Meg Cabot - Shadowland

I blinked at his freckled little face, and saw that he was serious. Quite serious, as his next remark proved.

"Although modern scientists have, for the most part, debunked the majority of claims of paranormal activity in this country, there is still ample evidence that unexplained spectral phenomena exists in our world. My own personal investigation of this house was unsatisfactory insofar as traditional indications of a spiritual presence, such as the so-called cold spot. But there was nevertheless a very definite fluctuation of temperature in this room, Suze, leading me to believe that it was probably the scene of at least one incidence of great violence – perhaps even a murder – and that some remnant of the victim – call it the soul, if you will – still lurks here, perhaps in the vain hope of gaining justice for his untimely death."

I leaned against one of the posts of my bed-frame. I had to, or I might have fallen down. "Gee," I said, keeping my voice steady with an effort. "Way to make a girl feel welcome."

Doc looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he said, the tips of his sticky-outy ears turning red. "I shouldn't have said anything. I did mention it to Jake and Brad, and they told me I was nuts. I probably am." He swallowed, bravely. "But I feel it's my duty, as a man, to offer to trade rooms with you. You see, I'm not afraid."

I smiled at him, my shock forgotten in a sudden rush of affection for him. I was really touched. You could see the offer had taken all the guts the little guy had. He really and truly believed my room was haunted, in spite of everything that science told him, and yet he'd been willing to sacrifice himself for my sake, out of some sort of inborn chivalry. You had to like the little guy. You really did.

"That's okay, Doc," I said, forgetting myself in a sudden burst of sentimentality and calling him by my own private nickname for him. "I think I can pretty much handle any paranormal phenomena that might occur around here."

He didn't seem to mind the new nickname, though. He said, obviously relieved, "Well, if you really don't mind – "

"No, it's okay. But let me ask you something." I lowered my voice, just in case Jesse was lurking around somewhere. "In all of your extensive research, did you ever come across the name of this poor slob whose soul is inhabiting my room?"

Doc shook his head. "Actually, I'm sure I could get it for you, if you really want it. I can look it up down at the library. They have all the newspapers ever printed in the area since the first press started running, shortly before this house was built. It's on microfiche, but I'm sure if I spend enough time looking – "

It seemed kind of wacky to me, some kid spending all his time in a dark library basement looking at microfiche, when a block or two away was this beautiful beach. But hey, to each his own, right?

"Cool," was all I said, however.

Now I could see that Doc's little crush on me was threatening to get blown all out of proportion. First I'd willingly volunteered to abide in a room rumored to be haunted, and then I'd gone and saved Bryce Martinson's life. What was I going to do next? Run a three-minute mile?

"Look," I said, as Sleepy struggled with the ignition, which apparently had a tendency not to work on the first try. "I just did what any of you would have done if you'd been standing nearby."

"Brad was standing nearby," Doc said, "and he didn't do anything."

Dopey said, "Jesus Christ, I didn't see the stupid beam, okay? If I'd seen it, I'd have pushed him out of the way, too. Christ!"

"Yeah, but you didn't see it. You were probably too busy looking at Kelly Prescott."

This earned Doc a hard slug on the arm. "Shuddup, David," Dopey said. "You don't know anything about it."

" All of you shut up," Sleepy said with uncharacteristic grumpiness. "I'll never get this damned car started if you all don't keep distracting me. Brad, stop hitting David, David stop yelling in my ear, and Suze, if you don't move your big head out of the mirror I'll never be able to see where the hell we're going. Damn, I can't wait till I get that Camaro!"

The phone call came after dinner. My mother had to scream up the stairs at me because I had my head phones on. Even though it was only the first day of the new semester, I had a lot of homework to do, especially in Geometry. We'd only been on Chapter Seven back in my old school. The Mission Academy sophomores were already on Chapter Twelve. I knew I was pretty much dead meat if I didn't start trying to catch up.

When I came downstairs to pick up the phone, my mom was already so mad at me for making her scream – she has to watch her vocal chords for her job and everything – that she wouldn't tell me who it was. I picked up the receiver and went, "Hello?"

There was a pause, and then Father Dominic's voice came on. "Hello? Susannah? Is that you? Look, I'm sorry to bother you at home, but I've been giving this some thought and I really think – yes, I really do think we need to do something right away. I can't stop thinking about what might have happened to poor Bryce if you hadn't been there."

I looked over my shoulder. Dopey was playing Coolboarders – with his dad, the only person in the house who let him win — my mom was working on her computer, Sleepy was out subbing for some pizza deliverer who'd called in sick, and Doc was sitting at the dining room table working on a science project that wasn't due until April.

"Uh," I said. "Look. I can't really talk right now."

"I realize that," Father Dom said. "And don't worry – I had one of the novices ask for you. Your mother thinks it's just some new little friend you've made at school. But the thing of it is, Susannah, we've got to do something, and I think it had better be tonight – "

"Look," I said. "Don't worry about it. I've got it under control."

Father Dom sounded surprised. "You do? You do? How? How have you got it under control?"

"Never mind. But I've done this before. Everything will be fine. I promise."

"Yes, well, it's all very well to promise everything will be fine, but I've seen you at work, Susannah, and I can't say I've been very impressed with your technique. We've got the archbishop visiting in a month, and I can't very well – "

The call waiting went off. I said, "Oh, hang on a sec. I've got another call." I hit the hook and went, "Ackerman-Simon residence."

"Suze?" A boy's voice, unrecognizable to me.

"Yes...."

"Oh, hi. It's Bryce. So. What's going on?"

I looked at my mother. She was scowling into the story she was working on. "Um," I said. "Nothing much. Can you hold on a second, Bryce? I've got someone on the other line."

"Sure," Bryce said.

I switched back to Father Dominic. "Uh, hi," I said, careful not to say his name. "I gotta go. My mother has a very important caller on the other line. A senator. State senator." I was probably going to go to hell for it – if there was such a place – but I couldn't very well tell Father Dominic the truth: that I was dating the ghost's ex-boyfriend.

"Oh, of course," Father Dominic said. "I – well, if you have a plan."

"I do. Don't worry. Nothing will ruin the archbishop's visit. I promise. Bye." I hung up and got back to Bryce. "Uh, hi. Sorry about that. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about you. What do you want to do on Saturday? I mean, do you want to go to dinner, or to a movie, or both, maybe?"

The other line went off. I said, "Bryce, I'm really sorry, it's a zoo here, could you hang on a minute? Thanks. Hello?"

A girl's voice I'd never heard before said, "Oh, hi, is this Suze?"

"Speaking," I said.

"Oh, hi, Suzie. It's Kelly. Kelly Prescott, from your homeroom? Listen, I just wanted to let you know — what you did today for Bryce – that was so righteous. I mean, I have never in my life seen anything so brave. They should totally put you on the news, or something. Anyway, I'm having a little get-together at my place this Saturday – nothing much, just a pool party, my folks'll be out of town, and our pool's heated, of course – so I thought, if you wanted, maybe you could stop by."