Shadow of a Life Read Free Page B

Yeah. I’ve seen you, too.
There is only one
high school in the area so I guess it’s not surprising.” I didn’t
count the snobs at the prep school across town.
    “ Do you mind if I sit with
you?”
    I finally caught on to what I assumed
was her motive for talking to me. I’d dealt with the
blonde-cheerleader-type before.
    “ Look,” I said. “I’m
flattered that you think because I carry a lot of books that I’m
smart and that I want to do everyone’s homework, but I don’t. I
know it’s the end of the year and that you’ve probably been told
you won’t graduate unless you finish a bajillion assignments before
next week, but that isn’t my problem.” The whole thing bubbled out of my mouth
before I had a chance to stop it. Again, I wasn’t in the world’s
best frame of mind.
    The look on Sophia’s face
was one of confusion and then it quickly changed from realization
to pure enjoyment. She laughed, a beautiful, lyrical laugh. Of course her laugh is perfect,
too .
    “ I think you’ve
misunderstood me. I do want a favor, but it doesn’t involve school
work.” Sophia paused, trying to put something into words. She
looked up and proclaimed, “I think you might be my soul
saver.”
    My face burned red as I began to back
away from her, slipping over my words as I muttered, “Umm . . . I .
. . uh . . . think you got the wrong impression from me. I didn’t
know I gave off that kind of vibe, but I’m not really into those
weird super hero role-playing games.”
    Sophia looked stunned and
then burst out laughing. “That’s not what it means. Believe me. I don’t know
how to explain it, but I just feel drawn to you. I think maybe you
can help me. Can we sit down so that I can try to explain it to
you?”
    “ Sure—I guess. I have a
table in the back.” My face color returned to its normal shade, but
I was still apprehensive. I sat down and dug into my burger and
fries while I waited for Sophia to join me with a shake of her
own.
    “ Sooo . . . you think I’m
your soul saver. What exactly is that supposed to mean?” I asked
rudely. Geesh, what is my
problem?
    “ Sometimes people have
predicaments that they can’t necessarily fix on their own. They
need a little push from someone else. That someone else is called a
soul saver. I didn’t think I had one, but then a few weeks ago I
saw you and your dad on the subway in New York and I felt compelled
to follow you. I’ve been watching you and the feeling hasn’t gone
away so I decided it was time to talk to you.”
    Dad and I had been in New York a
few weekends ago. He was speaking at an educator’s conference so I
tagged along and hung out at a second-hand bookstore until he was
finished with his work commitments. He surprised me and took me to
a Broadway show afterwards.
    “ Wait . . . are you stalking me?” I asked in
horror as Sophia’s words sunk in. “That is really creepy.” Apparently I’d found
the source of my so-called anxiety.
    “ Listen. I’m going to tell
you something and you’re going to flip out, but you can’t. Okay? I
mean, you really need to just hear me out. It’s hard for normal
people to understand all of this.”
    “ Understand what? ” I was getting frustrated.
    Sophia leaned in over our trays and
whispered seriously, “I’m a ghost.”
    It was my turn to burst out laughing.
“A ghost? That’s the best excuse for stalking that you can come up
with? Come on, tell me something believable. How about ‘I’m a
princess from the planet Jupiter,’ or how about ‘I raise pink
elephants in my garden.’”
    Sophia just sat there without smiling.
“Are you through?”
    I thought about it. I couldn’t think
of any more good comebacks so I told her she could
continue.
    “ Believe me, when I was
alive I thought that ghost stories were strictly to scare little
kids . . . and then I became one.”
    “ And when exactly was this?”
I asked.
    “ When was what?”
    “ When did you become a
ghost?”
    “ After I