Losing Logan

Chapter 16

Carlos paces the floor, wearing a line into my

soft brown carpet.

"Okay, I need you to go over this one more time.

You see dead people?"

"Just Logan."

"Sorry, dead person."

"This is a really bad idea," Logan chimes in from

my chair where he's sitting with his head in his hands.

"Shut up Logan, nobody asked you."

Carlos pauses. "And he's here right now. In this

room."

I nod, "In the chair."

Carlos glances over his shoulder.

"Have you mentioned this to your mom? Maybe

there's some kind of medication—"

"I'm not crazy, Carlos. Just, you know, haunted."

He shakes his head, "Right. And you can see him

because?"

"Because you have secretly been harboring a torch

for me since you were five," Logan chimes in.

I flip him off.

"I don't know, okay? Because I'm a freak? Who

knows? Point is, I can. And I do."

Carlos collapses to his knees, curling his legs

under him and rubbing his hands through his hair and

down his face.

"Okay, I'm sorry Zoe, but I need proof."

I get that. "What do you have in mind?"

He puts both hands behind his back. "How many

fingers am I holding up?"

"Four," I answer quickly. "I can see the reflection

in the TV."

He rolls his eyes. "Okay, how about this, I'm

going to go outside and say something. Tell Logan to

follow me, then he can tell you the message, and you can

tell me."

I look over at Logan. He waves his hand. "Fine,

but I'm not a side show freak you can use to amaze your

friends."

"You're right, you aren't. You're an enormous pain

in my ass that happens to need my help, so, get going. I'll

wait here."

He nods.

"Okay, Carlos. Go for it," I say firmly.

He rises to his feet and storms out of my bedroom,

shutting the door behind him. A few minutes later, he

strides back in, Logan right behind him.

They both stand in front of me, Logan folds his

arms across his chest.

"Okay," Carlos says making a go ahead gesture

with his hands.

I look over at Logan.