Teenage Psychic on Campus

by Pamela Woods-Jackson

Gary blew out a puff of air. “Hoo boy.”

  “What are you two whispering about?” Annabeth asked, and then suddenly shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s really drafty down here. Can we go?”

  “Gary saw a different ghost,” Caryn told her.

  “She says we have to take care of…her son,” Gary said.

  “What?” Annabeth and Sean exclaimed at the same time.

  “Poor kid. Seems his mom died recently.” Gary ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think through this problem. With Eddie’s mom dead and his stepdad a creep, Gary knew Eddie was in trouble, but they couldn’t just escort the kid upstairs and say, “Look who we found.” Scott Tildren would be the adult and call the police. The media would eat it up, Eddie would be “reunited” with Clyde Seville, and the four of them would be called heroes. But Gary didn’t want notoriety at the expense of a desperate kid. He knew there was more to this story because two different ghosts had asked for his help. “We can’t let anyone know about Eddie.”

  “So how do we pull that off?” Sean asked.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Gary said. He went back to the hidden room and opened the squeaky door. “Get your stuff, kid. You’re coming with us.”

  “No!” Eddie exclaimed. “You can’t make me!”

  Gary was losing patience. “Look, Eddie, I get that something’s wrong at home, and we’ll try to sort it out later. But you either come with us or we call the cops.”

  “Then you’d better have a genius plan to sneak me outta here,” Eddie said, crossing his arms and sinking into full-on teenage sulk.

  “Yeah, Gary, what is your plan?” Annabeth asked.

  “Right now all I care about is getting those two ghosts off my case.” He shot the kid a withering look. Eddie grumbled but pulled the backpack out from under the cot, stuffed in the books, and flung it over his shoulder.

  “Caryn,” Gary said, “any insight?”

  Caryn nodded. “Something big to do with Eddie’s family. I mean big big. And it’s got to be you that helps him.”

  “So I’ve been told,” Gary said. “Anything else?”

  “Not right now.”

  Gary had already figured out that Eddie was afraid of his stepfather, and after seeing how smarmy the guy was, he couldn’t blame him. “Time for operation ‘hide Eddie Carson,’” he said.

  “I’ll go upstairs and distract everyone,” Sean said. “You know, ask to see the footage or hear what’s on the EVP or something.” He turned to Annabeth. “Then you say something about going out to warm up your car, or trying to get a phone signal. Whatever.”

  Gary put Eddie right behind him, and because he was so tall and Eddie was short and skinny, Gary was sure he could block him from view. Sean went upstairs first. Gary could hear Sean in the living room engaging Scott, Barry, and Karla Hansen in an animated discussion of what they’d seen or heard during the blackout, Karla squealing at every detail. Gary figured her hysteria alone would distract Scott and Barry so they could sneak Eddie out. With hands behind his back, he motioned Caryn and Annabeth up, who made their excuses and ducked out the front door. Then Gary went up to the top of the basement steps, took a look around to make sure everyone was occupied, and pushed Eddie in front of him and straight out the front door.

  “Damn, it’s cold out here!” Eddie exclaimed.

  “Watch your mouth, kid,” Gary whispered, and gave him a shove in the direction of Annabeth’s car. “Get in the backseat and duck down.”

  Gary waited until Eddie was safely in the car and then went back into the house and slipped into his coat, still lying on the folding chair where he’d left it. “Sean? You ready?”

  Sean gave Gary a questioning glance and Gary nodded, so Sean hurried out the front door.

  Scott sauntered out of the kitchen and toasted Gary and Sean with his mug of steaming hot coffee. “Hey Barry,” Scott called out. “Our ghost-whisperer’s on his way out.”

  Barry Lansing reappeared from the hall. “Thanks, Gary. We’ll get in touch after we go over the video,” he said. “Might need your input on whatever we find.”

  “And Ms. Pelson will definitely want to hear about your conversation with the ghost,” Scott added.

  Gary dreaded that whole scenario, especially because the only conversation he’d had with the ghost—make that ghosts—was about Eddie. “Yeah, I’ll be interested to hear what your equipment picked up.” He shook hands with Scott, waved at the club members who were packing up equipment, and left.

  “Drive,” he said to Annabeth as he slid into the front passenger seat. He looked over his shoulder and saw Eddie crammed between Sean and Caryn.

  “Hey, Annabeth,” Sean said, “turn up the heat. It’s freezing in this car.”

  “It’s November,” Eddie said. “It’s supposed to be cold.”

  “Thanks, Einstein,” Gary said.

  “Close,” Eddie said, causing Gary to look at him askance.

  Annabeth pulled out of the long driveway and slowly drove down the pitch-black road that led back to the state highway.

  “So how did you find me?” Eddie asked as he rested his head against the cushion.

  “The legendary Lady in White who resides—haunts—the Pelson farmhouse,” Gary said.

  “A ghost ratted me out?”

  Gary didn’t want to talk about it anymore, especially the part about the ghost of Eddie’s mom. That was a whole other issue that could wait. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checked to make sure he had bars, and started scrolling down for Brenda’s number.

  Eddie sat up straight, his eyes wide. “Who ya calling? The cops?”

  The kid was getting on Gary’s nerves big time. He had no experience with middle schoolers and right now he wanted to strangle this one, but he took a deep breath and replied, “My mom. I need some advice. I have no idea what to do with you and she’s the most level-headed person I know.”

  There was sort of a muffled sobbing, gasping, choking noise from the backseat and Eddie said, “At least you’ve still got one.”

  Gary eyed Eddie sympathetically as he exchanged knowing glances with Caryn. Just then his phone pinged with a text. “It’s Brenda.” He looked up from his phone at a worried Eddie. “My mom.”

  “So what did she say?” Eddie demanded after Gary read his text and put his phone back in his pocket. “Do I get out and start walking or what?”

  Gary sighed, glanced at Caryn, and rolled his eyes. “It’s two a.m, Eddie. Mom says to let you stay at my dorm tonight. But any stupid stuff and you’ll find yourself on your daddy’s doorstep.”

  “He’s not my daddy,” Eddie growled.

  Chapter 12

  I bit my tongue on the drive back to campus. I could tell Eddie was making Gary crazy, not to mention the rest of us. Gary and Sean were stuck with him for the time being, but Annabeth and I could go back to our dorm room for some peace and quiet.

  I felt sorry for Eddie, though. I never go to horror films, but the movie running on fast forward through my head was scarier than anything Hollywood could come up with. There’d been some kind of argument between Eddie’s mom and his stepdad Clyde, with Eddie witnessing the whole thing. I saw his mother crash her car into a tree. I saw her funeral, felt Eddie’s pain, and then I saw Clyde yelling at the kid and knocking him around the house, causing bruises and a bloody nose. No child should have to live like that.

  Annabeth made eye contact with Gary in her rearview mirror. “Do you want me to call my dad?”

  “It’s the middle of the frickin’ night,” Gary said.

  “Well, yeah, but…” Annabeth’s voice trailed off.

  “Who’s her dad, anyway?” Eddie asked.

  “He’s an attorney,” I told him. “Maybe he can…” I didn’t know what Mr. Walton might be able to do. I was pretty sure Annabeth thought she was helping by offering to get her father involved, but right now this was a case for social services.

  We drove along in an awkward silence, the only sound c
oming from the purr of the engine. “I say we don’t make any decisions tonight,” I told the group. “Let’s just sleep on it. I’m sure a solution will present itself.”

  Gary glanced over the headrest at me. “Are you sure there’s a solution, or just hope for one?”

  I didn’t answer, but I was positive about two things: I was going to sleep soundly, and sometimes answers come to me in my sleep.

  ****

  “I guess the kid can have my bed,” Sean said to Gary as he frowned at the mess on Gary’s side of the room, “since no one in his right mind would sleep in yours.”

  “If he takes your bed, then where will you sleep?” Gary asked.

  “Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Eddie said. He pulled his hoodie off over his head to reveal a dirty Metallica T-shirt underneath, tossed his overstuffed backpack on the floor, and collapsed on Sean’s bed.

  “I’ll go crash on the lounge sofa,” Sean said. “Hey, it’s not like it’s the first time someone didn’t make it all the way to their room on a Friday night.” He grabbed his pillow and a blanket off the bed, and quietly closed the door behind him.

  Gary threw his jacket on the back of his desk chair and sat down on his bed to pull his boots off. He felt Eddie watching him and looked up. “What?”

  “Uh, he took the pillow.”

  Gary wrinkled his nose. It was obvious the kid hadn’t showered recently. He tossed his extra pillow to Eddie and then dug through the drawer under his bed for a clean bath towel. “Go hit the shower and then get some sleep.” Gary waited while Eddie dug through his backpack for clean sweats, tossed the towel over his shoulder, and started for the bathroom. “And hey, brush your teeth!”

  Eddie groaned and went back to his backpack, digging around till he pulled out his toothbrush, toasted Gary with it, and went into the bathroom. As soon as Gary heard water running, he flipped off the lamp next to his bed and fell sound asleep.

  A mere five hours after Gary went to sleep, Sean stumbled back into their room and headed for the shower. Gary groaned, pulled his pillow over his head and rolled over to face the wall.

  Sean came back out fifteen minutes later, got dressed and left the room, probably for the cafeteria if Gary had to guess. Gary pulled the blanket up over his ears and tried to fall back asleep, but he noticed that Eddie was up, that is if the kid had ever been asleep. He had the TV on mute as he flipped through the channels. Eventually he landed on a replay of last night’s Belford High School vs. Melville High football game on a local channel. With no sound to disturb him, Gary rolled over and tried once more to go back to sleep, but every time he was about to doze off, Eddie would cheer at some game play.

  Gary gave up trying to sleep once and for all when Eddie tossed his pillow at him. “Hey, ya got anything to eat?”

  Gary pulled himself to a sitting position, a scowl on his face. “You’re lucky I have a rehearsal to get to, ’cause otherwise I’d march your smart-aleck ass straight to social services.”

  “Food!” Eddie repeated.

  Gary groaned. “I’ll have to go to the cafeteria and bring you back something.” He stumbled into the bathroom, turned the shower on and stepped in, letting the hot water pour over him while he tried to wake up. Lack of sleep had given him a headache, and nothing would fix that but a strong jolt of caffeine.

  Showered and dressed, he grabbed his jean jacket off the desk chair next to his bed and was about to put it on when he remembered his cell phone in the pocket. He pulled it out and saw he had a text from Caryn. Caryn? Hmm.

  —Going to do research on Eddie.—

  Gary texted her back.

  —Let me know what you find out.—

  When Caryn didn’t respond, Gary figured she must still be asleep, lucky duck.

  “Eddie, get dressed and start straightening up around here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Thankfully there were few people in the cafeteria. He ordered take-out, poured himself a large coffee, and headed back across campus. Back in his dorm lobby, Gary rang for the elevator and was relieved that it was completely empty when it opened. The last thing he needed was someone asking him about the ghost hunt, or Erica Stone and her crew teasing him about his affiliation with Ghost Stalkers. Besides, as Caryn had predicted, the hunt turned out to be more about the living than the dead, and Gary couldn’t share that with anyone. The elevator stopped on his floor, so while he juggled the food in one hand, he unlocked his door with the other, sticking his foot in enough to push it open. He found Eddie sitting cross-legged on Sean’s still unmade bed, thoroughly engrossed in a video game of Grand Theft Auto.

  Gary rolled his eyes. “Hi, honey, I’m home.”

  Startled, Eddie jumped to his feet, his eyes darting around as if looking for an escape.

  “Relax, kid, it’s just me.” Gary helped himself to a muffin before handing Eddie the carryout box of eggs, pastry and fruit. Gary sipped his coffee and munched his blueberry muffin as the kid tucked into his food. When was the last time he had a meal that didn’t come out of a can? Gary wondered. “You’re welcome.”

  “Thanks,” Eddie said as he shoveled in another bite of eggs.

  “Sean’s gonna freak if he sees his side of the room like this.” Gary picked up Eddie’s wet towel from last night and tossed it on the pile of laundry in his closet. Then he pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and punched in some numbers.

  “Whoa! Who ya calling?” Eddie asked as he tossed the half-empty box on the bed, jumped off and grabbed for Gary’s cell.

  Gary yanked his arm back and held the phone out of Eddie’s reach. “Relax. I’m just calling my mom.”

  The kid exhaled loudly. “Oh.” He sat back down on the bed, retrieved his fork from where he’d tossed it on the blanket, and went back to what was left of his breakfast.

  Gary put the phone to his ear, but Brenda’s line went to voice mail. “Mom, call me when you get this. And don’t just send a text.” He disconnected and sat down on his own unmade bed. “Great. So now what am I supposed to do with you? I’ve got a full day.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter. I’ll just wait here till you get back.”

  Gary raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got my job at the bookstore, tech rehearsal for the play I’m in, and at some point I gotta go to the library and study. I won’t be back for hours.”

  Eddie shrugged and turned his attention back to the video game. “I can take care of myself.”

  Gary sighed, but he didn’t have time to argue about it. Foster Benning had insisted that the entire cast of Pride and Prejudice show up on time this afternoon so they could do the lighting and sound checks. Still, this rehearsal would cut right into the middle of his workday, which was inconvenient for his fellow employees at the bookstore. He thanked his lucky stars for Ellis Garrett, who had been nothing but understanding and accommodating about his theatre schedule ever since she hired him. He reminded himself to thank her again when he saw her.

  Gary grabbed his backpack and slung it over one shoulder. “Eddie, you can’t stay here indefinitely. You’re a thirteen-year-old child with an Amber Alert out on you. You’ve got to go home eventually.”

  “No!” Eddie’s face screwed up as he pleaded with Gary. “I can’t go back there. My stepdad hates me. I’ll do anything you want me to. Clean up here, do your homework…”

  “Do my homework?”

  Eddie broke into a crooked smile. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m a genius.”

  Gary was stunned. “I thought you were joking.” He let that information sit for a minute and the lightbulb sorta went on. Being that smart would explain how Eddie was able to fake his own kidnapping, terrorize Clara Pelson’s construction crew, and hide from the police for a couple of weeks. And then there were all the classic books he’d taken along. Eddie must have really needed to get away from that stepdad of his if he went to all that trouble. Then Gary had another idea, so he grabbed his phone again and punched in more numbers.

  “Calling Mommy aga
in?” Eddie asked, his attention already back on the video game.

  Gary decided the kid reminded him of himself at that age. Not the genius part, but definitely the smart-aleck kid part. “Her name’s Brenda Riddell, and I’ll thank you not to…Oh, hi, Caryn?” Gary gave Eddie a glance. “Yeah, he’s here and I’ve got stuff to do. Any chance you’re free this afternoon?”

  He disconnected the phone, pulled on his jacket, and left without a backward glance. Hopefully Annabeth and Caryn would look after Eddie. Gary was already exhausted from dealing with the kid and he hadn’t even gotten his day started yet.

  Gary sometimes felt like his whole life was running. Running to class, running to work, running to rehearsals. He was on the move all the time. Sometimes he wished he could slow down and catch his breath, maybe even get a full night’s sleep, but when he metaphorically looked behind him, all he could see were those scholarship requirements nipping at his heels. He’d have to cut his workday short to get to play practice. And if they didn’t get finished with rehearsal in timely manner, he’d have a long Saturday night in the library studying. Would it never end? Yes, in about three and a half years he told himself.

  Brenda texted back while Gary was dashing across campus to work, but it was one of those Really busy, I’ll get back to you messages. He’d wanted her to call, not text.

  “He’s safe, right? Eddie, I mean.”

  Gary stopped stock still in the middle of The Commons and stared at the ghost. It was her again, Eddie’s dead mother. Gary knew he could just keep walking, but he decided to take a minute, put her mind to rest, and maybe then she’d move on. He quickly glanced around him to see if anyone was watching, but the campus was as deserted as the cafeteria had been. “Yeah, he’s fine. And you are?”

  “Lucy Carson Seville. I’d offer to shake hands, but…”

  Gary chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t wanna get slimed. So listen, lady, uh, Lucy, uh, Mrs. Seville…”

  “Please, call me Lucy. No need to stand on ceremony now.”

  Gary’s eyes widened. The ghost was quoting Shakespeare, sort of. Which reminded him that he had to get to work so he could get to rehearsal on time, and hopefully put himself in Foster and Dr. Danson’s good graces when it came time for auditions next week for the coveted part of Macbeth. “Look, Lucy, I’ll see to it that Eddie’s okay. You need to cross over.”