The Ghost Files V2

Chapter Three

Ohmygosh! Eric...how? He grins at the question on my face and instead of heading for the table, he leads me towards the back where the rest rooms are. I see Meg wink at me knowingly...she has no idea.

As soon as we're out of earshot, Eric wraps me in a hug and whispers, "Happy early birthday, Mattie!"

I stare up into Eric's blue eyes and I feel the butterflies start in my stomach, no scratch that. They're on a marathon flutter-a-thon. Why is it that the only person who can make me feel like this is dead? So not fair.

"How?" I ask.

He smiles that cocky smile I've grown so fond of. I'd met him while still at Mrs. Olson's when he'd tried to scare me away from finding out what happened to my foster sister. In his eagerness to keep me safe, he'd accidentally landed me in the hospital. Back then I'd nicknamed him Mirror Boy, as that was the first place I'd seen him—in the mirror with his face so mangled, it was hard to tell he was a guy. Now, I just see him as the cute boy he'd been before Mrs. Olson killed him.

"I hijacked a body."

I roll my eyes. "Obviously, but how?"

"It's not as easy as you think," he tells me. "I actually tried to body jump Dan over there, but that didn't work out so well. He's got some kind of internal shielding that makes me bounce right off. Freaky weird. Mason here was easy. He has an open mind and it let me in without any resistance."

"You didn't hurt Mason, did you?" Mason is a really, really nice guy and I didn't want him to suffer no matter how excited I am to see Eric in the flesh.

"Nah, he won't even remember this," Eric shakes his head and then his face turns serious. "You have to promise me something, Mattie."

"What?" I ask.

"That you won't get into any kind of ghost trouble for at least a week."

"A week? Why a week?"

"It takes a lot of energy to possess someone," he says. "It's gonna take me at least that long to recover once I leave this guy's body. He has the hots for you, by the way, and I don't mean just a crush. He has it bad."

"Why would you do this if it costs you so much?" I demand.

"Glad you asked that, Mathilda Hathaway." He smiles and there is no trace of Mason in his face. I just see Eric. He leans in before I can do anything and kisses me.

For all of five seconds, I freeze. I mean...wow. Then emotions flood me and I realize I'm feeling Eric's emotions. Even though he's in a body, he is still a ghost and I can feel that part of him. He's elated, triumphant, and...and happy. This is all he's wanted to do since he first saw me. I see all this in a flash and it overshadows everything I feel.

Now, does that mean I don't enjoy it? Heck no. The boy can kiss and kiss well.

"Mason!"

Eric ignores Dan's shout. So do I for that matter, which only makes Dan mad. He yanks us apart and glares holes into Eric. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Giving Mattie a birthday kiss," he replies with his cocky smile. "What's it to you?"

"What did I tell you about this? She needs time to get over everything."

"Chill, man," Eric winks at me. "Mason won't remember this in the morning."

Dan frowns and I laugh. "Um, Officer Dan, that's not Mason. That's Eric. He kinda hijacked Mason's body for my party."

Dan's facial expressions range from outright disbelief to a kind of comical horror. He was forced to admit I can see ghosts, but a part of him still doesn't want to believe it. Though after that thing we saw in my bedroom...