Stormy Knight- Prom Queen of the Undead Read online

  “Since we’re walking, we should get going,” Stormy said.

  They gathered up the plates and put them in the sink, then headed out the door to school.

  “I talked to Dad about my driver’s license,” Stormy said on her way down the driveway. “He’s going to give me another lesson or two later this week and then I think I’ll be ready to take the test.”

  “Right on! It’s about time you earn your wings. I mean, geez, having your license is like a teenager’s rite of passage,” Marco encouraged. “You know, maybe this whole vampire thing really is true ‘cuz I can’t see any other reason why you just haven’t been gung-ho about getting your license.”

  “I’m only half vampire,” Stormy replied, still a little peeved that after all this time neither Marco nor Corey took her claim seriously.

  “Oh, great,” Marco exclaimed then stopped walking.

  “Gee, was it something I said?” asked Stormy.

  “No, look ahead. It’s Pitts, and he sounds extra nasty this morning.”

  Pitts had to be by far the meanest, ugliest pit bull. He’d been guarding the local junkyard for so long that some people were convinced he was the oldest living dog known to man.

  “Come on, now.” Stormy grabbed Marco by the arm. “You know he never sounds happy when we pass by.”

  “Yeah, well if his growl is any indication, today he’s extra unhappy,” Marco said.

  Marco pulled away from Stormy then positioned her between himself and the fence that protected the outside world from Pitts.

  “Hey, what do you think you are doing?” Stormy asked.

  “I don’t want to walk next to the gate and risk getting my leg bitten. I need them for track.” Marco walked behind her as they stepped down into the street.

  “Oooh, my knight in shining armor,” Stormy teased.

  “Well, you’re the one who says you’re half vampire so if that’s true then I’m sure you can hold your own, and then some,” Marco shot back.

  Just as they passed the fence surrounding the yard, there was a loud sound; Pitts had rushed it so hard he actually broke through.

  “See!” Marco pointed at the angry dog.

  “Grrr-rrrrrr.” Pitts stood in front of them growling, his eyes locked on both Stormy and Marco.

  And without an ounce of fear, Stormy held out her hand and smiled.

  Instantly, Pitts went from a terror to acting like a puppy, whimpering then lying down at Stormy’s feet.

  “What a good dog,” she said, leaning down to rub his belly.

  “Okay…what just happened here?” asked a stunned Marco.

  Stormy shot a smile over her shoulder. “Would you hold my backpack for a minute?”

  “Uh, sure,” Marco agreed, taking it from her.

  Just as Stormy bent down to pick up Pitts, Mr. Black, the junkyard owner, or as he liked to be referred to as an ‘antique entrepreneur,’ was huffing and puffing his way towards her.

  “Morning, Mister Black,” Stormy said, stepping through the hole in the fence.

  “Morning, Stormy,” said Mr. Black, an older white-haired man with a long sloping nose and a pot belly. “I don’t know what’s gotten into Pitts today, but he’s been acting more annoyed than usual.”

  “I can tell,” Marco hollered through the hole in the fence—still waiting out in the street.

  “I hope he didn’t give you kids too much of a scare,” said Mr. Black as Stormy handed Pitts off to him.

  “Nothing we aren’t used to.” Stormy smiled. “Well, we need to head to school.”

  “Have a good day,” Mr. Black said.

  * * * *

  When Stormy and Marco arrived at school they were greeted at the front door by Corey who had been standing on the steps of the school entrance chatting with Mya, a short girl with curly red hair and glasses, about their science lab project. She was cute in a nerdy sort of way. And Stormy was surprised to find herself somewhat jealous of Mya.

  “Hi, Stormy. What’s up, Marco,” Corey said to them then turned to Mya. “With the statistics that we have gathered, I think we’re ready to assemble a pie chart to show the probability of being struck by lightning on land versus at sea—”

  “—and if you are struck by lightning, the chance of your dying from it,” Mya continued.

  “Wow, you two sure know how to capture someone’s interest,” Marco said sarcastically.

  “To each his own, Marco.” Corey looked at Mya. “Hey, you wanna go bowling with us tonight?”

  Stormy caught her breath; there was no way she would have any of that. Yeah, she thought Mya was okay, but bowling was her and Corey and Marco’s time to hang.

  Stormy concentrated on Mya and thought really hard: no, you are busy, no, you are busy, no, you are busy…

  “No. Sorry, I’m busy,” Mya said. “I’m babysitting for the Petersons. I need the cash for my college fund.”

  Stormy smiled. She felt kind of guilty about using her powers like she did; but not that guilty, especially since it appeared Mya really was busy.

  “Well, okay,” Corey said, hands in pockets. “Maybe some other time then.”

  “Sure, maybe. I guess,” Mya said with a weak smile.

  “It’s getting late. We better get to class now,” Stormy coaxed.

  “Ah, right.” Mya gave a meek little wave. “See you guys later.”

  “Bye,” Corey said.

  They stood there a few moments watching her go, then a bell rang, and Marco and Stormy started to pull Corey down the hallway towards class.

  It brought Corey back to the matters at hand.

  “According to my calculations,” Corey turned towards Stormy, “it appears that Mister Nugent will be giving us one of his famous ‘not so pop, pop quizzes’ today.”

  “Ah, Corey. You’re so on it,” Stormy sighed.

  Marco looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

  “Did either of you study the chapter about Pompeii?” Corey asked.

  “Nope. I sorta forgot,” said Marco sheepishly.

  “Nah. I figure I’ll just take my chances,” Stormy added.

  When they walked past the stairs, Rosey was there, leaning against a railing. She was in full cheerleader garb surrounded by her best friends, the twin cheerleaders Jinna and Shyra Lobo. The trio of girls were making googly eyes at three football players: Jarrod, Zac and Chad. The three guys weren’t brothers but they might as well have been for they were all big, with thick necks and short blonde crew cuts.

  Stormy remarked softly, “Why are they all in their football outfits? Football season ended months ago.”

  “Apparently, Rosey has declared it football appreciation day,” Corey said very matter-of-factly.

  Both Marco and Stormy looked at him.

  Corey shrugged. “Hey, what can I say? I read Rosey’s blog. I like to be informed.”

  By this time, Rosey had noticed Stormy.

  “Hey, Stormy,” she called. “Do you want to borrow my brush?”

  The other two girls giggled.

  “Your brush? Uh…no thanks,” Stormy replied.

  “Oh, okay, well then maybe you should invest in one of your own. That way your hair won’t look like such a rat’s nest…” Rosey snickered then turned away to continue her conversation with the others.

  Stormy was about to respond but the five-minute warning bell sounded.

  “Girl, that chick has some serious issues,” Marco said. “But don’t let her get to you, Stormy.”

  “Touché, Marco.” Stormy sighed as he high fived her.

  Chapter 5

  Stormy, Marco and Corey worked their way down the hallway to class. Along the way they passed Janitor Bob. Most kids in school didn’t pay any attention to him because he was kind of like a water fountain, blending in with the surroundings, but Corey was different. He actually talked to Janitor Bob. And that was something Stormy found attractive about Corey; he always had time for everybody.

  “Hey, Bob,” Corey said in his usual frien
dly tone.

  Bob looked up from his mopping. There was something about Bob that just gave Stormy the creeps. She wasn’t sure why; there appeared to be nothing unordinary about him. He was tall but not too tall; slim but not bone slim. His hair was gray and fading a little more every day, but he had to be way old, like in his fifties, so that wasn’t unusual. He had a funny mustache that curled up on the ends, and his eyes were kind of small and not exactly filled with life, but the man cleaned school for a living so Stormy didn’t expect he’d be bursting over with excitement. Whatever the reason, she knew Corey and Marco didn’t see it.

  Bob gave Corey a rare smile. “Thanks for the information you gave me on raising bees.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Corey said. “I think it’s cool you want to start making your own honey—”

  The last warning bell sounded.

  “Come on, guys,” Stormy coaxed. “I don’t want to be late for class.”

  “See ya, Bob,” Corey said.

  “Yeah,” Marco said.

  * * * *

  The second after Stormy, Marco and Corey entered Mr. Nugent’s classroom he shut the door behind them.

  “Glad you three could make it,” Mr. Nugent told them.

  “Hey, we had an entire thirty seconds to spare,” Marco said as they took their seats.

  Mr. Nugent stepped back behind his desk and clasped his hands together. He had a smug, confident look on his face as he reached down to his desk drawer to pull out a stack of papers. Smiling, he said, “I hope you all read the assigned chapters last night,” then he showed the papers in his hand, “because it’s pop quiz time!”

  All of the class (except for Corey) groaned. Stormy glanced over at him. He was grinning from ear to ear while rocking back and forth, eager to get cracking; he could barely contain himself he was so proud that he was ready. On one hand, she was impressed that Corey had been right, as he almost always was, but on the other hand, Stormy was a little put off by the fact that his glee wasn’t at all tempered by the reaction of the rest of the class.

  “You will have the full class time to complete the test.” Mr. Nugent went to the front row and started handing out the quiz papers. “You may begin as soon as you have a copy. It is fill-in-the-blank. And spelling counts, so be careful.”

  Mr. Nugent’s face was almost glowing. It seemed that he loved giving his pop quizzes almost as much as Corey enjoyed acing them.

  “Hey Mister Nugent, what do you say we make this one an open book quiz?” encouraged Marco.

  “Sure, Marco. We can make it open book,” Mr. Nugent replied.

  The agreement caught Marco’s attention, as it did most of the rest of the class, and they all sat there listening with bated breath, trying to figure out what he meant.

  “As in, how about you open your book and start reading the next two chapters for tonight’s homework when you finish with your quiz,” Mr. Nugent continued, “because I just may give you another one tomorrow!”

  “Arghhh!” groaned the class.

  “Well played, Mister Nugent.” Marco tapped his pencil on the edge of his desk. “Very well played.”

  Rosey Cheeks, who of course always sat in front of Stormy, turned back to her to hand her quiz. “Good luck,” she said.

  “Thanks.” Stormy took the paper.

  “Of course, you’re going to need it,” Rosey added. “And remember, don’t even think about cheating off of Corey, or me for that matter!”

  Now that was the Rosey Cheeks that Stormy knew. She turned to pass the rest of the quizzes on then turned back to the front.

  Stormy looked over the quiz. She wasn’t too worried. One of the advantages of being part vampire was that she had a really good memory. It may not have been photographic, but it was pretty darn close.

  “Now, you all know the rules. No talking or looking at your neighbor’s paper,” Mr. Nugent reminded the class.

  Stormy whipped through the first ten questions. Mr. Nugent liked to think his tests were hard, but they weren’t that bad. Most of them were simple one word answers. But then she hit question eleven, “What are the meanings of Salve and Lucru?”

  Man, that’s Greek to me, Stormy joked to herself. She took a deep breath. This should come to her. She thought a second more. Nope, not coming.

  Then a voice in her ear whispered, “Welcome and Money.”

  “Thanks,” Stormy said, without thinking—then she froze. She shouldn’t have been talking out loud during a pop quiz. Much less with no idea who she was talking to.

  Slowly, she looked to her left and there he was, again.

  “Remember me?” Kenny the ghost said with a polite half wave.

  “You shouldn’t be here!” Stormy whispered as loudly as she could and still be able to consider it a whisper.

  “I know,” Kenny said. “And that’s the problem.”

  Mr. Nugent looked up from his desk and glared at Stormy.

  “Sorry,” Stormy shrugged. “Pop quizzes make me talk to myself.”

  A couple of her classmates chuckled.

  “That’s enough class. The next time someone talks before the testing is done will cause all of you to have an all expense paid trip to the principal’s office.”

  Stormy figured that for now her best course of action would probably be to ignore Kenny. She wasn’t sure that if she ignored a ghost he would go away, but it was worth a try.

  She forced her concentration back on her paper.

  “I’m still not supposed to be here,” Kenny said. “But I’m hoping you can send me back. I liked where I was. It was nice and quiet.” He looked around the room. “I don’t like it here.”

  Stormy tried reading the next question. It was much easier thought than done considering how Kenny waved his hand in front of her face, trying to block her view. It didn’t quite work with him being transparent; but it was still annoying.

  “Okay class, twenty more minutes,” Mr. Nugent said.

  “I’m not going away,” Kenny insisted. “Just kill me again and we’ll all be happy.”

  Stormy shot a glare at Kenny. “Will you just shut up!”

  Mr. Nugent, his face now furrowed and eyebrows turned into a unibrow, focused on Stormy. “Were you talking to me?”

  “No, sir,” Stormy said slowly as she slid down in her seat.

  “I think she was,” Rosey said. “After all, who else could she be speaking too?”

  Mr. Nugent stood up from behind the desk and pointed to the door. “Stormy, hand me your quiz and report to Principal Cunningham’s office. Now!”

  Stormy considered arguing; even thought of using her calming voice to put them all to sleep then dealing with the ghost. Part of her liked that idea—a lot—but she figured it was bound to somehow backfire on her. Especially since she had no idea of how to get rid of this spirit. It would be best to take her punishment now and apologize later.

  Stormy stood up, grabbed her backpack, glanced in Kenny’s direction and headed out the door.

  Chapter 6

  Stormy stormed down the hallway with Kenny the ghost in tow. “You really got me in a lot of trouble,” she whispered to him.

  “Sorry,” Kenny replied. “I didn’t mean to, but you’re the only one here who can help me. Besides, if you killed me earlier like I asked this wouldn’t have happened.”

  Stormy stopped and looked at him, even though she didn’t want to. After all, he did just get her in trouble. “I have no idea why you think I would kill anything!”

  “Because you’re a vamp. Vamps kill things, and I want to be dead again,” Kenny insisted.

  “I’m not like that, and anyway, I’m only part vampire. I prefer to let my human side dominate my life! Humans don’t eat ghosts,” Stormy explained, loudly. “Now just stop talking before you get me into more trouble!”

  “Then why don’t you just think to me?”

  I can do that? Stormy thought to Kenny.

  Yes, he answered.

  Ya’ know you could have saved us bo
th a lot of grief if you told me that in the first place.

  “Sorry.” Kenny dropped his head. “I guess I just figured that since you were a vampire, you’d know.”

  Stormy sighed and started walking again. She shouldn’t have been so hard on him. This ghost didn’t seem like a bad guy. In fact, he was just a teen like her.

  “No problem,” Stormy said, out loud, forgetting she could think messages to Kenny.

  Janitor Bob looked up from his mopping. “What’s no problem?”

  “Ah, sorry, Bob,” Stormy said awkwardly. “Just mumbling to myself.”

  Bob nodded then went on with his mopping and as Stormy hurriedly made her way down the hall, she was pretty sure she heard him mumble, “…of course, nobody ever stops to talk to the janitor…”

  When she reached the principal’s office door, she lifted her hand to knock then paused. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, or how she was going to explain her outburst. Better to just play it by ear and roll with it.

  Stormy knocked.

  “Come in,” a voice called from behind the door.

  Stormy opened the door and crept in to the office.

  Principal Cunningham looked up from a paper he was reading. He was a large, round man with a brush cut that was probably out of style when Kenny the ghost was still walking these halls alive. He and his desk pretty much took up the entire office. In fact, she had seen closets that were bigger.

  “You are one of the last people I expected to see here Stormy Knight,” Principal Cunningham said with a disappointed tone. “I was surprised when Mister Nugent called to report you.”

  “I had a slight slip,” Stormy said.

  “Hey, that’s Jerry Cunningham.” Kenny pointed and laughed. “He was the captain of the football team when I was a student here. Hard to believe he became principal. Well, he did spend enough time in the principal’s office.”

  She couldn’t help it; Stormy giggled.

  Principal Cunningham scowled. “Do you think disrupting valuable classroom time is funny?”

  Stormy lowered her head. “No, sir.”

  Suddenly, the door to the office flung open.