How to Change Your Stars

Chapter Three ~ Leap of Faith

Ari stared at him. His brown eyes regarded her curiously. "Can't you speak?" he said in a classic Texas drawl.

"Yes, I can!" Ari snapped. "And I live in my house. It isn't yours anymore."

Amusement lifted the corners of his mouth. "I didn't mean to offend. My name is Samael Lowood." He didn't address her statement about the house not being his anymore.

"I'm Ari Jones." She took a step closer. "I know who you are. I heard about your mur...about what happened to you."

"Good," he replied. "I won't have to explain that bit."

Enough talking. Ari closed her eyes and dug her nail into the cut on her finger. Are you real or a hallucination? Fire bloomed in her hand, bright and white-hot. She concentrated on the flames, stoking them until her legs trembled, until every nerve was as charred as her mom's pancakes. And now... Her heart clattered as she opened her eyes.

Sam stood in front of her, his brow furrowed.

Ari's breath whooshed out in relief. A million questions filled her head, questions she should be asking. She opened her mouth, and then snapped it shut again.

Sam cleared his throat. "Is this a bad time?"

"Nope." Ari curled her now-bleeding hand in her sleeve. She wasn't sure why, but something told her she shouldn't ask about Mara. Focus. Focus. Her gaze roamed over Sam. She had thought he looked tall in Mrs. Hartzo's photograph, and she wasn't mistaken. He stood at least three inches taller than her. His pale face contrasted sharply with his dark hair. He wore a crisp white shirt, a scarlet tie, and a black waistcoat with matching pants. A wool frock coat and leather gloves completed his dated look.

"A gentleman always wears his best attire," he said, grinning broadly and bowing. "Even ghost gentlemen." A few locks of hair fell over his eyes as he straightened. "You're not afraid?"

"Am I supposed to be?"

He looked taken aback. "I was under the impression that most people found ghosts unnerving."

"I'm not most people." Ari was glad they stood between the house and the grove of pine trees: no one could see them. No one can see me. Still, she couldn't keep her eyes from darting toward the house, as if she expected to see her mom in lime green scrubs, staring horrifiedly out the window.

"I don't know if you've noticed," Ari continued, "but most people can't see ghosts."

"You're right." Sam hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. "They don't know what they're missing."

"A lifetime of therapy?" Ari wrapped her arms around herself and met Sam's gaze.

In the Lowood family photo, his eyes had been shadowed, like dark and distant storm clouds. Now they were warm and full of mischief. What had shadowed them? Was it his parents? Anna and James had looked like normal people. But then again, her family had looked normal from the outside too.

"You look as if you're speculating something. I can probably guess." He took a moment to smooth his hair into place. "And the answer is no: I did not fall from heaven."

Ari snorted. "You're not even close." She tried to run her fingers through her own hair; it stuck to her skin like icicles. "Look, it's freezing out here. If I don't go in soon, I'm going to catch pneumonia."

"My apologies, I didn't realize..." A wry smile twisted his lips. "I can't feel anything, you see. I am dead to this world."

"It must be nice." As soon as she'd said it, Ari realized what a thoughtless thing it was to say to a ghost.