they make mistakes? Yes. These are teens on the cusp of adulthood who are dealing with ghosts, bullies, creepy spirit guides, and (hopefully) high school graduation. Each character is under incredible pressure to make the right decisions about their future.
But it’s hard to focus on tomorrow, if you may not survive the day.
I hope fans of the series will forgive me for the way I treated these beloved characters. I can assure you that I felt every moment of fear, guilt, and indecision as if it were
my own. As one reviewer put it, “I hope you're ready to be torn apart and stitched back together again when you read it, because that's exactly what happened to me. Yuki was broken, Calvin was broken, Emma was broken, I was broken—but E.J. slammed us all back together and it wasn't awful, it was good.” I will keep my fingers crossed that you find the overall experience good as well.
And if you are still with me, dear readers, in 2013 we have ghost pirates. Yes, GHOST PIRATES. I promise that The Pirate Curse will be fun indeed.
Also by E.J. Stevens
Spirit Guide
Young Adult Series
She Smells the Dead
Spirit Storm
Legend of Witchtrot Road
Brush with Death
Ivy Granger
Urban Fantasy Series
Shadow Sight
Blood and Mistletoe (November 2012)
Dark Poetry Collections
From the Shadows
Shadows of Myth and Legend
The Spirit Guide Series
She Smells the Dead
Yuki has a secret…she smells the dead.
"This series is like Nancy Drew meets the Winchester Brothers from Supernatural."
-I'd So Rather Be Reading
Spirit Storm
Spirits of the Dead are coming...
"Part mystery, part adventure, part romance and all the things a reader wants."
-Read For Your Future
Legend of Witchtrot Road
Surviving agitated ghosts, irritated witches, angry werewolves, and the horrors of high school has never been so hard.
"I didn't think it possible to fall even more in love with this series (and the characters, oh the amazingly swoon-worthy male characters and the super snarky female characters), but after having read this book, the third installment of this series, I found that it is indeed possible."
-Avery's Book Nook
Brush with Death
Samhain was scary, but graduation is downright terrifying.
The Pirate Curse
When Yuki starts smelling salt brine and seaweed, she finds her summer vacation hijacked by pirates...the DEAD kind.
Will the ghost of Black Sam Bellamy, Prince of Pirates, lead Yuki and her friends to treasure or terror?
(Coming 2013)
The Ivy Ganger Series
Shadow Sight
Welcome to Harborsmouth, where monsters walk the streets unseen by humans...except those with second sight, like Ivy Granger.
"I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sarcastic wit, supernatural beings, a good mystery and one kick butt heroine."
-Paranormal Romance Guild
"If you enjoy Urban Fantasies, and especially if you’re interested in the fae, you should definitely check out this book."
-Now Is Gone
"If you're looking for a great urban fantasy read and love all things fae and enjoy the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire, then I highly recommend Shadow Sight as a great way to spend a few hours inside the well spun fantastical world crafted by E.J. Stevens"
-sfx555chick
"If you like the Kate Daniels magic series, you'll dig this one!!"
-Kris10karma
"Shadow Sight is well worth a 5 out of 5 rating...I enjoyed it even more than my beloved Hollows series by Kim Harrison."
-My Keeper Shelf
"Shadow Sight is a fun, quirky paranormal read that just leaves you wanting more."
-The Bawdy Book Blog
Blood and Mistletoe: An Ivy Granger Novella
Holidays are worse than a full moon for making people crazy. In Harborsmouth, where many of the residents are undead vampires or monstrous fae, the combination may prove deadly.
(Coming November 2012)
Ghost Light
(Coming 2013)
Burning Bright
(Coming Soon)
E.J. Stevens is the author of the Spirit Guide young adult series and the bestselling Ivy Granger urban fantasy series. When E.J. isn't at her writing desk she enjoys dancing along seaside cliffs, singing in graveyards, and sleeping in faerie circles. E.J. currently resides in a magical forest on the coast of Maine where she finds daily inspiration for her writing.
You can learn more about E.J. by visiting http://about.me/EJStevens
E.J. Stevens, Brush with Death
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