Girl Meets Ghost (20 page)

“Well, that's what he told Kyle. Kendall, what the heck were you doing?”

I swallow. “Ellie,” I say, and take a deep breath. “I . . .” I want to tell her. I do. About Daniella, about the ghosts, about digging up the graveyard, about everything. But the words seem like they're stuck on my tongue.

“What?” Ellie asks. “Kendall, what is it?” She sounds so worried that the guilt squeezes my stomach like a rubber band.

I let out my breath in one giant whoosh. I just can't do it. If I lost her, I don't know what I'd do.

So I explain to her about the friendship bracelets, about sending them to my grandma with a Chinese proverb. And Ellie doesn't even question it, because we've been friends for so long that she's used to me doing weird things. In fact, she kind of likes it. She even starts asking questions about different Chinese spells and if there's any that we can do together. It actually sounds kind of interesting, and I tell her that I don't know too much about it but we should check it out. That's before I remember that I made the whole thing up, which makes me feel even more guilty. But I'm sure there's something out there that's sort of like it. I make a mental note to google ancient Chinese burial spells.

“Anyway,” I say, tapping my pen against the pages of my history book. “Tell me more about what Brandon said.”

“Just that you were acting weird,” she says. “Kendall, I think you should go and talk to him.”

“Hmmm,” I say. “Good idea.”

“And try not to be so nervous! Remember how well things were going at the skating rink?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, so I'll let you go.”

“Why?”

“So you can go and call him!”

“Right
now
?”

“Yes, right now! You need to get back on track.”

“I guess . . .”

“Kendall,” she says, “go.” And then she hangs up.

I decide to send Brandon a text instead of calling him, because I figure it's less intrusive.

Hey
, I say.
What r u doing?

Homework
, comes the reply.
U?

Same. Want company?
I hold my breath and cross my fingers.

After a minute comes his reply.
Sure. Wanna come over?

Sure.

He can't be too weirded out if he's inviting me over, right? I rebraid my hair and put on some lip gloss. I almost miss Daniella's little comments about how much I'm screwing things up with Brandon and how much of a ridiculous middle school drama my romance is. “Good luck, Daniella,” I whisper, hoping that wherever she is, she can hear me.

I call my dad at work and ask him if I can go to Brandon's, and after he confirms that Brandon's dad will be there, he says yes. And he didn't even have to call Cindy this time! I consider it progress.

I decide to ride my bike to Brandon's, since it's a little too far to walk.

“Hey,” I say when he opens the door.

“Hi.” He looks cute and casual in a pair of jeans and a button-up white and gray shirt.

“I brought my math notes,” I tell him as I step into his front hall and take my coat off. “So you can copy them.”

“Thanks,” he says. “I had a dentist appointment during math.” He takes my coat and puts it on the coatrack. “Do you want a juice or something?”

“Sounds great.”

“All my stuff's set up in the dining room,” he says. “So you can go ahead and go in there. Dad and Grace are outside throwing the ball around, but they'll probably be in soon.”

“Okay,” I say. I head to the dining room and spread my stuff out on the table while Brandon goes to get the drinks.
Just relax,
I tell myself. Brandon doesn't
seem
freaked out about the whole digging-up-the-cemetery thing, but I'm sure he is. So I need to get things back on track. Again. It should be a lot easier this time, I tell myself, without Daniella around.

And that's when I see it. The piece of green paper. Sticking out of Brandon's book bag, which is sitting on the chair next to me. I can hear Brandon moving around in the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and getting glasses down from the cupboard.

I think about what Mrs. Dunham kept saying. About adding myself to the green paper. That
has
to be the paper. I mean, Brandon takes it with him everywhere. I wonder if I could just . . . take a look. It wouldn't really
be snooping, because now that Daniella's gone, I might really have to help Brandon's mom move on soon. Looking at that paper would be more like doing something in the line of duty.

So before I can talk myself out of it, I reach in and pull the paper out of Brandon's bag. It looks like a letter. It
is
a letter. From Brandon's mom to him. It seems like something she wrote to him before she died. “
Dear Brandon,
” it starts, “
I wanted to take this opportunity to write down everything I want to tell you, in case someday I'm not there to tell you in person.
”

Wow. That is so sweet. I start to tear up a little bit, actually. Because it's just so sad. I hear Brandon's footsteps moving closer, and my heart starts to beat fast. I run my eyes quickly down the paper, scanning it for anything that might make me understand what Mrs. Dunham is talking about.

And that's when I come to the end of the paper. And I see that there's a list of things that Mrs. Dunham wants Brandon to stay away from. I don't have a chance to read all of it before I have to shove it back into his bag.

“Hey,” Brandon says, walking back into the dining room and setting two glasses of juice down on the table. “Is apple okay? Grace drank the rest of the orange.”

“Apple's great,” I say, but my mind is racing. What the
heck could Mrs. Dunham be talking about? Why would she want me to be on her letter to Brandon?

And then I have a horrible thought. Is Mrs. Dunham . . . She can't mean that
I'm
something Brandon should stay away from, can she?
Add yourself to the green paper.
But that . . . that doesn't make any sense. Why would I have to stay away from Brandon so that Mrs. Dunham can move on?

“Everything okay?” Brandon asks.

“Yup,” I say brightly, even though my stomach's in my shoes. “Everything's fine.” I take a sip of my juice and give him a smile. My heart's beating so fast in my chest, I'm afraid he's going to be able to hear it. I look at the green paper, hoping he won't be able to tell that I just put it back into his bag. I'm not sure that it's sticking out exactly the way it was before. Crap. I want to reach out and push it back in, but I don't—

“So it was fun ice-skating yesterday,” Brandon says, and sits down at the table next to me.

“Yeah,” I say, “I had fun too.” My head is spinning, and I open my math book.
Okay, Kendall,
I tell myself.
Calm down. There's no way Mrs. Dunham meant for you to stay away from Brandon. She doesn't even know you.

“I've never had that much fun with a girl before,” Brandon says shyly. He inches his chair closer to mine, and now our legs are touching under the dining room table. Ohmigod,
ohmigod, ohmigod. His closeness is enough to make me forget about Mrs. Dunham and that stupid green paper. I'm probably overreacting about it, anyway. I'm very dramatic when I want to be.

“Me neither. I mean, I've never had that much fun with a boy before.” I twist my hands nervously in my lap. “And about this morning,” I say, “at the graveyard—”

“Shhh,” Brandon says, putting his finger to my lips. “You don't have to explain.”

“I don't?”

“No,” he says, and grins. “You definitely keep things interesting, Kendall Williams.”

And then, before I even know what's happening, he's moving his lips toward mine. And the moment is perfect and right, and I move my lips up to meet his, and then he's kissing me. When we pull apart, he rests his forehead against mine, and I just stay there for a second, my eyes closed, enjoying how amazing this feels.

My first kiss! I can't wait to tell Ellie!

“So,” Brandon says, pulling back. “Should we work on our math?”

“Sure,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm. But inside, a million fireworks are going off inside me, like tiny little explosions. How am I supposed to work on math at a time like this? I kissed Brandon Dunham! And he likes that I'm so quirky! He said I keep things interesting!

I turn the page in my math book, wondering if I can get away with sending Ellie a text about what just happened without Brandon noticing.

And that's when I see her. Mrs. Dunham. Sitting across from us at the table. I give her a friendly smile, hoping now that she sees how much her son likes me, she'll be a little more friendly. But Mrs. Dunham doesn't smile back. In fact, all she does is glare. . . .

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALADDIN

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Aladdin hardcover edition February 2013

Copyright © 2013 by Lauren Barnholdt

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a
registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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.

The text of this book was set in Minion.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barnholdt, Lauren.

Girl meets ghost / by Lauren Barnholdt. — First Aladdin hardcover edition.

p. cm.

Summary: Seventh-grader Kendall can see dead people. Not only can she see them, she can speak to them . . . and they can speak to her. They want Kendall to be a psychic sleuth and figure out what unresolved issues are keeping them from moving on.

ISBN 978-1-4424-4246-7 (alk. paper)

[1. Dead—Fiction. 2. Ghosts—Fiction. 3. Psychic ability—Fiction. 4. Middle schools—

Fiction. 5. Schools—Fiction. 6. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.

PZ7.B2667Gi 2013

[Fic]—dc23

2012032234

ISBN 978-1-4424-2149-3 (eBook)