surging up Joy’s throat. She whipped her head side to side. “I can’t. Not yet. Can I try another time?” She searched the room for an escape. Great. One way in, one way out. “That’s fine, kiddo. Baby steps. You’ll play next time.” Coach stood. “Do you have a ride home?” Joy nodded. “I have my car.” Her trusty VW Bug followed her everywhere. “Come on, I’ll walk you out so you don’t get a barrage of questions on your way.” Coach slipped her arm across Joy’s shoulders and steered her out the door. Questions wouldn’t be such a big deal, if only there were answers. Starting with: Why ?
“I see dead people,” Joy whispered to her reflection in the laptop screen. What was the name of that movie? She scanned the listings Google shot at her. “There it is. The Sixth Sense .” Joy shivered at the memory of watching that movie huddled on the couch. Austin on one side, Melanie on the other. Maybe she should watch it again, this time for educational purposes. The little boy in the movie believed dead people only saw what they wanted to see … and he had said something else interesting. What was it he’d said? Joy snapped her gum and drummed her fingernails on the desk. Come on, think. Oh. Right. They don’t know they’re dead. Could that be true? Joy shifted on her bed and pulled her laptop closer. New search. Séances . She’d heard the term, but didn’t really understand. Did people just talk at spirits, or was there two-way communication? Or more? Ooh. There was an interesting link. She clicked it. Having had it drilled into her head to avoid stuff like spirits and séances, even horoscopes, since she was a little girl, Joy only wanted to know if they were real. In and out. No dawdling on the website. She glanced over her shoulder as though someone watched her every move. Joy leaned in a little closer to study the images that popped up on the screen. Spirits. Ghosts. Humans sitting around talking to the spirits and ghosts. Come on. That couldn’t be real. Did people actually fall for that stuff? Ouija boards . She opened the page. Yep. That picture was exactly what she played with the other night with Raven. Was it just a game? A clunky knock sounded at her bedroom door. “Who is it?” Joy tried to keep the irritation from her voice. “It’s me.” “Bea!” Joy jumped from her bed, almost knocking her computer to the floor. She rushed to the door and threw it open to find her cousin on the other side. She pulled Beatrice into a tight embrace. “Hi, Joy.” Bea spoke in her typical monotone. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Where have you been?” “I know. I’m sorry I’ve been … um … away.” Since the funeral. No excuse for the time before that. Joy took her cousin by the hand and pulled her into the room. “But I’m glad you’re here now.” “My mom said you’re sad. Why?” Bea stuck out her bottom lip. “Oh. I’ll be okay now that you’re here. Let’s not talk about the sad stuff. Okay?” Beatrice grinned her lopsided smile. “Good. I don’t want to talk about sad things. Want to play UNO?” More than anything. “Sure. I’ll get it set up.” Joy reached under her bed and lifted the game. Beatrice wandered around Joy’s room, checking things out before she settled down for a game. Joy smiled as Bea touched her clothes and tinkled her jewelry together. She picked up Joy’s bottle of Daisy perfume, sprayed the air, and then leaned in. She sniffed and wrinkled her nose as the mist tickled her. Beatrice lifted a pair of leather boots. “Can I try these on?” “Of course.” It so didn’t matter that she’d stretch them out. Beatrice slipped off her sneakers by the bed and bent to pull on a boot. She gasped and lifted her arm to point at the computer screen. “What is this?” She stumbled over her words like she did whenever she got upset. Joy followed Bea’s finger where it pointed at the images on Joy’s