Adventures of a Graveyard Girl (A Kait Lenox YA Chick Lit Mystery) (Funeral Crashing)

  Adventures Of A Graveyard Girl

  Funeral Crashing Series #2

  By Milda Harris

  Copyright 2012 by Milda Harris

  http://www.mildaharris.com/

  Discover other titles by Milda Harris:

  Adventures in Funeral Crashing

  The New Girl Who Found A Dead Body

  Connected (A Paranormal Romance)

  Cover Art by Brett Gilbert

  http://www.brettgilbert.com

  Edited by Lauren Cramer

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Homecoming Dancing

  Chapter 2: Gawking

  Chapter 3: Graveyard Crashing

  Chapter 4: Secret Sleuthing

  Chapter 5: Reconnecting

  Chapter 6: Head Spinning

  Chapter 7: Lunch Sleuthing

  Chapter 8: Heart Breaking

  Chapter 9: Jealousy Seething

  Chapter 10: Mind Turning

  Chapter 11: Eavesdropping

  Chapter 12: Ex-Girlfriend Conning

  Chapter 13: Pep Club Faking

  Chapter 14: Police Chatting

  Chapter 15: Zealous Sleuthing

  Chapter 16: Funeral Crashing

  Chapter 17: Eulogy Giving

  Chapter 18: Football Following

  Chapter 19: Murder Solving

  Chapter 20: Status Learning

  Excerpt - Doppelganger

  Excerpt - The New Girl Who Found A Dead Body

  About the Author: Milda Harris

  Chapter 1: Homecoming Dancing

  I was going to the Homecoming Dance with Ethan Ripley, the most popular guy in school, even though I was the weird girl. Could life get any better? No, I didn't think so, at least not in the foreseeable future.

  Wow, I couldn't believe how hot Ethan looked dressed up in a suit and tie. His tie was a bright blue and it made his eyes stand out even more than normal. I was already dying to run my hands through his dark, wavy hair. It was funny, I'd never really thought much past how amazing he already looked in just jeans and a T-shirt, but there was something about a suit and tie that made my stomach do loops. I just never knew that until this very moment. That was probably because this was my first time being on a date to a dance with a guy I thought was really hot already. Well, Ethan was actually my first date to a dance ever.

  I thought I looked pretty good too, at least that's what I gathered from the double take Ethan did when he saw me as I answered the front door when he arrived to pick me up. I was wearing a silvery blue dress with spaghetti straps. It was just past the knee and flowing, yet clingy in all the right places. My shoes were these really amazing silver sandal heels and because I had a tendency toward the clumsy and always felt rickety in heels, I had practiced in them, so I wouldn't fall or, simply, look like an idiot walking in them. I had even gone through the trouble to get my hair done at a salon, so it was up in a twist with curls and I had a couple tendrils of hair framing my face. When I looked in the mirror, it was a little scary. It almost didn't look like me, especially after I put on my make-up. I almost wished I had gone to a makeup counter and had that done too. Then I really would have wowed Ethan. Next dance. It was hard to believe that I was already thinking about a next dance with Ethan! I couldn't help it. He was just so amazing. I was gushy about him, I'd admit to that. Well, to myself at least. He didn't need to know. I hoped that he was at least half as gushy about me. I mean, I thought I looked pretty great and I wouldn't normally be saying that.

  Nobody would have known that I was in the hospital only a week ago. Yeah, that's right, the hospital and I did have a scar, but it was covered up as best as I could with make-up. I was shot while solving Ethan's half sister's murder case. The upside was that for two whole days afterward, Ethan stayed by my side almost around the clock. It wasn't that serious of a wound, thank goodness, but it was still nice of Ethan to stay with me. Ethan even brought me a couple peanut butter banana milkshakes from my favorite coffee shop, Wired. I love peanut butter banana milkshakes so that was super awesome of him. They are heaven on earth! He didn't need to do that either. Just having him to talk to and pass the time with would have been enough. Well, that and the kissing.

  I mean, even though I was out sick from school and really had gotten injured, it had been a pretty amazing week just hanging out with Ethan. Ethan had gone back to school already, but I had hung out with him after school, when I wasn't out looking for a Homecoming dress, resting, and getting better. It was probably in that order too, but hey, I really needed a dress for the school Homecoming Dance!

  That reminded me, I was going to have a ton of homework to catch up on when I did go back to school on Monday. I hadn't done anything besides read novels, watch movies, and recuperate and I knew I was going to be totally behind in my classes. I didn't look forward to that. My usual pile of homework was always enough work for me and only just balanced out okay with my after school job at the Palos Video Store. Focus, Kait, focus. You're about to be at the Homecoming Dance with Ethan Ripley, now is not the time to worry about making up homework or think about going back to work.

  Ethan and I were about to walk into the Homecoming dance together. A few weeks ago I never would have believed that this moment could happen even in my wildest dreams. Just goes to show you, anything is possible!

  We handed our tickets to the teachers at the front entrance and walked into the main hallway. There were a few couples talking in the hall, but I could see that the majority of them were down the way near the lunchroom and the gym. Ethan and I walked slowly down the corridor. We were about to make our entrance. I felt a little nervous.

  "You ready for this?" Ethan asked, grinning down at me.

  Ethan thought I was worried about nothing. He just didn't understand because of course, he didn't need to be worried, he was Ethan Ripley and used to the whole being popular thing. The only thing popularity had gotten me, though, was a weird girl reputation, so I was understandably nervous. The whole school was about to watch our entrance. That totally freaked me out.

  I nodded despite my nerves. Still, I couldn't help but hold my breath as we walked closer and closer toward the area where the entire school was probably gathered, watching and gossiping about the arrivals of all of the new couples like we were on the red carpet of some Hollywood awards show. I knew we were going to be a huge target for the chatter. I braced myself.

  Then we were in the lunchroom. I knew people were staring. I wasn't the expected girl that Ethan would bring to the Homecoming Dance and I knew it, even if he didn't seem to get it. People expected someone like my ex-best friend Ariel to be on Ethan's arm. She was popular and gorgeous and well, at the dance with someone else. A college guy, Troy Matthews, that I met and went out on a date with first and introduced her to, actually, even though she's my ex-best friend. I could see a circle of Ariel's friends and hanger-oners surrounding them at a table just inside the gym, next to the dance floor. Ariel was playing the - I'm here with a college guy card for all it was worth. That was so totally Ariel and one reason we weren't friends anymore. There were a lot of other reas
ons too, of course.

  I knew I was being overly insecure about walking into the dance with Ethan and about what other people might think. I couldn't help it. The thought that the most popular guy at my high school might just actually like me back totally freaked me out. That sort of thing only happened in movies like Sixteen Candles or She's All That, not in some weird girl who crashes funerals' life. Yet, it was really happening to me. It was flipping me out, albeit in a good way.

  "Want to dance?" Ethan asked, breaking into my a zillion miles per minute thoughts. "Yes," I said, gratefully. Anything was better than standing in the lunchroom awkwardly, watching all of the people look back at us and gossip to each other.

  Ethan didn't seem to notice, though. I really envied that quality about him - the obliviousness to all the gossips. He just went with it and then did his own thing, no matter what they said. It was pretty cool, actually. I admired him for that.

  Ethan took my hand and led me toward the gymnasium. My heart did a little flip as his hand touched mine. I couldn't help but gasp as we walked all the way into the gym. It had been transformed into a romantic Homecoming Dance room. Yes, it was still the gym where I was forced to play basketball and volleyball (and I was horrible at both), but there was something about the decorations and all of the dressed up couples. Sure, the gym was only decorated with cheap streamers, balloons, handmade signs, and paper mache, but it was still breathtaking just because it was very simply, the most romantic moment of my life. At least it was the most romantic night so far.

  I gripped Ethan's hand a little tighter. He smiled down at me. I smiled back at him. I wished it could all last forever.

  Ethan led me toward the dance floor, past groups of people that I had stopped paying attention to because for me, it was suddenly just Ethan and I at the dance. For at least a moment, nobody else mattered. I didn't even care what song was playing. My first high school dance with a date and we were actually going to dance! He wasn't one of those - I don't dance guys, where you spend the whole night staring at each other and eating way too many of the chips and cheese and crackers because you have nothing better to do. I've been there and done that when I've gone by myself, which I did once.

  It was freshman year and I'd gone to the Homecoming Dance alone, mostly to just see what it was like. Well, and my mom really wanted me to. I mean, the way everyone built it up, it was supposed to be this amazing dance, really romantic, and tons of fun, except that it totally wasn't. First off, Ariel, who was still kind of my friend at the time, ditched me for her new friends, Sarah and Megan. Ariel and I were already getting rocky in our friendship, but I didn't expect her to start making fun of me to her new friends when I approached her at the dance. I left after they started laughing at me. Then I spent about ten minutes trying to look absorbed in the food at the snack table. That was, until I noticed that Ariel and her friends were going group to group to say something mean about me. So, I hid in the bathroom for an hour before calling my dad and asking him to pick me up.

  Actually, I ran into Ethan on the way out of the bathroom that night, now that I thought about it. He smiled at me in greeting as I walked toward the exit, while he walked back toward the gymnasium. He was being polite and didn't know me, I knew that even then, but the kernel of my crush started growing with that slight encouragement. We'd already met before, when my mom was in the hospital, but he didn't remember that, I didn't think. Maybe somewhere in the recesses of his head, a kernel of a crush had been growing for Ethan too that night. Maybe. Probably not, but Ethan still made my night by smiling at me even if it didn't mean anything. That night, it was the only encouragement I'd had - the one bright spot. I got home and my mom was already way sick with cancer by then and I didn't have the heart to tell her how much that Homecoming Dance totally sucked, so I told her about the boy who smiled at me outside of the bathroom instead. Consequently, my mom thought I had an amazing time because I had developed a crush. I was pretty gushy about that smile. I'd admit to that, but the truth of the matter is, crushing is never fun if it's unrequited. Now, once it's requited...that is a totally different story!

  At least I was finally getting that great experience I had heard so much about. I wished I could share it with my mom now, when it was actually true. A wave of sadness blew through me. I missed my mom. I wished she could have known that a mere year later, I'd be at the Homecoming Dance with the smiling boy I had gushed on and on about.

  "Kait!" I heard a girl yell behind me and it shook me out of my thoughts.

  Ethan and I had just reached the other dancers and were about to join them. I turned to look, wondering if the call was for someone else. I didn't really have any good friends in high school at the moment, but there was always a first. Ethan followed my gaze.

  Surprised, I looked to see Suzie Whitsett dragging Kyle Jones towards us. I felt a sudden warmness fill my heart at seeing my friends from Chemistry class. This was the first time I had ever seen them outside of our Chemistry classroom and they were actually acknowledging me instead of pretending they didn't know me. It wasn't me being insecure, by the way, talking like that - it was the simple truth. Ever since my ex-bff Ariel and I had ceased being friends, I had become the freaky weird girl and I had stayed that way all through high school so far. So, this was a very nice first - being at the dance with a date and stopping to talk to what might just be blossoming from more than just lab partner friends into real friendships.

  "You guys look so great," Suzie gushed. Normally she was the quiet girl, but since I had helped her and Kyle get together, it didn't seem like she was so quiet around me anymore.

  I felt myself turn beet red at the compliment anyway, "Thanks. You guys too."

  Suzie turned the full force of her smile on Kyle. He stared back at her like there was no other girl for him in the universe. They were such a ridiculously cute couple.

  "Hey, man," Mike Finnigan said, suddenly appearing next to Ethan. He was at the dance with one of Ariel's bffs, Sarah, and had dragged her along to say hi to his best friend. I could tell Sarah wasn't so thrilled to see me, although she was probably taking mental notes so that she could relay them back to Ariel.

  I looked around for Dave Rickerson who wasn't usually far behind Mike and Ethan, but he must have been dancing with his date. I wondered who he had brought to the dance. Wow, we were almost starting to form our own group, Ethan and I. It was an odd group too - a strange mismatch of popular kids and totally unpopular kids. Luckily, everyone was being nice to each other despite that, at least so far.

  I was only just getting to know Ethan's friends, Mike and Dave, but I liked them a lot. They had come to visit me in the hospital even though they were just Ethan's friends. Their motto seemed to be that any friend of Ethan, was a friend of theirs and they thought it was really cool that I had helped him find out what had really happened to his half sister. Nobody had believed in Ethan's suspicions at first, that she had been murdered, except me, and Ethan had turned out to be right. The fact that I believed in Ethan and supported him in his search, thus, gave me mad points in Dave and Mike's book.

  "You look hot, Kait," Mike said to me, to his date Sarah's annoyance.

  Ethan smiled and squeezed my hand. He and I both knew that Mike was just trying to make me feel comfortable in their group. Still, I glanced at Sarah again and hoped she'd complain to Ariel about me. She didn't need to know that Mike was just being nice to me.

  "Thanks, Mike," I said, smiling back at him.

  There was a bit of a silence as our weird group took each other in. I tried to think of something to say to kick-start the conversation, but I was drawing a blank. Mike and Ethan were both sports nuts although Ethan also wrote songs and avidly read sci-fi novels. Kyle was mostly into all things science. Suzie liked to read about as much as I did, which was a lot. I had absolutely no idea what Sarah was into besides make-up and boys. We were all pretty different, actually.

  "So, the gym looks pretty cool," I said lamely to our group, trying to break th
e awkward silence.

  "The Pep Club decorated it," Sarah said proudly, like she was the Pep Club, instead of just a member. "Well, with the help of some other clubs too, but I was here until late last night decorating."

  "It looks great!" Suzie said, chiming in.

  Everyone took a second look around, as if just taking in the decorations. I mean, it was super romantic, but I just noticed it was themed too.

  "I like the theme: A Night in Paris. Super romantic," I said, trying to keep the conversation going.

  It was well done, actually. There was a big banner at the front of the gym, where the DJ was, announcing the theme for the night. A fake Eiffel Tower stood in the middle of the snack table, separating the snacks and the beverages. An Arc De Triumphe was the entranceway into the gym. The tables scattered around the dance floor were covered with white tablecloths and silver stars. The mood lighting was ultra romantic, with small fake candles sitting on the tables.

  "Yeah, it was all Madison's idea. She's our club president. Ariel said it was her idea, of course, but I heard Madison suggest it first," Sarah said.

  I stopped myself from asking more about what Ariel had said. Was Sarah really criticizing Ariel? Was there dissension among the new group of bffs? I was dying to know, but there was no way Sarah was going to give me any juicy gossip if I asked her. The group lapsed into silence again. What were we going to talk about?

  "It looks very cool," Ethan said, trying to get the conversation started again.

  The first notes of a romantic slow song were starting to play. I started swaying to the music. Couples formed all around us. We all watched them as we tried awkwardly to think of a conversation piece.

  "So, how about we dance?" Mike asked Sarah.

  "I'd love to," Sarah said.