I was a zombie trudging through the hallway Monday morning. Oliver had been a persistent little pest the last two days and I'd had little to no sleep. Unlike my other ghostly acquaintances, he was able to sit and conversate, pace the room and run through the little things he could remember, and the worst, most irritating thing of all, he wouldn't shut up about talking to Axel. In his tiny little ghost brain, he most believe that his brother is the answer to everything. That the second I approach Axel with the outlandish conversation starter of "I can see your dead brother" that he'd join our little detective club we'd find the killer.

I would have thought someone as smart as our school Valedictorian would realize that his brother was going to, without any doubt, laugh in our faces, even if it was only mine visible to him. I'd made the mistake of telling one person aside from Kingston my ability and they had tried to have me institutionalized.

"Aye, you didn't come to the afterparty." King leaned into the locker beside mine with a crooked grin. "That shit was lit."

"I was exhausted and depressed." I shrugged a shoulder. "Last thing I should be doing is getting drunk."

He laughed. "No, really, Fai. Even St. James showed up. It was awesome. Lot of clean up Sunday morning, but totally worth it."

My head whipped up at the mention of Oliver. As if his name had summoned him, he appeared beside me, so close that if he were physically able, his shoulder would be brushing against mine.

"Oliver was at your party?" I tried to keep my voice neutral. Sure, King knew of my abilities, and believed me to an extent as he'd witnessed some weird stuff, but to tell him that Oliver St. James' ghost was right beside me would freak him the hell out.

"Yep." He rocked back and forth on his feet. "For someone that claims to not like the rich dick you sure are interested in him."

I could feel Oliver's eyes on me, and for a second I almost told him to stop staring. Straightening myself, I tried to sound as uninterested as possible.

"Do you know if he like left early or whatever?"

"Dunno." King shrugged a shoulder, dark eyes falling to it as he brushed a piece of lint of his white shirt. "It was kinda weird though, because he was asking about you."

Out of habit, I looked to Oliver with a quirked brow. He only looked at me just as curiously. He obviously couldn't remember.

"Really? What'd he ask?"

"He didn't even know your name. He just asked where my hot, quiet friend was." I felt warmth spread through my cheeks at that. "When I told him you dipped, he kind of got weird. Asked what your deal was and why you didn't date and kept your distance."

"What'd you say?"

Kingston smiled as if his answer was a winning lottery ticket. "I told him it was because you were too good for all the little boys in this school and the only reason why you're strange is because you're in a whole different league than him and his buddies."

Oliver himself looked embarrassed but he didn't speak. I looked between the two boys for a minute, but there was a look in King's eyes as he spoke that was a clear indication that he wasn't telling the full story.

"And?"

"And nothing. Then he walked away. I didn't see him after that." King responded. "His little girlfriend came up to me this morning and asked about him though. Weird, right? I guess nobody has seen him since the party.

I have.

"That is weird. Has she talked to Axel?" I could feel the temperature dropping by the second as Oliver's emotions started to overwhelm him beside me.

King nodded. "Yeah, she said he told her Oliver wasn't answering his phone either. I dunno though. That dude's weird as hell, so maybe she never really asked. Maybe I made the little prick feel so shitty he decided to dip out of town."

Oliver snickered, but his eyes were fixated on the door at the end of the hallway, likely somewhere far beyond that.

"Well, hopefully he's okay." I answered quietly, shifting my back on to my shoulder. "I gotta go, though."

"Don't you need a ride?" King questioned, surprised. "Are you walking home?"

I could have explained to him I needed him to drop me off at the mechanic shop Axel worked at, but I knew that definitely wouldn't end well and I'd be bombarded with questions and looks of disapproval. I would agree with both, of course, but it was the only way I was going to be able to silence Oliver.

"Something like that." I leaned forward and hugged Kingston. "I'll be fine, King. Don't worry. I'll text you as soon as I get home."

He eyed me skeptically, but after a minute nodded and hugged me back. "Okay. Love you, Freak."

I smiled at the nickname and back away. "Love you too, Wannabe."

*

"Can you just shut up!" I snapped irritability. Every head in the waiting area of the small shop whipped in my direction. My cheeks flushed and Oliver deflated a little beside me, probably coming to the conclusion that I looked like a complete loon talking to myself.

"Hello, Miss, can I help you?" I looked to the man behind the counter. His face was smeared in soot, and every time he touched the orange rag to a spot it smeared more.

"I'm looking for Axel." I said quickly. "Axel St. James."

The man's dark eyes sized me up before he made a gesture with his thumb over his shoulder. "He's out back working on an old beater. Didn't mention anything about a girlfriend."

Oh God, no. Of course that's what everyone was going to think.

As if Oliver could read my mind, his lips tugged into a smirk and he made a gesture for me to go on. "Wouldn't want to keep your boyfriend waiting, would you?"

Knowing very well I'd look as though I'd completely lost it if I flipped off the air, I smiled at the worker and headed down the long corridor to another door.

Pushing it open, I was immediately struck by the smell of oil and deafened by metal blasting through the garage. I thought I groaned internally, but the laugh out of Oliver was a sure sign I'd done it aloud.

"He's over there." Oliver pointed to the end of the garage where a pair of black work shoes were poking out from under a black car. "Don't scare him."

"Thanks for that piece of advice, Sherlock." I grumbled bitterly.

Oliver flashed a coy smile and fell into step beside me as we approached the other side of the garage. Axel must have heard my footsteps because he froze under the car and heaved out a, "Can I help you?"

"Are you Axel St. James?" I sputtered the words out and Oliver threw his hand over his face in second hand embarrassment. Glaring, I flipped him off, ready to tell him I didn't know what else to say when Axel slid out from under the car and sat up.

He didn't even try to subtly check me out, but allowed his eyes to freely roam me before they finally met my own. "Do I know you?" was what he finally said.

"My name is Ophelia Coleman." I raised my hand in a wave, then dropped it just as quickly. He was already being hostile. "Everyone calls me Fai. We went to school together most our lives."

He shook his head. "Nope. I've never seen you before."

"Okay." I looked to Oliver for help, but he was too busy waving his hand in front of Axel's face, looking bothered by the fact his brother couldn't see him. "I'm here to talk about Oliver."

"Oh shit, Oliver's got two chicks?" Axel rubbed at the dirt on his face, smearing it with sweat as his coworker had. "Damn."

I wasn't amused by that in the slightest. "I'm not one of your brother's chicks. I'm a. . . friend."

Yeah, a friend that can see your dead brother.

"His girl already talked to me. I haven't seen him since Saturday night." Axel said as he pushed himself to his feet. I fell back a step and glanced up at him.

I'd always questioned how the boys were brothers, as the only resemblance they shared was dark, messy black hair. Outside of that, Oliver was extremely lanky and uncoordinated, while Axel was lean and muscular and stood a good foot taller than his brother. Even under all the car crap dirtying Axel's face, it was unmistakably as gorgeous as his brother's was. But his eyes had always been what girls whispered about in the halls and stalls at school. They were a blue gray-the color of water reflecting off an overcast sky.

"I know." I finally murmured. "I came here to talk to you because I know where he is."

Axel eyed me for a minute before reaching for a water bottle on top of the toolbox at his feet. "Yeah? He good?"

"He's dead."

Way to be subtle, Fai.

"Okay." Axel's jaw tightened and despite my distaste for him and his attitude, I couldn't help but notice how the action sharpened his cheekbones. "What kind of sick joke is that?"

"It's not a joke." I looked to Oliver beside me. "He's dead."

Axel crunched the bottle of water in his hand. "How would you even know that?"

"Because he's here right now." I gestured to Oliver beside me. "And I can see him."

I had fully expected Axel to laugh at the confession, but him buckling over and slapping his hands against his knees in uncontrollable laughter still somehow got to me and I tightened my grip on my backpack strap. "You know what, screw this. I'm leaving."

"Ophelia, please, wait." Oliver tried to reach for me, but his hand went through me. "Tell him to ask you a question only I'd know."

I hesitated, then turned to Axel. "Oliver said to ask me a question only he'd know."

Axel, recovering from his laughing fit, considered my words for a moment before he said. "The promise."

I turned to Oliver, but his eyes were trained on his brother, hand trembling. The air started to grow rigid again and I awaited a response.

"The promise was that through everything we had each other's backs." Oliver whispered to me, avoiding my curious eyes on him. "Our parents used to abuse the shit out of us. My father would put out cigarette's on us, whip us with belts, all that nice stuff. Mom would verbally abuse us, tell us we weren't good enough. That we'd never find love and all that. Ax promised that when he turned eighteen he'd get us the hell out of there."

I stared at him in shock, my mouth agape as I tried to form a coherent response. "I'm so sorry."

I wasn't sure whether I was saying it to Oliver or Axel or both, but Oliver only shrugged while his older brother awaited a response. Seeing the skepticism in his eyes, I met them and straightened myself.

"He said The Promise was that you had each other's backs, or maybe it was that you promised once you turned eighteen you'd get you guys out of the house because your parents abused you."

All jokiness fell from Axel's expression and was quickly replaced with a look of surprise and anger. "How the hell do you know that?"

"He told me." I pointed at Oliver beside me. "He's right here."

"Tell him you need his help."

I stared at Oliver for a minute before laughing. "There's no way in hell I'm saying that."

"Do you want to be stuck with me the rest of your life?" he asked with a bitter edge in his voice and once he saw my reaction to the question, he added. "Grow up and put your feelings aside for a few days then. Because there's no way you're going to be able to do this on your own. Especially if. . . if I was murdered, Ophelia, it means there's a killer out there and you're in danger."

"You're crazy." Axel shook his head as he spoke, disrupting my conversation with Oliver. "Probably schizophrenic or something."

I clenched my hand into a fist at my side. "I wish that's all it was. You have no idea half the shit I go through."

"Nor do I care." he patted the back of his dirty jeans until he pulled a pack of Marlboros from them. "You can go, sweetheart."

It took everything in me and seeing the agonizing look in Oliver's eyes to force the next words out. "I need your help."

"With?"

"Finding Oliver's body. Figuring out who killed him or how he died."

"Yeah?" there was a hint of amusement in Axel's tone and I desperately wanted to close the distance between us and slap the smug look off his face.

I looked to Oliver, but he was no longer beside me. Great, he'd left me when I needed him most. I was only here dealing with his dickwad of a brother because he had pleaded that I do so.

"Look, Axel, I want absolutely nothing to do with you." I said flatly. "But I need your help in order to help Oliver move on. Help me for a day and if you still don't believe me by the end of it, you can disappear and never have to see my face again. Okay?"

I was stunned into silence by his response, watching as the smoke closed in around him.

"Okay."