What Ghost? (Complete)

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Pollyguy

Billy knew as soon as he opened the door that they'd interrupted Becky and John in the middle of a deep and meaningful. Becky looked utterly miserable. But he also knew from the look she threw at him it was best to pretend he hadn't noticed.

"Oops...hope we're not interrupting anything?" he said, trying to lighten the mood in the room. He threw his bag in the corner and fell onto his bed. "Man...what a day! Changing schools sucks." Well, except for the part where he got to sit next to Kate in most of his classes. "So how did you go Beck'? Did the great 'Powers-That-Be' offer any solutions?"

Becky took a deep breath and told them what the Archangels had said, then looked around at the three boys. "So...any suggestions about how we're supposed to achieve this miraculous attitude adjustment among the senior boys?"

Lance rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You know, since I've been here, there's always been heaps of talk about how much the boys' attitudes change when they become seniors. Sounds like Pollyguy's presence sure would explain that! But how are we supposed to cheer them up when we're not even seniors ourselves? I mean, I was friends with one of the guys last year when he was down in this area, but he just scowls at me every time I see him now."

Billy looked at John. "Have you been hanging out much in Eric's room lately? Any obvious changes in his attitude over the last couple of days?"

John shrugged. "To be honest, last night was the first time I've been in there since I met Becky, and that was only 'cos she wasn't here. I got the feeling he wasn't exactly Mr. Sunshine when he first arrived, but he did seem extra angry last night. I just thought he must have had a bad day."

Billy nodded. "Okay, well I think you and Becky should maybe check out all the guys in the rooms closest to that door. And Lance and I'll see if anyone can tell us what's on the other side of it. Besides the pollyguy I mean."

Billy took a deep breath and looked at Becky sheepishly. "Ummm...we may have one other small problem..."

Becky put her hands on her hips and stared at Billy. He noticed Lance and John were suddenly trying to look busy on the other side of the room. Yeah, thanks for the moral support guys.

Becky blew out a long, slow breath. "Okay, what's going on? You're all looking awfully nervous...what's this small problem?"

How the hell was he supposed to tell her without her flipping her lid? He'd been wracking his brain all day trying to think of a way to tell Becky about Kate's involvement. He knew she wouldn't be happy, but it would be worse if she found out later on that they'd all known and not told her. "It's about Kate..."

Becky sighed and rolled her eyes. "Of course it is...what about little Miss Non-believer?"

"Well...that's part of the problem. Since the whole pollyguy experience yesterday, she now believes in ghosts." Becky's eyes looked ready to pop out of her head, but he pushed on. "She looked up angry ghosts on the internet and came up with the same theory as you did – a poltergeist. Except now she wants to try and convince Brad to use the ghost trap to catch it." He saw Becky's brows draw together, and closed his eyes, waiting for the explosion. After a couple of seconds with no reaction, he cautiously re-opened one eye.

Becky was actually smiling. "You know, maybe I misjudged her after all. Do you think it would help if you introduced her to John and me, so we can tell her what's really going on? It makes a lot of sense really, when you think about it. You obviously want to spend time with her, and I've never had a female friend. I mean Lance knows about me...so what's one more? What do you all think?"

Billy looked at Lance and John, and instantly knew what he must look like. Unbelievable! He shook his head, picked up his jaw, looked at Becky and grinned. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my sister? Or did something happen while you were Upstairs that you failed to tell us about?"

Becky chuckled. "Actually, you can thanks John for making me see the big picture. We lived an incredibly insulated life before we came here, and now things are a hell of a lot different to what we've been used to." She shrugged. "So it's time to deal with reality..."

Say what? Becky just said that? Billy looked from Becky to John. "Wow...I don't know how you did it mate, but you're a miracle worker. I never thought I'd hear those words come out of my sister's mouth!"

John grinned, and floated back over to Becky to wrap his arms around her. "Well, she's stubborn, annoying, and slightly overprotective where you're concerned." He winced as Becky elbowed him. "But she's also intelligent enough to understand that your world is evolving, and you both need to make some huge attitude adjustments."

Lance groaned and dropped his face into his hands. "Oh great...so I get to be the fifth wheel...you know, the dorky single guy hanging out with two couples. Story of my life... So how do you think Kate will handle it Billy? And more importantly, are you sure we can trust her?"

Billy thought about it for a minute. He'd spent recess and lunch with Kate at school that day, and she was pretty obsessed with the idea of getting rid of the Poltergeist and helping the senior boys. In the two days since they'd met, she'd gone from being a total non-believer, to scouring the internet for everything she could find relating to ghosts.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I think we might need to include Kate...she's determined to do something about this poltergeist, and the last thing we need is for Becky or John to get caught in the cross-fire. I'll text her and say I've found out something about the poltergeist, and I need to talk to her after dinner." He looked at John and Becky. "You guys cool with showing yourselves to her?"

Becky and John both nodded, and he saw the excitement dancing in Becky's eyes. "How exciting...a real live girlfriend. Man, will we have a lot to talk about." John and Billy looked at each other and groaned. Maybe this wasn't going to be quite such a good idea after all.