Death Series

Book 1: Death Saved Me

ISABEL

I groaned as the teacher went on and on about the periodic table.

When will this torture end? When will I ever need to use the periodic table in real-life situations?

I couldn’t take these useless lessons anymore! I could be shopping right now, or doing nothing in the comfort of my home.

God finally decided to have mercy on my soul and used the bell to save me.

“Yes! Finally!” I screamed, jumping from my seat. A few kids gave me weird looks, but I couldn’t care less.

I grabbed the blank notebook—that I should have been taking notes in, but I was too busy the whole class daydreaming about my future wedding with Ryan Reynolds—and shoved it in my bag.

I gave the teacher a mock salute on my way out the door. “Until next time, Mr. Payne.” He just rolled his eyes at my antics, a reaction most of my teachers gave me.

As I made my way to my locker, I smiled as I spotted my boyfriend, Duff, standing there. He slung a gym bag over his shoulder as he watched me approach.

He was captain of the baseball team and one of the most desired guys in school.

Instead of being a stereotypical jock dating the captain of the cheerleading squad, he decided to date me, a nerd who usually got in trouble for sneaking five-hundred page novels into gym class.

Apparently, saying you’re exercising your brain is not a good enough excuse and lands you in Saturday detention. On the bright side though, I was able to bring my book.

We’ve been together for three months, and it was safe to say I think I’m in love. Can one be in love this early in the relationship? Or am I jumping the broom too fast?~

Either way, I couldn’t change the way I felt about him. Sometimes I dreamed about our future together. Living in a two-story house with maybe two—or five?—dogs. Little Duffettes running around.

“Hey, babe, how was class?” he asked, pulling me in for a hug.

I pulled back to look at him. With his low cut, his black hair always looked as if he had just gotten out of bed. He had these mesmerizing teal eyes that you could easily get lost in.

When he smiled at me, my heart melted. I loved how one side of his mouth would lift slightly higher than the other.

Not to mention he had the slim body of a pitcher, muscles in all the right places. It was no wonder why girls always threw themselves at him.

“It was torture, as always. I swear Mr. Payne makes his class boring on purpose,” I pouted.

He chuckled. “Well, you’re free now, and you’re all mine.”

I blushed at his words, biting my lip. “Actually, I made plans with Sydney after school.”

He frowned at me. “You’re always with her. Cancel and hang with me.” It wasn’t a question, more of a demand.

I shook my head. “I can’t cancel today, I canceled last week for you. I eventually need to have my girl time.”

I felt bad for canceling on him, but Sydney had been bugging me all week to hang out. If I canceled on her, she’d have a fit and probably ignore me for weeks.

The struggles of being in a relationship and having a single best friend. It’s like they mentally play tug-of-war with me.

He sighed and pulled away from me. “I’ll see you later then.” I made sure to keep my feet firmly on the ground as he walked away.

As much as I wanted to chase after him and wipe that frown off his face, I knew I couldn’t cancel on Sydney. She’d have my head on a stake.

I frowned as I continued watching him walk down the hall. My frown deepened the moment Crystal caught up with him. She laid a hand on his arm to get his attention, smiling up at him.

He didn’t blow her off like he usually did. Instead, he smiled back, making conversation with her as they rounded the corner together.

Crystal was what you called a walking STD. She had slept with half of the male population in school, even if they were taken. She had no problem catching a guy’s attention and making them fall for her.

So you could imagine her surprise and anger when Duff chose me over her, causing her to build a sudden hatred toward me.

That still didn’t deter her from trying to get with him—even if I was standing only ten feet away.

“Why the long face, Izo?” Sydney asked as she came up next to me. I turned to face her, a smile once again stretching across my face.

My best friend was gorgeous. Her long black hair, caramel complexion, and killer attitude made the guys fall at her feet.

Sometimes they literally fell, since she enjoyed tripping people. I don’t know if it was a weird fetish she developed or what.

“Nothing. Was just wondering why the school’s floozy was walking with my boyfriend.”

She laughed at my choice of words. I didn’t feel right calling her the other, much harsher word, even though that would’ve fit her a lot better.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. Are you ready to go?” she asked, looping her arm through mine. I nodded as we made our way to the double doors.

Stepping outside, I felt myself start to relax. The sun was shining, and the breeze was just right. I had no reason to be stressed.

We made our way to Sydney’s Range Rover. I never understood why she picked this car. Not that it was a bad car, it just didn’t really suit her. I always pictured her in a pink Mustang.

Jumping into the passenger seat, I tossed my backpack in the back. “Do you think we can stop and get ice cream? It’s the perfect day for it,” I asked her.

“Your treat, right? Since I’m driving there.” She smirked at me.

My car was currently in the shop due to a hit-and-run when it was parked on my street. Sydney had been driving me to and from school the whole week.

“Isn’t it always my treat?” I rolled my eyes.

Both of our parents were loaded, but Sydney’s parents actually cared about how much she spent and what she spent it on. While mine threw me a card and disappeared for months.

I was an only child so I spent much of my life with nannies. Sydney was the closest thing I had to a sibling, and I wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world.

I did wonder what it was like to have parents that cared though. Sometimes I was even jealous of the rules they had set for her.

“You know I love you though, right?”

“Me or my money?” I joked, earning an eye roll. We pulled up to the local ice cream shop and hopped out of the car. I squealed in delight; I loved ice cream with a passion.

I loved the excitement of all the different flavors to choose from. Having to decide if you wanted a waffle cone or bowl.

The door made a tinkling sound as we walked in, alerting the worker. “Welcome to Cones of Ice. What can I get you ladies today?” he asked. He was around our age, maybe a year or so older.

He was dressed in a bright green shirt and a snow cone hat, the uniform you had to wear when working at Cones of Ice.

I couldn’t help but notice the appreciative glances he was shooting at Sydney. He wasn’t too hard on the eyes himself, if you ignored the greasy hair and face acne. Hello, puberty, I thought, giggling.

“I’ll have, hmm, two scoops of the birthday cake,” Sydney told him, eyeing the ice cream with hunger in her eyes.

She didn’t even spare the poor boy a glance, even though he was eyeing her with hunger in ~his~ eyes.

“I’ll take the cookie dough in a bowl please.” I flashed him a smile. At least one of us needed to be nice. I placed my card on the counter as he finished getting our ice cream.

Looking around, I noticed there weren’t many people here today. A woman with her young daughter sat at one table, and an elderly couple sat at a table across the room.

He came back and swiped my card quickly before handing it to Sydney. Excuse me? Pretty sure I’m the one that paid. I rolled my eyes, snatching it out of her hand.

“Did you notice how hard he was checking you out?” I asked her as we sat at a table. I frowned at the crumbs leftover from the previous people that occupied it.

I used one of my napkins to knock them onto the floor. I wasn’t a neat freak or anything like that; I just preferred wherever I was eating to be clean.

She scrunched her nose up, looking as if I personally insulted her. “He’s not my type,” she said simply.

“What exactly is your type? Or do you play for the other team now and didn’t bother to tell me?”

I reached into my purse for my phone. I felt the need to inform Duff once again how sorry I was for ditching him. Maybe I’d invite him over.

Clicking Send, I focused back on the conversation. If Sydney felt I was ignoring her, she would go into a full rant about the importance of communication in a relationship.

I swear sometimes she treated our friendship like it was a marriage. She even suggested couples therapy once when I canceled a movie date with her.

“I don’t know… I guess I just like a guy that’s deep and mysterious.” She sighed dreamily.

“So, you want your own Edward Cullen then?” A giggle burst from me, knowing she’d object.

She was never really a fan of Twilight. Whenever I made her pick if she was Team Jacob or Team Edward, she’d automatically say Team Jacob.

“Ew, no, I don’t want a man that sparkles.” She shivered in disgust.

I felt my phone vibrate and pulled it out to check it. One new message. I open it quickly expecting it to be from Duff.

I sighed. Marie was our housekeeper, but she seemed more like a first mom to me. We were extremely close, and I loved her dearly.

She always took care of me when my parents were away, which was constantly. Not bothering to reply, I slipped my phone back into my purse.

“Your parents aren’t coming to dinner again?” Sydney asked me. That’s how close we were; she always knew exactly what was bothering me. Sometimes it was a little creepy.

“Yeah, at least she didn’t give me some lame excuse this time.” Usually, they would come up with the most ridiculous excuses. “The motor stopped working in the car.” “It’s raining too hard to drive.”

Oh, and my favorite one: “I lost my car keys, we won’t be home for another week.” My mother was the most organized person I knew. That’s why that was the most ridiculous of them all.

I scooped the last of my ice cream into my mouth as my phone vibrated again. Maybe she decided to send an excuse after all.

I frowned at his text. Any time someone says “it’s cool,” it’s usually not cool.

Why can’t people just say what they’re really thinking? Save others the trouble of guessing. Not all of us had powers like Professor X.

“Are you staying at my place tonight then?” she asked.

“No, I promised Duff he could come over later.” It’s the least I could do after blowing him off earlier.

“To stay the night? Don’t you think that’d be giving him the wrong idea?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, he’s just hanging around for a while.”

“Oh, okay, well, let’s go then.” She stood up from the table and collected her trash. I followed, tossing my trash on the way out.