Snippet Saturday: Laugh!

Laugh, little monkeys!  Yes, today the theme is humor, and we picked the opening scene of our upcoming ghost story re-release Some Like it Haunted.  Poor Sara…most of the jokes are on her in the first part of the story, but at least she gets some of her own back later on. 

Snippet from Some Like it Haunted

Just when Sara thought her day couldn’t get any worse, her scarf caught fire.

Her classroom erupted into pandemonium. Sara struggled to untangle the scarf from her neck as the air filled with the smell of singed cashmere. Erin let out a startled shriek and frantically waved her hands in the air, presumably in an attempt to snuff out the fire she’d been trying to kindle on her practice candle. In response, the fire tickling the end of Sara’s scarf engulfed three more inches of beautiful hand-knitted cable-stitch as the young pyrokinetic’s erratic gift flared in response with her panic.

“Someone blow it out!”

“Air will make it burn faster, dumbass!”

The warning came too late. The stack of papers on Sara’s desk went flying as the class’s lone elementalist sent a miniature whirlwind swirling toward her. Dodging an entire stack of homework cost her valuable time, time during which the fire crept dangerously close to her hair. God, not the hair—

“Erin, where’s the emergency bucket?”

“What?”

“The water!”

Sara ignored the shouts and stayed calm enough to get her poor scarf unwrapped from around her neck. She dropped it to the floor just as a young male voice shouted in triumph.

All five gallons of water from the bucket in the corner spiraled into the air and cascaded over her head, drenching her, her clothes, and her desk.

Silence fell. Someone in the back of the room snickered and was quickly shushed. Sara glanced at Brandon and found the telekinetic grinning at her. “Did you see my control?”

Did you see the scarf already on the damn floor? But Brandon was so proud of himself, which she supposed he had every right to be. Translocation of liquids was a fine bit of control for a telekinetic, especially for a beginner. She forced a smile before bending over to pick up the charred remains of what had been her very favorite scarf.

She straightened with the wet, stinking yarn clutched in one hand and found her day could still get worse. Much worse. The man leaning against the doorframe was tall, blond, and smiling like he knew what she looked like naked. Her fingers tightened around her crumpled scarf as her heart skipped a beat, her body reacting to that smile without her permission or her approval.

Reed Mercier, department golden boy, and all she could do was stare stupidly at him as she dripped water on the floor and wondered how he always managed to appear just after one of her students had turned her classroom upside down.

All the women in the room might be staring at Reed, but he was looking at her. Soaked to the skin, standing in the shambles of her classroom, holding a burnt scarf. Soaked to the skin… No wonder he was staring at her like he knew what she’d look like naked. He did now.

Silence stretched out between them, finally broken by nervous laughter from one of the girls in the front of the classroom. “Hey, Mr. Mercier. Erin’s been setting things on fire again.”

He leaned one shoulder against the door frame and grinned at Sara as he watched water drip from her soaked clothing to the floor. “Who put it out?”

Brandon didn’t give her a chance to answer. “I did! And you should have seen it, not even a splash, I held all the water together until it…uhh…” He made a vague gesture toward Sara, and she gritted her teeth with the effort it took not to snap at him.

Reed just turned his smile to Brandon and nodded. “Good job. I’m sure Ms. Patel appreciates it.” When he glanced back, his eyes focused on her chest for a moment before returning to her face.

Sara glanced down at her shirt. Her very wet, very clinging shirt through which her bra was now very visible. And not just her bra… It was cold in the room.

Heat flooded her cheeks as she jerked her head back up and turned to look at her class. The girls might be staring at Reed, but the boys… Oh, they were staring at her. Most of them didn’t even bother to look guilty about it.

She crossed her arms over her chest and attempted to adopt a professorial attitude. “Who’s going to stay and help clean up?”

Reed shoved away from the doorway and strolled toward her, his movements slow and graceful. It was probably only her own paranoia that made them look predatory as well. “No need for volunteers. I’ll do it.”

Four girls’ hands shot up.

Sara fought the urge to groan. “Okay, out. Everyone out. If you all clear out in under thirty seconds, no homework tonight.”

***

Want more? Check out the other Snippet Saturday participants! Jody Wallace , Lauren Dane, McKenna Jeffries, Shelley Munro, Taige Crenshaw, Victoria Janssen, Vivian Arend, Leah Braemel, TJ Michaels, Shelli Stevens, Mark Henry, Shelley Munro, Kelly Maher , Juliana Stone, Elisabeth Naughton, Michelle Rowen, Ashley Ladd