Haunted by Lynn Carthage Read Free Book Online Page A

bedroom.
    I lay down on the bed without pulling back the covers. What was the use? I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.
    I rolled over onto my side and a paper in my pocket crinkled. Wiggling around a little, I was able to pull it out.
    I read it while a headache built fortifications in my skull. Soon my head was throbbing as I stared at Bethany’s careful handwriting, once so familiar to me. This was an explanation for what I’d seen in the old part of the manor . . . and for what had just happened in the kitchen. It made perfect sense.
    The paper was a page from her notebook, notes she’d started to take for our presentation in psychology class. We hadn’t gotten far, and that night we couldn’t find this page, so we’d started over again on her laptop. I guess I hadn’t worn these pants since then. Mom had packed them for me, not knowing I didn’t like the way the waist sat.
    The headache drove a mallet into my brain again and again.
    I read the page a hundred times.
    And then I read it again.

    Schizophrenia Presentation by Bethany Robb and Phoebe Irving
    I. Schizophrenia can show up in kids as young as 5, but it’s more typical for it to show up in the teen years
    II. Some of the positive symptoms (explain) include:
    A. Auditory hallucinations—hearing things like voices that aren’t there
    B. Visual hallucinations—seeing things
    C. Either being unable to sleep, or sleeping way too much
    D. A fierce belief that the hallucinations are real
    E. Garbled speech or thought
    III. Some of the

    I was swimming. Miles wasn’t there and I couldn’t see anyone else, either. The pool was dark and silent, no splashing sounds. The lighting was so dim I forced myself to relax into it, absorbed by the familiar sensations of my body threading the water’s needle.
    I don’t know how long this lasted. Hours, maybe. Then the lights came on and someone entered, setting up cones for the lanes. Shortly afterward, children trickled in and took a swim class from the lifeguard who’d opened the pool up.
    I treaded water and watched them for a long time, remembering my first lessons and how initially I’d been terrified to put my face in the water. Their serious faces were so heartbreaking as they kicked their stubby legs and swam back to their mothers. The class ended. The high ceiling echoed with their talk as they headed back to the locker room, and the pool settled.
    I was alone again, a single flower in a dark blue field. Free swim began and I pulled myself out to make room in the lane for those lean-bodied adults who came, swam steadily, then toweled off and left.
    I stayed forever, watching swimmers come and go. None of them were Miles. I had to admit that was why I’d lingered, although I couldn’t remember when I’d asked Mom to come pick me up. Or maybe they’d lent me the car? No: I would’ve remembered my first time driving on the left side of the road.
    You’re losing your grip again , I thought, and shivered. Which reminded me I’d never dried off, sitting there dripping on the cold tile.
    I stood and stretched. Miles wasn’t coming.
    Â 
    I walked into the kitchen and they were all eating dinner. Oh crap. Setting the table was my job. Mom must’ve called me and I didn’t hear her . . . and in these post-screw-up days, I wasn’t given extra chances. She had set the table and deliberately didn’t set a place for me.
    â€œI’m really sorry, I didn’t hear you calling me,” I said.
    Mom said nothing, just swabbed at some applesauce Tabby had pushed over the edge of her plastic bunny plate.
    â€œI feel like a jerk,” I said. “I didn’t mean to forget my job.”
    â€œI’ll set the table from now on,” said Steven.
    â€œNo!” I said. “I can do it. I honestly didn’t hear you. The acoustics here are really weird.”
    â€œOh, Steven,” said Mom.