What Ghost? (Complete)

Chapter Sixteen: The Plan

Billy's stomach was aching from laughing by the time they reached the computer room. Watching Kate bamboozle Brad's tiny brain had been hysterical from start to finish. He flopped down into a chair and tried to suck some air into his lungs. He sobered at the sight of Lance's raised eyebrows, his fingers drumming impatiently on the desk waiting to be let in on the joke.

"Seriously Lance, you should have been there man. That Brad guy is a total nutjob! You should see the stuff he's got squirrelled away in a shed up the back of the school. He truly thinks he's a ghosthunter extraordinaire..."

Lance grinned as Billy doubled over again. "So is it the real deal do ya reckon? Or just a bunch of toys?"

His eyes met Becky's on the other side of the room and he frowned, taking a deep breath and wiping his eyes. He needed to be serious for a minute. "Ummm...that's the problem. Nobody seems to know if any of it works because they've never found a ghost to try it out on. And now he thinks he's hit the jackpot and found one, because of what happened yesterday."

Kate was still trying to catch her breath and holding her stomach. "I can't remember the last time I laughed that much. Billy's right...the guy is a total wackjob. He has this gadget that's supposed to pick up traces of where a ghost's been. So he's going to check the table at the basketball courts and then walk up and down the dorm corridors with it this afternoon. Seriously...as if..."

"...the gadgets will even work right?" Billy jumped in before she could finish her sentence. He knew exactly what was about to come out of her mouth, and another tantrum from Becky was the last thing they needed. "I mean, they copied the design from stuff used in a movie! What the hell...? Which part of the whole thing about special effects don't people get?"

Lance and Kate laughed, but Billy threw Becky a worried look. "Hey guys, I've just gotta go make a quick call...be right back." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and headed for the door, tilting his head to indicate he wanted Becky and John to come with him.

"Hey Becky, it's Billy," he said, holding the inactive phone up to his ear.

Becky rounded on him, hands on hips and a worried frown on her face. "So does this stuff they've got work or not?" she demanded.

Billy frowned. "I honestly don't know Beck'...I guess we'll find out this afternoon. Unless you know of some way to wipe away whatever trace a ghost leaves behind when they've been somewhere? If not, and the damn thing works, it's gonna lead them straight to my room, and then Eric's."

John had been pacing and scratching his head. Suddenly his head snapped up and he looked straight at Billy. "What if Becky and I went to the shed and tried to sabotage this ghost tracing thing? Can you describe it to us, and we'll see if we can disable it somehow?"

"John, you're brilliant!" Billy said, wishing he could slap John's shoulder. "I never even thought of that. Do you reckon you could do something that wouldn't be noticeable? So they think it either never worked or there were never any ghosts in the first place?"

John shrugged. "I've no idea what we can and can't do. I'm the newbie here remember? But I'm sure Becky would be able to do something like that....right Beck'?" He nudged her and grinned.

Becky's eyes were sparkling again. "I reckon we should be able to figure something out." She grinned and threw her arms around John's neck. "I am so lucky I found you...together we can kick some ghost-hunting butt!"

The sight of Becky wrapped in John's arms made him smile. This guy was so good for her...Billy couldn't ever remember seeing her so happy. And maybe there was a chance that John's responsible attitude would rub off on Becky and stop her from constantly causing trouble. Well, he could live in hope anyway.

"Okay, so you need to tell us where this thing is and what it looks like," Becky chirped excitedly. "Hopefully we can think of something that'll turn it into a useless toy...if it isn't one already."

John grinned with excitement. "Oh, and just for the record, I was a huge fan of Ghostbusters, so I'm kinda familiar with all the gadgets."

From the sheepish look on his face, Billy had a feeling John was a bit more than 'kinda familiar' with the gadgets. He chuckled, and wondered if John's collection of Ghostbusters stuff had been as extensive as his own collection of Batman stuff stored lovingly in a cupboard back home.

* * *

Lance and Kate were in stitches when he walked back into the computer room. His stomach felt like tiny gremlins were doing backflips at how different Kate looked from when they'd first met. She'd been so sad and lost he'd had to fight the urge to wrap her in his arms and protect her from all the pain and heartache her self-absorbed parents had caused. And the fact they he'd felt that way scared the bejesus out of him almost as much as the way he was feeling now.

Kate was demonstrating the performance she'd put on for Brad, and Lance struggled to breathe from laughing so much. Billy gave himself a mental slap. To be honest, he'd been a bit jealous of the way she'd gushed all over Brad. And now the same green-eyed monster was rearing its ugly head at the way Lance was looking at her. He seriously needed to get a grip on his emotions. His brain told him it was all just an act, but his heart refused to be quite so logical.

Billy cleared his throat, roped in his irrational emotions, and grinned. "Oh yeah, that reminds me Kate. I couldn't help noticing...I think maybe you joined the wrong club. I definitely think you'd be more suited to drama club." He winked and laughed.

Kate punched him in the arm. "Is that right? Well, I was thinking more along the lines of something like taekwondo, so I could kick your butt!" They all laughed again, and Billy suddenly realised what a fantastic time he was having.

How much had his life changed in the last twenty-four hours? Yesterday he'd felt like his world was falling down around him, and today he was having the best time he could ever remember having. He had a real live 'mate', a girl he liked who seemed to feel the same way, and Becky was happily off doing her own thing for the first time ever.

Now, if they could just get this whole Paranormal Club fiasco dealt with he could start to really enjoy his new life. He so hoped Becky and John's sabotage attempt was successful, and nothing went wrong with their plan. With a bit of luck, by the time they met back up with Brad at four o'clock this afternoon their worries should all be over.