Frizzy haired and overweight, sixteen year old Elizabeth Summers hears ghosts. She also reads people's auras often seeing when something bad is headed their way. Unfortunately, she can't choose which ghosts visit her psychic hotline or when her para...
The full moon is out and shining brightly above Whitman Pond. It's such a hot night, I can't help thinking how wonderful it would be to jump in and go skinny dipping. Instead, we're sitting in Dylan's car with the windows rolled down. There's a balmy breeze filling the air, floating in through our open windows. I smell the scent of lilacs. "So what direction do you think we should go from here?" I'm referring to solving the mystery of what happened to his sister, Lindsay, but Dylan doesn't answer me. Instead, he leans forward, moving his head towards mine. My heart starts beating faster. He's going to kiss me!
Elizabeth! You need to get home right now! Your grandmother's in danger!
"Aghhhhh." Startled, I pull back as his sister's ghost leans out of the back seat, inserting her head between us. Alarmed, Dylan draws away from me, mistaking my startled reaction as a rejection of his advances. I quickly grab his arm. Pulling him closer, I kiss him with a burning desire born out of years of loneliness. Ghost or no ghost, I'm not going to miss out on this romantic opportunity!
"Elizabeth, what's the matter with you?" He looks surprised by my kiss. "I was getting some gum out of the glove compartment."
Disorientated, I don't have time to be embarrassed. Lindsay's specter is frantically yelling in my head as if we're in a five alarm fire.
Hurry! You need to go home before it's too late!
Urgently, I address Dylan. "We need to go! Something's wrong. I think my grandmother's in danger!"
Dylan guns the engine. Tearing out of Whitman Pond's access road, dirt flies from under our wheels. We arrive back at my house in record time. As I run up the driveway, my worst fears are confirmed. "Someone's broken in!" The front door is ajar and all house lights are eerily turned off. Entering my house, I shout, "Julia, are you all right?" When there's no answer, we both start checking the rooms. I find my grandmother unconscious in my bedroom, lying on the floor. I gasp, sensing a stranger's disturbing presence lingering in the room. As far as I can tell, someone knocked her out, heard us, then bolted out the back door into the night.
While I cradle Julia's head, Dylan gets a cloth with some cold water. I put it on Julia's face to revive her as he calls an ambulance. I'm incredibly relieved when I hear her moan, then start to come around. Slowly, she painfully opens her eyes, then starts sitting upright, but I have her stay quiet to wait for the ambulance. "Julia, I'm so glad you're all right! Tell us what happened."
When she tries to sit up again, I gently restrain her. She starts cussing up a storm. "I don't know who it was Lizzie, but someone was in your room. When I startled them, they hit me with something heavy. The lights were off, so I didn't see much." My grandmother looks so old and feeble it wrenches my heart. When her eyes focus on Dylan, I know she realizes I've fibbed to her about being out with him, but I relax when I see she's not angry. "Lizzy, it's all right. I'm just glad you're safe. I don't care if you were out with someone instead of in your room tonight. It might have saved your life."
I look at Dylan feeling chilled. "What was someone doing here in my room?" He's at a loss to answer as he looks gravely at Julia and me.
The ambulance arrives with two paramedics who immediately attend to Julia. After they depart to take her to the hospital, Dylan calls the police who come and take our statements. As it approaches midnight, Dylan and I are sitting on the couch in the living room, rehashing what's happened. "Elizabeth, I'm sorry if I dragged you into something dangerous."
I look him straight in the eyes, answering without hesitation. "So far it's not the deceased who've been out to harm anyone, only the living." And it's true, it was his sister's ghost who warned me Julia was in trouble. She may even have saved her life.
It's been a long night, but I've felt Dylan and I were there for each other in a way neither of our families have ever been for either of us. I feel so relaxed and close to him as he looks down into his lap, gathering his thoughts. After a minute, he glances back at me, somewhat hesitant. Almost as if he's crossing unfamiliar territory. "Lizzy, I think I know why your mother's still here. What her unfinished business really is." He looks directly into my eyes with his green, hypnotic ones.
"What is it?" I feel nervous and excited by his calling me Lizzy, but I don't know why.
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"She's still here because of you. It's you." He leans over and this time he does kiss me.
