Think of the most awkward situation you can imagine.
Did you think of one?
Okay, so now multiply that awkward situation by sixteen—and don’t ask me why I chose that number. Did you do that? You got the equation all solved?
Now whatever answer you came up with will still not amount to how awkward it was at my dinner table.
Okay so maybe you didn’t have to do the multiplication. Oh well. You still got to waste fifteen seconds of your life. Unless you suck at math. Then it would be twenty seconds. Because you would sit there trying to figure it out and then realize that someone invented a calculator for a reason.
“So, Isabel, how was school?” my dad asked with a smile on his face as he cut a piece of stake and plopped it into his mouth. As he chewed, he stared at me as though willing me to answer the truth and nothing but the truth.
My father asking me how my school day was wasn’t what was awkward. Actually, that was probably the most normal thing happening at my table right now. No, the awkward part was the fact that Diana was practically hopping up and down with a stupid grin on her face and my mom was watching her as though she needed mental help. And, while this was all going on, Kendall was seated at the last free seat, her arms folded in front of her while she evaluated the situation with a fair amount of amusement.
So, basically, I had one friend resisting the urge to ask me questions about my dead sister, and I was resisting the urge to look at my dead sister. And my parents were probably thinking about telling me to take a break from hanging out with Diana before her craziness fed off to me.
If only they knew.
“School’s fine,” I said, fighting back my habit of waving my hand dismissively. My dad didn’t really appreciate it when I did that. Sucked to have bad habits.
“Keeping up those grades?”
I nodded, resisting the strong urge to bite my lip and glance over at Kendall. I still couldn’t believe that I was supposed to be a B student. It was, like, scarring. “Yep.”
My apparent lack of enthusiasm earned a raised eyebrow. “Trying your best?” my dad pressed.
“Yes.” I faked a smile. “Aren’t I always, Dad?”
Now I’d earned a smile. “Yes, Iz, and that’s one of the reasons why I love you.” He glanced at his wife. “Hon, you look like you’re going to be ill. Is everything all right?”
My mom swallowed so hard I thought her throat was going to burst open. I winced at the image it brought to my mind, and from the glance Kendall gave me, I knew that she was visualizing it, too. Whether it was the whole “twin” thing, I wasn’t sure. I just hoped that no one else at the table noticed it.
“I’m fine, honey,” my mom said with a tight smile. “Diana, are you all right? Do you need to use the restroom?”
I gave Diana a pointed look and gestured with my eyes that she needed to say yes, she did need the bathroom. And then she was to go in there, calm herself, come back, and act like a normal human being. Diana’s eyes shot to me and she let out a short breath of air before nodding. “Yes, I’m sorry,” she said, taking on that feigned polite tone that she used when my parents were around. “May I please be excused for a moment?”
My mom nodded and Diana pushed back her seat, hurrying out of the room. I wondered for a moment if she even bothered going into the bathroom or if she was simply waiting outside the room, leaning back on the wall and telling herself to calm down. If she didn’t calm down I was the one who’d be punished for it. And getting punished would not help me. I needed to be able to leave the house if I was going to figure out how to save Kendall.
“So how’s that ninety-three looking?” my mom asked, taking a bite of her own food. As she swallowed, I had to look away or the image of her throat coming apart would come again. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant thing to see.
I almost groaned as I forced down a piece of steak. Seriously? Why was it all about grades with them? Couldn’t we talk about something else for once? I was really getting tired of grades revolving around, well, everything. “It’ll looking fine,” I said, biting down a sarcastic remark about how it looked like a number. My parents didn’t enjoy sarcasm. I wondered how they’d get along with Kendall if she was still alive.
Said Kendall snorted from her self-proclaimed seat. “How else is it supposed to look?” she asked. “It’s a number.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. At least she could say what I wanted to say. Then again, no one else could hear her. Would she actually say that out loud if my parents actually could hear what she was saying?
I’d have to ask her that later.
“Sorry about that!” giggled Diana as she swooped back in and settled back into her seat. I cocked an eyebrow at her, analyzing her posture and how she was acting. Was she back to normal? I really hoped so. I really hoped so.
“That’s quite all right, Diana.” My mom smiled kindly at her, but you could tell that she was waiting for Diana to act crazy again.
I resisted the urge to scarf down the rest of my meal. I wanted to get up to my room with Diana and Kendall so we could actually formulate a plan. We needed to think of something, and we needed to think of something fast. Kendall didn’t have much time. If we didn’t figure out what the hell we were going to do, then her death anniversary would come and we’d be completely unprepared.
I’d always dreaded Kendall’s death anniversary, but this one was different. This one was much, much worse.
After what seemed like hours of pointless chewing and boring conversations about schools and grades and how we were responsible young ladies and should be proud, Diana and I finally finished our plates and requested to be excused. It was then that we were able to drop our dishes into the sink and rush upstairs. You have no idea how good it felt to be done with that dinner. So good.
“Okay, so what are we going to do?” Diana demanded, her hands on her hips. “Is Kendall here?”
“Yeah,” I said, pointing to Kendall who stood right next to Diana, her hands also on her hips. “Should we, like, have you hold something so Diana can know your general location?” I asked, directing my words to my sister now.
“Ugh, but my hand will get tired,” Kendall complained.
I cocked an eyebrow. “You’re dead.”
Kendall shot a look in Diana’s direction. “She’s so good at pointing that out, Diana. Honestly, the mind of your friend is so brilliant. She should go to Harvard or Ivy League.”
I resisted the urge to slap her. “Diana can’t even hear you!”
“What?” Diana asked blankly. “What did she say about me?”
“Nothing,” I replied with a shake of the head. “She was insulting me and talking to you even though she’s dead and no one can hear her but me.”
Kendall moved on to make a remark about me being so good at reminding her that she was dead, while Diana just nodded, confusion in her eyes. This was going to be so weird. I was not one to play messenger, and since Kendall couldn’t be seen by anyone but me it seemed that I was going to be stuck playing it all the time. I didn’t want to. Really didn’t want to.
Suddenly a thought occurred to me. “Hold on a sec,” I muttered before hurrying over to my desk and rifling through the random crap there. I pulled a mini dry-erase board up from the chaos, a dry-erase marker soon following. “Kendall, use this to communicate,” I said, smiling. I was such a genius. B student my butt.
Kendall nodded her head thoughtfully before nodding affirmatively. “That’s actually a good idea, Iz,” she commented as she took the dry-erase objects out of my hands. From the corner of my eye I could see Diana’s eyes widen with fascination. “Seriously, girl. Ivy League. They’d love you.”
“Not with a B they wouldn’t,” I mumbled, bringing a hand through my hair. It was safe to say that the fact I was supposed to have B’s irked me—a lot.
Kendall rolled her eyes at me before writing on the board. It read, Hi, Diana! with a smiley face at the end.
“Holy crap,” Diana murmured. She looked at me and back at the board in awe. “This is so freaky and cool and unbelievable, I can’t even—”
Suddenly Kendall erased her message and rewrote another one. You’re totally right. Eli needs to lose the teddy bear.
Diana and I laughed. “Damn straight,” she said, her hands going to her hips. Her eyes lit up and she turned to me again, eyes widening. “Should we call Eli over here? He wouldn’t want to miss this and it wouldn’t be right keeping him in the dark.” She paused. “Or maybe it would since he’s such a scaredy cat. But still. I mean. I don’t know.”
I fell back on my head, pursing my lips in thought. “Yeah,” I drew out. “Call Eli. Tell him it’s urgent.” My eyes locked on Kendall and I smiled. “Really urgent.”
∞
“So what is this ‘urgent’ message that you had to get to me?” Elijah demanded as he closed my bedroom door behind him.
Diana and I shared a look. How exactly were we supposed to break this to him? I mean, it was one thing to plan to break it to him, but doing it was a whole different story. This was the guy who couldn’t sleep for a week because he’d watched The Poltergeist. Diana and I were about to prove to him that ghosts were actually walking around. What was he going to do then?
Elijah caught our look and tensed. “Guys, come on,” he said sternly, bringing a hand through his hair, his signature nervous gesture. “What’s going on?”
My eyes slid over to Kendall where she lounged on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. She looked really, really bored. And worried. But mostly bored. “Um,” I mumbled, turning back to face Elijah. He looked incredibly small in the doorway, like a middle schooler instead of a high schooler. “Eli, you might want to sit down.”
Elijah’s eyes darkened. “Oh my god,” he muttered. “Did you steal my bear again? Dammit, I told you—”
“No, it’s nothing like that!” I waved my hand to shut him up. His mouth closed immediately. “Uh, you know the movie The Poltergeist?”
“I’m not watching that with you guys.” Elijah gave me a flat look. “Hell no, ghosts—”
“My sister’s ghost is here!” I exclaimed before I could stop myself. I slapped my hand to my mouth, sending a wide look in Diana’s direction. She looked impressed that I’d said it so bluntly, but just as surprised as I was.
Elijah’s expression turned blank. “What?”
“Kendall’s ghost . . . is here,” I repeated, hesitant this time. I had a distinct feeling that he wouldn’t be as quick to accept the fact as Diana was. Diana was always the crazier one out of the two.
“You’re seeing her again?” Elijah’s eyes snapped over to Diana. “You’re encouraging this? Diana, seriously—”
“Shut up, Eli!” Diana practically shouted, her eyes bright with pure irritation. I could see that he accusing her of allowing me to go around claiming false things aggravated her. “She proved it to me, all right? You really think I’d go along with this otherwise?”
My eyes moved over to Kendall again. She was sitting up now, waiting for the signal. I nodded to her and she stood up, moving across the room, toward the dry-erase board. I watched as she picked it up, the marker with it. Elijah, who was too busy arguing with Diana, failed to notice. “Eli,” I said, speaking loudly enough so that they’d shut up, but not so loudly that my parents would get concerned. “Look.”
I pointed to where Kendall stood with the board. Elijah let out a small gasp, and when I glanced at him I saw that he appeared as though he was going to be sick. He was paling, turning a tint of green.
Kendall pulled off the cap of the marker, a mischievous glint in her eye. I could see that she was having fun with this. Apparently being told she didn’t exist aggravated her. The proof of that? I do exist, you little shit face, she wrote. Love, Kendall.
She even added a little heart at the end.
We all watched Elijah as he reacted. His lips trembled as he stared at the dry-erase board. I tried to imagine it hovering, tried to imagine how I would feel if I were in his position. But I wasn’t. I could see Kendall. I could see her clearly.
“I can’t—I can’t—”
Suddenly Elijah was falling, collapsing on the bedroom floor. I called out his name, dropping beside me and giving him a slide shake. Diana knelt down, turning his face toward her. “That little baby,” she drawled. “He went and fainted on us!” She rolled her eyes. “He’d better make up for this later with a brilliant plan.”
I nodded. “We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
∞
When Elijah woke up ten minutes later, we got straight to work. Of course we had to calm him down at first, tell him that no he didn’t just have a nightmare, and no I wasn’t crazy. Diana did most of the convincing, threatening to have Kendall call him a shit head again if he kept it up. Elijah’s eyes shot over to the dry-erase board, paling considerably as he read the words again.
And then he agreed to help.
So now it was time for the next step in the plan: telling them what the hell was going on. I went through every detail, explaining how Kendall first appeared and how she told me that she needed me to help her cross over before it was too late. I told them about how I watched Kendall die, how we figured out who was behind her death. They listened to me attentively as I went through everything, not interrupting once. Even Diana was silent—and that, like, never happened.
“Ashlynn Brady?” was the first thing Diana said after my explanation came to an end. “Wasn’t she your friend in elementary school?”
I nodded, my jaw working. “Yeah,” I muttered, slapping my hands against my jeans absently. It was like I was trying to smack the pain of betrayal away. “She pushed Kendal off the swing. And now we have to get her to admit to it or else Kendall is screwed.”
We all turned as Kendall wrote on the board. Yeah, screwed is an understatement.
“But didn’t Ashlynn move?” Elijah asked, his eyebrows drawn together in thought. He seemed to have moved past the whole holy-shit-your-dead-sister-is-her thing and to we-need-to-save-someone’s-existence. I was really appreciative of that.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “That’s the problem. You know, besides the whole my-ex-best-friend-murdered-my-sister thing.”
I felt Kendall’s eyes on me and I looked over. She was frowning, concern swirling in her eyes. She was worried about me. I smiled reassuringly at her before turning back to my friends. I wasn’t the one we needed to worry about. Kendall was the one who was losing time.
“So the obvious solution is to go to where she lives,” Diana said breezily, flicking her hair over her shoulder.
Elijah looked at her as though she was the stupidest person on the planet. “Are you serious? We don’t even know where she lives!”
“So we find out?” Diana rolled her eyes. “Look, do you see any other alternatives? We have to get a confession out of her and we can’t do that when she’s not here.”
“She has a point,” I agreed with a shrug. As much as I hated the thought of seeing Ashlynn after what she did, we needed to find her. Hopefully we’d be able to get the confession out of her quickly so that I’d be able to get home before my parents found out what was going on. However, how fast could you really get someone to openly admit to murder?
Well better be pretty damn quick because Kendall didn’t have much time.
“See? Isabel agrees with me!” Diana smiled smugly. “So we find her address, go to where she lives, and torture her until she admits to murdering Kendall.”
I winced as Diana said “murdering.” Though it was true, the thought of Kendall being murdered still hurt. Diana, catching my flinch, shot me an apologetic look.
She’s not going to admit to what she did right away, Kendall wrote. She had a determined expression on her face. She’s been hiding it for ten years. She’s not just going to spill because we tell her to.
“Hence the torture!” Diana exclaimed. “You know, like in the movies.”
“We’re not torturing a human being,” Elijah said with a shake of the head. “We could get arrested for that.”
“Well she murder—did something worse so whatever.” Diana huffed. She looked at me for approval. “Can we please torture her? Please?”
Kendall and I shared a meaningful glance. I knew that Kendall would very much appreciate seeing Ashlynn tortured, and at this point I wouldn’t care that much either. But humanity was at stake here. We couldn’t lose ourselves entirely because of something that someone else did. I knew Kendall wouldn’t want me resorting to such tactics—no matter how vengeful she was. “No,” I murmured. “We’ll get the confession out of her, but we’re not going to physically hurt her.”
“Fine.” Diana sniffed. “But if time is cutting close and we still don’t have a confession, I’m slapping her.”
I nodded. I was completely okay with that. “Slap her all you want.”
Diana gave a small whoop. “But we won’t have to get to that point,” she said, deflating now that she realized she wasn’t going to be able to commit physical violence. “We’ll get it out of her quickly. Hopefully.”
“Your enthusiasm toward hurting people is concerning,” Elijah pointed out. When Diana shot him a look that could kill, he decided it was time to change the subject. “But how are we going to get the confession out of her? Kendall says it’s going to take time. What if she lives far away? We can’t just skip school and then reappear in time for dinner each night only to travel a huge distance in the morning. It’s ridiculous.”
You could enroll in her school, Kendall suggested.
“Oooh, yeah Kendall’s idea is perfect!” Diana clapped her hands. She seemed to really love this adventure. “Let’s just enroll in Ashlynn’s school until we’re done. No biggy.”
“No biggy?” Elijah’s eyes were the size of saucers. “How the hell are we supposed to do that? We’d have to get out of our school and then into that one without our parents knowing. How do you expect to pull that off?”
“Well you’re the genius,” Diana sniffed. “You figure it out.”
I nodded to myself, biting my lip. Diana was actually making sense. “Diana’s right,” I said. “We should all do different things so this will go faster. Elijah, try and find information on how to enroll and take a student out of schools. I’ll look for Ashlynn’s address.” I smiled at Diana. “And you, my dear Diana, why don’t you practice the art of signature forgery? I’m pretty sure there will be some parental signatures involved.”
Diana grinned. “Oh hell yeah.”
So now we had a plan. And about a month and a half to follow it through.
Oh yeah. Easy as pi—you know, the math one not the food.