by Alicia Rades
Our miracle of a bus driver managed to turn the bus around and get us headed back to the school on an alternate route. School had already let out by the time we got back.
“Ready for volleyball practice?” Emma asked with little confidence when we stepped off the bus.
“I don’t think I’ll be ready for practice until next season,” I said half seriously.
Emma and I hurried to the locker room. Luckily, there were still a few girls getting into their practice gear, which meant we weren’t late. Already this week, Coach Kathy had made me take it easy because she didn’t want my head wound getting ripped open by a flying ball. I was grateful for that because I didn’t want to have to dive for the ball with a bruised knee, even if I was wearing knee pads.
Once all the girls cleared out of the locker room, Emma spoke. “Are you going to be okay?”
I pulled on my shoe and began tying it. “What? Me?”
“Yes, you.” She swatted at me with the t-shirt she was holding before pulling it over her head. “Is there anyone else here?” She looked around nervously when she realized what she’d just said. “Wait, there isn’t, is there?”
I looked up to meet her gaze, but she was still scanning the locker room like she expected a ghost to reveal itself from behind the lockers.
“No, there’s not, but—” I stopped mid-sentence. I hadn’t wanted to tell anyone about losing my abilities for the better part of the week, so should I even bother telling her about the shadowy ghost I saw?
“But what?” Emma eyed me suspiciously. “Oh,” she said slowly, realization dawning. “I was wondering how you saw the tree falling from where we were sitting. That’s not why you screamed, was it?”
Boy, she caught on quickly. I shook my head.
“Who was it? What did they say?”
I shook my head again. “I have no idea, and he didn’t say anything. I saw him on campus first, and then when I saw him on the bus, it kind of scared me.” I didn’t have to tell her he looked hazy and like a shadow, did I?
“‘Kind of?’ Crystal, that was the scream of ‘bloody murder.’ You don’t know what this ghost wants?”
I shook my head for a third time and pressed my lips together. “I have no idea.”
“Well,” Emma said while tying her shoe, “you’ll figure it out, like always. Let’s get out there before Coach Kathy makes us run extra laps.”
I quickly double knotted my second shoe and jumped up from the locker room bench to follow her into the gym. I split off in a different direction and found my way to Coach Kathy. All the other players were just getting started with stretches. “Coach?” I asked.
She looked at me expectantly.
“I, uh, don’t know if you heard, but some of us on the field trip today were in a minor accident. I hit my knee,” I peeled back my knee pad to show her the bruise that was forming, “and I was just wondering if I could help Derek again.”
Coach nodded. “That’s fine, Crystal. I don’t want you getting into it too much until you get your stitches out next week anyway. Just don’t cross the court when we’re practicing serves. I don’t want any balls hitting your stiches.”
I nodded and then joined my team for stretches—at least those were safe enough. As soon as balls began flying, I headed over to Derek. Derek was one of my best friends and Emma’s boyfriend. He was also our team manager, which meant he helped keep track of stats during the games and helped run drills during practice.
“Hey, Derek,” I greeted. “I guess it’s back to co-manager duties for me again today.”
“Sounds good.” He smiled. “Hey, I heard what happened to you guys after the campus tour. Are you both alright?”
“I hit my knee, but we’re fine.”
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to Emma. She’s okay? You’re sure?”
It was cute how he seemed so worried about her. I knew Robin would act the same way, like he did when I’d told him about my first accident, but I still had to tell him about what happened today on the bus. “Derek, she’s fine.”
“Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll catch the balls along the edge of the court if you get the ones that go across the gym. I’d hate to see your stitches get ripped open.”
“But if they did, maybe I could keep them until Halloween,” I joked. “I’d make a great Frankenstein—or maybe a zombie.”
Derek let out a laugh before heading to throw some balls back onto the court for the girls who were practicing their serves.
Last year, Emma, Derek, and I had dressed up in a trio costume for the Peyton Springs Halloween Festival. Derek was the Cat in the Hat and Emma and I were Thing 1 and Thing 2. Now the festival was just a few weeks away again, and I still didn’t know what I was going to be. I could drag out my costume again from last year, but Emma had already talked about doing a couple’s thing with Derek. Maybe Robin and I could do something together. If I was smart, I’d go as the same thing every year like my mom did so I wouldn’t have to worry about choosing a new costume every Halloween. She always went as a gypsy and hosted a tarot card reading booth—and no one had figured out yet that it was the real deal!
I threw a couple of balls at my teammates as they practiced their spikes but sat out when they played a scrimmage at the end of practice.
Normally, I would walk home with Emma, but she headed in the opposite direction with Derek after practice to work on homework for their government class—a class I wasn’t taking this semester. At least, that was her excuse. In reality, “homework” was probably code for “making out,” but I didn’t say anything.
I walked home from practice alone, the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up the entire way.
Chapter 5
“I’m fine,” I assured Robin when I called him that evening. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him I saw a ghost on the bus. I told Emma—even if I didn’t tell her the whole truth—but I felt if I mentioned any of it to Robin, he would worry too much. His first semester of college was putting enough stress on him already, so I just told him about my bruised knee.
“Two car accidents in one week? Are you sure you’re okay?” Something about the way he said it made it sound like he was suggesting it was more than a coincidence, but honestly, I couldn’t think of an alternative.
I plopped down onto my bed. “I knew you would worry.”
“Worry? Me? Never,” he feigned before his tone returned to normal. “Of course I’m worried about you, Crystal. I love you.”
My heart fluttered even though I’d heard him say that a million times since last spring. “I love you, too, Robin.”
“Maybe you should just take it easy,” he suggested.
“I am. I haven’t even been participating in drills during volleyball practice. Coach didn’t even put me in the game on Tuesday.”
“You have a game tomorrow, right?”
“Every Tuesday and Thursday.”
“Do you think your coach will put you in tomorrow?”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “Not a chance, not until I get my stitches out next week.”
“Maybe you should skip,” he suggested. “I think you should take the day off and get some rest. You’ve been acting . . . I just think you could use a day off.”
I didn’t bother prodding him for what he was going to say. I knew it. I’d been acting off, and even though we’d only talked on the phone since my accident, I wasn’t surprised that he’d picked up on it.
“It’s a home game,” I pointed out. “We don’t need to travel or anything. It should be fine.”
“Crystal.” Robin’s tone became more serious. “Why can’t you just give yourself a break every now and then? You deserve it.”
“I do?”
“Of course. I have a big break between classes in the middle of the day tomorrow. I could come over and help you feel better.”
What is he suggesting? “You mean, skip out of school? Mom and Teddy would never go fo
r it.”
“It’s not skipping out of school if you’re sick.”
“I’m not sick,” I defended, curling up beneath my blanket.
“That’s not what I mean exactly, but you’ve been through a lot this week. You could use some rest.”
I sighed in defeat. Sleeping in did sound nice, and if I said I was sick, I could easily get out of school and volleyball for a day. At least my babysitting job had been put on hold during volleyball season, so I didn’t have to worry about that.
“I’ll talk to Teddy,” Robin assured me. Robin was Teddy’s nephew—though we’d been dating before Mom and Teddy got married—so they were pretty close. “Besides, I miss you, and I don’t want to miss you visiting this weekend. You could end up stressing yourself to death.”
I giggled lightly. “I doubt that.”
Robin and I talked for a while longer until he said he had to go for some sort of get-together at his dorm. Although he was only going to school a few minutes from his parents’, he’d decided to live in the dorms “for the college experience,” he’d said.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later,” I promised. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Crystal.”
As soon as I hung up, an eerie silence fell over my bedroom. Mom was still at the shop since we were getting into Halloween season, and they always stayed open later in October because of that. Teddy had said he was getting Roger to drive him to the dealership today to pick up our new car. His, he said, was old enough that it wasn’t worth fixing anymore. To be honest, I think he was glad my accident gave him an excuse to buy a new—well, new to us—car, not that he wasn’t worried about me. Anyway, because my mom and Teddy were busy, I was home alone.
I slipped a hoodie over my head and headed toward the kitchen to find something to eat, all the while contemplating what Robin had suggested. He was right. I had had a tough week. It wasn’t just the pain in my head and knee, either. I had been living my week in a daze, going to bed early and not really paying attention in class. Maybe I could use a day away from school and volleyball practice. At least then I might have the time to sit down and figure out where exactly I was with my abilities.
A chill spread over me as I made my way to the kitchen, so I adjusted the thermostat as I passed the controls. I shuffled through cupboards, but I wasn’t the best cook in the world, so I didn’t know what to make. I wasn’t even that hungry, but I knew I needed to eat something. Finally, I found bagels and popped one in the toaster.
While waiting for my bagel to toast, I settled into a chair at the table and balled my sleeves into my hands. Jeez. Did no one notice the temperature outside had dropped recently and it was time to kick on the heater?
I chewed on my nails, again mulling over Robin’s suggestion. It would be nice to see him, but would Mom and Teddy really let him come over with no one else here? No. The idea was absurd. The whole concept of skipping school and the volleyball game made me feel like I’d already broken the rules.
My bagel popped, and I jumped, looking up from my nails for the first time in the last few minutes. When I finally raised my gaze, I nearly fell out of my chair. A shadowy figure stood between where I sat and the front door. I squealed the same split second the door opened and my mother stepped through it. The figure whipped around and stared at her for a moment before disappearing.
My heart rate slowed, and I suddenly realized what the chill I’d felt was. It was because the ghost had been there. Both fear and relief flooded through me at the same time. Fear because the chill indicated the ghost had been there for several minutes. It was like he’d been watching me that whole time. Relief because it was another sign that my abilities hadn’t been completely lost. I released my firm grip on the side of my chair as my mother stepped closer to me.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
I swallowed. “I—you just scared me. My bagel popped when you came in the door, and it made me jump is all.” I didn’t know why I didn’t tell her about the ghost—probably because I still couldn’t work up the courage to tell anyone that my abilities had been failing me lately, and I didn’t want to explain how the ghost appeared hazy. She didn’t seem to notice I wasn’t telling her the whole truth.
“Yum, bagels. Can you toast me one?” She retreated down the hall to drop her purse in her room.
My hand shook lightly as I spread cream cheese on my bagel and then popped my mom’s in the toaster. I shouldn’t have been so frightened. I mean, it was only a ghost, and I’d communicated with several in the past year. Unlike what people tended to think about ghosts, all the ones I’d seen had been friendly. At the same time, most of them wanted something from me, like my help to solve some mystery or communicate with their loved ones they’d left behind. I’d helped them because, well, I was the only one who could.
I knew seeing this ghost meant I had to help him, too, that he wanted something from me, but I hadn’t actually spoken to him yet, so how could I know what he wanted? With my hazy abilities, that task could prove quite difficult.
My mom returned to the kitchen with her phone in hand. She didn’t look up from the screen as she spoke. “You left me a voicemail? What about?”
I shrugged like it was nothing. “The field trip.”
“Was it fun?”
I swallowed my bite of bagel and leaned against the counter. “It was . . . eventful.”
“Oh, my gosh.” She finally glanced up from her phone. “The school left me a message, too. Crystal, what happened today?”
Then I told her everything I could—everything except the bit about the ghost because I knew that would only worry her. Normally, I was more than willing to open up to the people I loved, but I couldn’t bring myself to let them all worry before I even knew what was happening myself.
After my mom finished listening to her voicemail messages, I spoke again. “Robin thinks I should take the day off from school tomorrow. He says I’ve been through enough this week.”
My mother set her phone on the counter and began spreading cream cheese over her own bagel. “I can’t say that’s a bad idea. You probably should have stayed home Monday, too.”
I gaped at her. She liked the idea? “But I’m not actually sick.”
“After what happened today, I think you deserve to relax.”
“Mom, where’s this coming from?”
She bit into her bagel and spoke between chews. “You keep telling me to stop worrying, and you’re doing enough worrying for the both of us. Have you seen yourself lately? Two car accidents in one week is a lot to take in, and maybe you should just take tomorrow to sleep it off.”
I wasn’t about to argue with my mom if she was willing to give me permission. I finished up my bagel and escaped to my room to work on the homework I had to make up after going on the field trip that day. While finishing it up, I eyed the crystal ball sitting on my desk a couple of times, wondering if my abilities were strong enough to try that out and see if I could gather a clue to what the mystery ghost wanted from me. I fell asleep before working up the energy to try it out.
Chapter 6
I woke Thursday to the feeling of strong hands lightly shaking me. When my eyes shot open, I found Robin’s smiling face standing above me.
“Rise and shine, beautiful.”
“Wh—what?” I asked, dazed. I knew I was staying home from school today, but I didn’t expect Robin to be in my bedroom so early in the morning. Was I dreaming? “What are you doing?” I pushed myself to a seated position. I made a point to keep most of my body covered because my pajamas were rather skimpy—short shorts and a tank top, not that Robin would mind. “I thought you had class.”
“Already done,” he smiled.
“What? What time is it?”
“It’s past 10.” He twisted away from me to grab a plate I hadn’t noticed was resting on my desk. “Breakfast?”
I stared down at the plate of eggs, toast, and bacon curiously. “I slept in that long?” was all I could
say.
“I told you that you needed the sleep.” He shoved the plate toward me, insisting I take it, so I did.
“Where are Mom and Teddy?” I asked after swallowing a bite of eggs. I noticed immediately how great of a cook Robin was. I’d never tasted Robin’s cooking before, but I guess he took after his uncle.
Robin shrugged. “At work.”
“So, Teddy actually let you come over with no one else here? Seems to me like you’re pushing your luck. I’m shocked enough that they let me visit you at school on the weekends.”
“That’s because they met my roommate, and he never leaves the room. Even if we wanted to do anything, it’s not like we’d be able to find a private place short of sneaking into one of the bathroom stalls.”
It’s not like I didn’t want to do anything with Robin, but it just hadn’t happened yet. I shrugged. “I guess Mom and Teddy do trust us. It’s not like we’ve given them a reason not to.”
“And I don’t intend to,” Robin said, finally taking a seat on my bed.
“But still . . . It’s hard to believe Mom and Teddy let you come over unsupervised.”
“Oh, they didn’t,” Robin said casually.
I immediately stopped chewing. “What do you mean? I thought you said you’d talk to Teddy.”
“I did. I just didn’t tell him I’d be coming over.”
“Well, that’s a great way to earn his trust,” I said sarcastically. I couldn’t believe he lied to my parents. “What did you talk to him about?” The question came out a bit too sharply.
“I talked to him about how you’d had a rough week and convinced him you should take it easy for a day. They don’t have to know about my visit.”
“Oh. I already talked to my mom last night about staying home.”
Robin shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Well, it looks like I was right. You’ve been sleeping for hours.”
“Then why’d you wake me up?” I teased.
“I couldn’t let the food go cold.” He smiled.