I understood why Jack was upset. It was less the fact that Blake was an awful human being and more the fact that he was alive and kicking rather than one of the dearly departed. He didn't know where to go from there. If he was Blake and Blake wasn't dead, then he wasn't a spirit about to move on, he was...

...Yeah, I had no theories to throw out there. There was no telling what he was and how he'd come to be. And that was the problem: without a concept of what Jack was, his situation could be permanent. Maybe there would be no "going into the light" moment for him. Maybe this crappy, moss covered house was all he was ever going to get.

This would make me miserable too, but I didn't have the luxury of giving in to despair. I had day two at Hell High to attend and a real-life Jack counterpart to suss out. As much as the thought turned my stomach, I knew I had little choice but to interact with Mr. Popular. I just hoped that interaction didn't consist entirely of him making sure he could pee higher up on the tree than anyone else.

I had my opportunity earlier in the day than I anticipated. Arriving at school before the first bell, I headed to my locker and there he was, leaning back against Dakota's, playing with his phone.

My heart pounded as I approached.

"Hey, new girl." He didn't bother looking up from his phone, but still, the fact that he'd offer me three unsolicited words made my already anxious heart palpitate a few million times.

"Um, hello, not new boy."

He snorted. "Dakota said I shouldn't have been such a dick and that I should apologize to you, so whatever. I'm sorry."

He didn't sound sorry, he sounded like a guy who realized if he didn't do what his girlfriend demanded, she wasn't going to put out.

I didn't want to accept his apology any more than he wanted to give it, but I had a mission and I'd never come remotely close to fulfilling it if I alienated Blake before I'd had a chance to find out more about him.

Best to play the role of suck up. "I don't think you did anything wrong. I heard you're the Junior Popular King. Is that what you call it?"

He puffed his chest out. "You heard correctly. You know what that is?"

"I do now. This is only my second day here. I'm still getting up to speed. I know you were only trying to be... helpful."

I nearly ended my no puking at school streak with that last word. You'd have to be the biggest dolt to think I was being genuine. But Blake seemed to eat up the flattery like it was my Aunt Lizzie's famous Key Lime pie.

"That's what I told Dakota. She never listens to me." He finally put his phone away and looked at me. Up and down. I shifted my backpack from one shoulder to the other and tried not to hyperventilate. This wasn't like when Jack looked at me. It was like being eyed up by a hungry owl. I didn't enjoy feeling like a mouse.

"Why are you here, new girl?"

"My name is Mazie, and I'm here because this is my locker." I rapped my knuckles against its surface.

He rolled his eyes and then took a step closer, leaning his arm up the edge of my locker. He smelled like spearmint gum. "No, Mazie. I mean, why are you the new girl? You been homeschooled or something?"

"Oh." I shook my head. "No, it's my parents' fault I'm the new girl. They moved me here from Spokane so they could open up a pizza place downtown."

"Dornzeria? Man, I loved that place. That's where my little sister always asks us to go after her dance recitals. I'm glad it's going to reopen."

Dance recitals... "Oh, you have a younger sister? What kind of dance does she do?"

His chest puffed out again. "Like, all kinds. She's really good."

A little more prying... "Does she--"

"I see you apologized to the new girl." Dakota's tempered voice carried over Blake's shoulder. He turned around.

"You told me to, so I did. Happy?"

"I didn't tell you to make small talk. I just wanted you to be decent, but I suppose that was too much to ask. She's not even a Popular."

"So? I can talk to whoever I want. That includes Mazie."

"Mazie, huh?" Dakota's eyes were so narrow by now, I wasn't sure how she could see out of them. "I should have known by how you acted yesterday. You're always mean to girls you want to get with. It's like some kind of sick short circuiting in that pea brain of yours."

"You're one to talk, Ms. I slept with Tommy to increase my Populars status."

"That was one person one time!"

This was a conversation I didn't need to hear. I opened my locker as quietly as I could and took out the books I needed, hoping I'd be able to slide past them and into homeroom.

"One time was enough! We were supposed to be mutually excluded."

"It's mutually exclusive, dumbass. God, what is with you lately? It's like you're the one who's brain damaged instead of Zeke."

My eyes widened as I closed my locker. Did they have some connection to Zeke? Did it even matter to Jack's case if they did? Either way, I wasn't going to find out this morning.

"Shut the fuck up, Dakota." Blake stomped away, not so much as a glance in my direction. I had a feeling the only thing I was good for in Blake Sumner's world was as a lure to piss off Dakota.

Without Blake in between us, I found myself facing a pissed off Popular Queen, her face gone from tan to bright red.

"I didn't mean to--"

She raised a hand. "Whatever. Just because Blake talked to you doesn't mean I will. And here I was trying to be so nice to you."

She walked into homeroom, leaving me standing there, my mouth agape. Just what had I done according to her twisted logic?

I waited a moment before trailing in so that I wouldn't look like I was following her, then took my seat, eyes studying the grain patterns on my desk, head low. Kayla's friend slipped into his seat on my right and with back slumped, gave me a half grunt half spoken "hey" before turning back to his own preoccupations.

Dakota might be pissed off at me, but let's face it; I was never going to make any points with her. She didn't want to be thought of as a mean girl, so she made her boyfriend apologize to me, but in the end, she was what she was. Dakota and I were not going to be friends. I didn't imagine that was in the cards for Blake and me either, but still, I'd gotten a few interesting tidbits out of our encounter that were worth following up on. I told Kayla about it when I saw her in English class.

Kayla knew Blake had a younger sister. "Shelby. She's about twelve. And yeah... Blake's family would come in to Dornzeria after her recitals. I'd forgotten about that."

"So, does she tap dance? Maybe she taught Blake."

"I have no idea. I guess we could find out. It's not like there's a ton of dance schools in the area. We can figure out which one she goes to and then see if they have tap dance. Or maybe there's some record in the local paper about past recitals that might have her name included. That's something to go on, at least. Got anything else?"

The image of a hospital bed surrounded by beeping machines flashed through my mind. "I'm not sure if it's something or not, but Dakota mentioned Zeke."

"She what? Man, those two definitely don't hang out in the same circle as the Campbell kids."

"Yeah, but they must have heard what happened to him. That's pretty big new for a small town like Dorn."

"True..."

"She told Blake he was acting like he was the one who was injured instead of Zeke. Called him out on being extra light on brain cells lately."

"Hmm, I hate to admit it, but that doesn't sound like Blake. He's smart—like, really smart. It's just unfortunate that he uses his intelligence for evil."

"Well, maybe she's just pissed off at him and she knows insulting his intelligence is the easiest way to troll him."

Kayla leaned back in her desk. "That seems plausible."

Class began and we didn't have another opportunity to talk until we'd been released for lunch. Clearly, Kayla had been more focused on the latest developments of our case than Mrs. Jorgensen's lecture on the structure of informational essays. "Okay, so here's what we have to do."

I nearly jumped into a group of cheerleaders at the frenetic pace of her words. "You have a plan?"

"Of course, I have a plan. I always have a plan. In this case, I have two of them. The first one is Operation Tap Dance. We research dance schools in the area, see when and if they offer tap, then figure out if Blake's sister attends them. I know it doesn't prove anything, but it's further evidence that there really is a connection between Blake and Jack. And speaking of connections..."

"Operation Zeke?"

"I was going to call it 'Operation Campbell Connection' but yes, exactly." We entered the cafeteria and Kayla lowered her voice. "Maybe our Popular Royals just knew what happened to Zeke—it is the talk of the town. But if there's more to it, I want to know. I just... I have a gut feeling about this one, Mazie."

"Never ignore your gut. Didn't I always tell you that?" A deep voice made us both turn around.

Kayla held her hand up to her chin and fluttered her eyelashes. "Why, Ethan Campbell, as I live and breathe! Don't come any closer or your overwhelming charm might give us poor girls a case of the female hysterics."

Ethan scowled. "This kind of crap is why we broke up."

"I thought it was because I didn't take the pending apocalypse seriously."

"That too." He followed us over to the lunch line. It struck me that I hadn't seen him at lunch yesterday.

"Why weren't you here yesterday, Ethan?"

"I took one whiff of the place and said forget it. Today there are tacos though. I love tacos. What I don't love is you two talking about my brother. So, what gives?" He leaned in, nostrils flaring like we'd just waved a red flag in his direction. "Do you know what happened to Zeke?"