Haunted by Meg Cabot Read Free Book Online Page B

yet incredulous at the same time. Clearly, he hadn’t been aware that I could see him.
    “Hey,” I whispered to him, while everybody else was chatting about chlorine and the flan Andy had made for dessert. “You and I should talk.”
    The guy looked shocked.
    “You—you can see me?” he stammered.
    “Obviously,” I said.
    He blinked, then glanced out the sliding glass doors. “But they—they can’t?”
    “No,” I said.
    “Why?” he asked. “I mean, why you and not…them?”
    “Because I’m a mediator,” I explained.
    He looked blank. “A what?”
    “Hang on a sec,” I said, because I could see my mother suddenly coming toward the sliding glass doors from the deck.
    “Brr,” she said, as she pulled the door shut behind her. “It gets cold out there when the sun starts to go down. How are you doing with those dishes, Susie? Do you need any help?”
    “Nope,” I said, cheerfully. “It’s all good.”
    “Are you sure? I thought it was Brad’s turn to clear the table.”
    “I don’t mind,” I said with a smile I hoped she didn’t notice was completely forced.
    It didn’t work.
    “Susie, honey,” she said. “You aren’t upset, are you? Over what Brad was saying about this other boy being nominated for vice president in your place?”
    “Uh,” I said, with a glance at Ghost Boy, who looked pretty annoyed at the interruption. I couldn’t really blame him. I guess it was kind of unprofessional of me to have a mother-daughter bonding session in the middle of a mediation. “No, not really, Mom. I’m fine with it, actually.”
    I wasn’t lying, either. Not being in the student government this year was going to free up a lot of time for me. Time I had no idea what I was going to do with, of course, since it didn’t look as if I’d be spending any of it being lifted to any romantic heights by Jesse. Still, hope springs eternal.
    My mom continued to hover in the doorway, looking concerned.
    “Well, Susie, honey,” she said, “you’re going to have to replace it with some other extracurricular, you know. Colleges look for that sort of thing in their applicants. You’re less than two years away from graduation. You’ll be leaving us soon.”
    Jeez! My mom didn’t even know about Jesse, and she was still doing all she could to keep the two of us apart, unaware that Jesse himself was taking care of that all on his own.
    “Fine, Mom,” I said, eyeing Ghost Guy uncomfortably. I mean, I wasn’t exactly thrilled that he was privy to all this. “I’ll join the swim team. Will that make you happy? Having to drive me to five
    A . M . practices every day?”
    “That wasn’t even very convincing, Susie,” my mom said in a dry voice. “I know perfectly well you’d never join the swim team. You’re too obsessed with your hair and what all those pool chemicals might do to it.”
    And then she drifted off into the living room, leaving Ghost Guy and me alone in the kitchen.
    “All right,” I said quietly. “Where were we?”
    The guy just shook his head. “I still can’t believe you can see me,” he said in a shocked voice. “I mean, you don’t know…you can’t know what it’s been like. It’s like everywhere I go, people just look through me.”
    “Yes,” I said, tossing aside the dish towel I’d been using to dry my hands. “That’s because you’re dead. The question is, what made you that way?”
    Ghost Guy seemed taken aback by my tone. I guess it was a little curt. But then, I wasn’t having the best day.
    “Are you…” He eyed me sort of warily. “ Who did you say you were again?”
    “My name’s Suze,” I told him. “I’m a mediator.”
    “A what ?”
    “Mediator,” I repeated. “It’s my job to help the dead pass on to the other side…their next life, or whatever. What’s your name, anyway?”
    Ghost Boy blinked again. “Craig,” he said.
    “Okay. Well, listen, Craig. Something’s screwy, because I highly doubt the cosmos intended for you to be