Ghost Huntress 5 - The Discovery

by Gibson, Marley

  Celia wobbles a bit on her two-inch heels. "Careful there, Cel!" I say.

  "Oh my God, these things are impossible. How do women wear these every day?"

  "Because they're pretty," I say, glancing down at my own sparkly high heels.

  "Can't I just wear flip-flops? Or better yet, my Timberland boots?"

  I laugh so hard that it threatens to smear my makeup. "Dude, you should totally start a fashion trend. Cocktail dress and mountain boots."

  She staggers again, catching herself at the top of the banister.

  "You look gorgeous, Cel. Just walk slowly."

  I let her take the stairs first, bending down a little to catch the look on Clay's face. Cel could be on any runway in Milan or Paris, the way she looks tonight. Clay's eyes literally twinkle and he smiles broadly as he holds his hand out to her. He's wearing a traditional black tux with spit-shined shoes. Awww, they are so cute together.

  "This is for you," he says to her almost shyly. He slips a corsage of red roses onto her wrist and they move out of my sight.

  Okay, I'm up.

  I hold on to the railing as I maneuver the soft, shifting light blue dress in front of me. The hem hits right above the knees, a full satin skirt covered with netting that has rhinestones scattered about. The camisole bodice fits nicely to my body and has shimmers of light and dark blue beading on it. I step down the stairs one at a time, careful not to take a tumble. That would be so grace-like of me to do that.

  I see your feet, Patrick says.

  I see yours. He's wearing his black high-top Chuck Taylor All-Stars.

  Can't wait to see the rest of you.

  Here I come.

  A gasp escapes from my guy as I walk down the final steps.

  His smile is wide, vivid, and ever so approving. "You look like a princess," he says.

  "That's good, right?" I tease. Yep, this dress is a far cry from my jeans, T-shirts, and ghost-hunting ensembles. I do sort of feel like royalty.

  My prince is wearing a black suit over a Hawaiian-print shirt in sea foam green. His shaggy hair has been combed into place over his forehead, and his brown eyes shine from beneath his gorgeous black lashes. The look totally works for him and we're going to be adorable together at the prom.

  "Oh, Kendall, sweetie," Mom says, her hand to her heart. "Beautiful. Just beautiful."

  Dad snaps a pic with his digital, almost blinding me with the flash. "Give me some warning next time, Dad," I say with a giggle.

  Patrick hands me a lovely corsage of baby's breath, lilies, and white spray roses. He really does know what I like.

  It's 'cause I know your every thought.

  I elbow him a little as I slide the corsage into place on my arm.

  "Let me get a group picture," Dad says, motioning to Celia and Clay.

  The four of us stand together at the base of the stairs as Dad snaps away. One of Patrick and me. One of Clay and Celia. One of just the girls. One of just the guys. One of the four of us. Click, click, click.

  "Okay, Dad, that's enough," I say, unable to see anything but balls of color blinding my vision.

  In that moment, Anona appears. I wince involuntarily, afraid that she has bad news for me. Or that our spiritual cleansing of Xander the Doll didn't work and there's trouble in Radisson that we need to attend to instead of celebrating our prom.

  Instead, she beams at me, her dark eyes dancing.

  In my head, I ask her, Is everything okay?

  Fine. Everything's fine. I was sent to tell you that they're very proud of you.

  Who is?

  Your parents.

  I know, can't you tell? Mom's crying and Dad won't stop Nikoning me.

  No, Kendall, your birth parents.

  Emily and Andy? They're together?

  Yes. They're happy and at peace. And so very proud of the woman you've become.

  Can I talk to them? Will they come see me?

  Anona places her hands together, nods, and disappears.

  My chest squeezes as an overpowering ray of love shines on me. Something Anona spread to me, or perhaps a gift from my parents together in heaven. Either way, I do feel loved—by them in heaven, by my earthly parents, by my friends, and by Patrick.

  He lays his hand on my arm and slides it down to engulf my small hand in his larger one.

  I do love you, Kendall.

  I love you too, Patrick.

  "Are we ready to go or what?" Clay asks.

  "Let's do it!" Celia shouts.

  "Have fun!" Mom calls out as we make our way across the front porch, down the steps, and to the waiting Hummer limo.

  "You guys are insane renting this," I say.

  "It's okay," Clay says. "My dad got us a steal of a deal."

  "And we have an amazing surprise for you too," Patrick says with the cheesiest of grins.

  Celia and I do our best to climb into the monstrosity of a vehicle in the most ladylike manner possible. We sit facing each other, and the driver takes off. Sparkling cider and crystal champagne flutes sit in a console nearby, so Clay pours us each a glass.

  Patrick takes his but makes a quick phone call before drinking. "We're on our way," he says. I'm unable to pick up who he's talking to because he's totally blocking his thoughts from me.

  Brat!

  Patience!

  "To great friends," Clay says, holding his glass up.

  "To us!" I say.

  "To a great prom night," Patrick chimes in.

  Celia says, "L'chaim!"

  We all stop and stare.

  "It means 'to life' in Hebrew," she explains. "What? Taylor's not the only one who knows other languages."

  Loves me my Celia. We clink our glasses and drain the sweet, bubbling liquid.

  "We're almost there," Patrick says mischievously. He reaches over and switches the button to open the sunroof. It hums along as it opens.

  "Stand up," Patrick says, doing it himself.

  "Are you kidding me? After spending most of the afternoon on my hair?"

  "Come on, Kendall. We're only going like five miles per hour."

  I shake my head. "Okay, fine. But if my hair looks bad in the pics, I'm gonna beat you." We laugh together.

  "You too, Celia," Clay says.

  She has no problem stretching upward and leaning out over the roof. "What a beautiful night! What are we waiting for?"

  "You'll see," Patrick says as he holds my hand.

  We clear the square and turn down Ferris Street, on our way to the hotel where the prom is. All of a sudden, I get the sense of something sparkly in my immediate future. No! Not a ring—hello, only seventeen.

  My intuition is right on the nose. On the dark stretch of road, I suddenly see sparks of white light—actually, white, silver, and gold fireworks volcanoing in six cones on each side, to a height of about ten feet, popping and crackling in a festival of excitement. It's an amazing display showering over us as we pass slowly in the limo. It's like being surrounded by millions of tiny stars that are shining only for us. And at the end, I see Loreen and Father Mass on either side of the road with lighters and morning glory sparklers in their hands, igniting the last cone.

  They both wave. "Have a great time tonight!" Loreen shouts.

  We signal back and then I turn to Patrick. "That was amazing."

  "You're amazing," he says and leans in to kiss me. A soft, warm kiss that melts every bit of me from the top of my curled hair to my sparkly evening shoes.

  This truly is a night I'll never forget.

  I don't know how it can get any better.

  ***

  The hotel ballroom is decorated to the hilt in dark blue streamers with silver stars on them and white and silver balloons all over the room. White trellises line the walls with weaves of colorful flowers that look and smell amazing.

  I struggle for breath as I take in the beauty of it all.

  "Smile," the photographer says to Patrick and me. Patrick is positioned behind me, his hands on my waist, in front of a backdrop o
f a dark starry sky.

  Click, click, click. Instant memories frozen in time for all to see.

  A bounty of food is laid out for us, as well as frothy pink punch, sodas, and more sparkling cider. The live band is playing hits from the '80s, which the chaperones seem to really dig. Becca mocks putting her finger in her mouth to gag when the Bee Gees sound out. They should have hired her to spin some Trance, House, or good Dubstep.

  However, an old George Michael song, "Careless Whisper," begins to play and Patrick pulls me out onto the dance floor and into his arms. I close my eyes and lay my head on his shoulder as he moves us around to the slow beat of the music. I'm safe. I'm secure. I'm loved. And I have an exciting future. Father Mass was right. There's more in store for me and I am truly blessed.

  The cute guy dancing with me is proof of that.

  "May I have your attention?" Kyle Kadish says into the microphone when the song is over. "We have a very special presentation this evening." He glances off to the side. "Mr. and Mrs. Lewis?"

  Farah's parents step forward. The junior and senior classes explode in applause, and Mrs. Lewis begins to get weepy and motions us to stop.

  "Thank y'all for your love of our daughter," Mr. Lewis says. "We want to thank you all for caring about our Farah and sending cards and flowers to us. It means more than we can ever express. And we wanted to give back something to the student body of RHS, a place Farah loved so much. Singing and cheerleading were her life. We want everyone to remember her school spirit, as well as her own lovely one, for all time."

  Kyle helps Mr. Lewis unveil a large frame. I feel my heart beating furiously in my chest over the display in front of me. It's Farah's actual white RHS cheerleading uniform—the one she had gone home to retrieve—framed and matted, with a picture of her in the corner smiling out at everyone with her green eyes.

  Everyone claps heartily, and I know mine aren't the only moist eyes in the crowd.

  "And now," Kyle says, "a moment of silence for our friend Farah. May she rest in peace."

  The silence in the ballroom is admirable, yet I open my eyes and glance about. No sign of a spirit. No presence here at all. I did help Farah pass on to her eternal rest. Because of her, Althea did too. Everything truly does happen for a reason. It may take us time to figure it out, but that's what life's all about.

  I blow a kiss to the heavens for Farah, and then add two more: one for Emily, one for Andy. My parents.

  "Thank you," Kyle says. "Without further ado, here is our prom queen and court." The gathered crowd begins to giggle and chatter and buzz with excitement. Kyle takes a white envelope from inside his jacket and opens it. "This year's prom princesses are..."

  "I'll gag if Courtney's crowned queen," Celia whispers next to me.

  "Shhh," I say, trying not to laugh.

  Kyle's voice booms through the ballroom. "Stephanie Crawford..."

  Stephanie shrieks and then dashes to the stage. Kyle loops a princess banner over her red formal.

  "Next prom princess is Courtney Langdon."

  "That's a shocker!" Becca says from behind me.

  Courtney feigns a happy smile, but I can tell she was expecting the crown and not just a glittered sash. Still, she waves at the crowd in her skin-tight silver-sequined dress.

  "And the final princess," Kyle says, "is ... Kendall Moorehead."

  Ex-squeeeeeeeze me? "What? Me?"

  "Oh my God, Kendall!" Celia shouts. "That is the coolest thing ever!"

  Patrick hugs, kisses, then releases me, scootching me on my way to the stage.

  My hands are shaking like a California quake and I'm sure my feet aren't touching the ground. Me? Seriously? Did he read that right? I'm psychic, but I didn't see that one coming at all. Not one inkling.

  Up on the stage, I join Stephanie and Courtney and accept the sparkling banner from Kyle.

  Wow, if these two are princesses, who in the world will be the queen?

  I stand blinking at my fellow students who voted me onto the court. Me, the new girl. The freak. The psychic. The ghost girl. Staring at the sash around me, I finally feel like I fit in. Like I'm just Kendall.

  "The moment you've been waiting for," Kyle announces. "This year's prom queen—rightly so—is Farah Lewis."

  Everyone bursts into applause again, and I join in. Of course. Farah. That's a no-brainer.

  Mr. and Mrs. Lewis hug each other on the side, still crying, only this time with joy over the love the student body has shown for their daughter.

  Courtney, Stephanie, and I take the rhinestone crown and set it on the corner of the uniform portrait.

  "Miss you, Farah," Courtney whispers.

  "Me too," Stephanie echoes.

  "Me three."

  The band begins to play our school's alma mater as an air of sadness and nostalgia passes over the group. We all join in to sing together, a tribute to our fallen—but not forgotten—friend. So many people pass in and out of our lives; some will never know how they touched us. Footprints stay on our hearts, and we're better off having known them. It's all part of the discovery of life. Who we are. Where we fit. What our purpose is.

  I smile out at Cel, Becca, and Patrick. Definitely imprints on my soul.

  The song goes into the second verse, everyone doing his best to sing to our heavenly friend. Somehow, I don't think Farah would like our pitch.

  But she'd definitely appreciate the efforts.

  Epilogue

  "MORE BISCUITS COMING OUT!" Mom shouts to our filled-to-capacity dining room the morning after prom.

  I'm still numb that I was an actual prom princess. The satin banner now hangs on the corner of my mirror in my room as a reminder that I've found a new home after all.

  Cel and Becca slept over here with me—although there wasn't much snoozing, mostly giggling, girl talk, and dishing on our guys. Mom and Dad have let me host a huge breakfast for everyone on Sunday morning. Celia, Clay, Courtney, Ryan, Jim, Sean, Kyle, Stephanie, Becca, Dragon, Shelby-Nichole, Patrick, and I gather around, munching on homemade frittatas, fresh-cut fruit, grits—a Southern staple I've learned to love with some salt and butter—crispy bacon, bagels, cream cheese, and lox. Mom really outdid herself. She even squeezed fresh oranges to make juice for us. Now that's love.

  Father Mass and Loreen are here helping out my parents, drinking coffee, and making sure no one's glass gets empty.

  I've never seen Courtney Langdon eat this much food. "You've simply got to give me the recipe for this frittata, Mrs. Moorehead," she says, singing the praises of my mom's cooking.

  A goofy smile spreads across my face as I look around the room at the friends I've made in such a short time. And now, I have an extended family with Aunt Andi and my continued quest to find Emily's parents. Thanks to the wonderful generosity of Oliver Bates, I'm going to get to go to Europe to further develop my psychic abilities, help families in distress, and possibly locate John Thomas and Anna Wynn Faulkner. It'll be the best summer evah, and oh yeah, I'll get to spend lots and lots and lots of time with Patrick too.

  Could life be any better?

  The phone rings off in the distance, and Dad calls me over to it.

  "This is Kendall."

  "Miss Ghost Huntress, this is James Pendergrass."

  Ummm ... errr ... oh, crappity-crap! It's the haunted-sandwich man!

  "Yes, sir, how can I help you?" I feel horrible that with everything that's been going on, I've totally blown off this guy and his problems. Who am I to say his sandwich isn't haunted? Although I do believe in the heart of my psychic abilities that this man needs mental help, not ghost busters.

  "Well, Miss Moorehead, the haunted sandwich stole my car and totaled it. My insurance company won't pay for it because the sandwich wasn't on my policy."

  Oh. My. God.

  "I won't be needing any further help, though," he continues, "because the wreck seemed to have destroyed the haunted sandwich forever."

  I cover the receiver to muffle my giggle. I just shake my head.
/>
  Yup. This is my life.

  I finish with the call in time to hear the front doorbell ring. Mom scuttles off to answer it. Before the door opens, though, I'm blinded by a vision of someone with beautiful blond hair, straight white teeth, and a happy smile, standing next to another person who's frowning and scowling with ultra-blue eyes. I'm so enthralled by the turnout here today that I don't exactly add two and two together in my psychic mind.

  I hear Mom welcome the new guests, but I don't dwell on it as I add more cantaloupe chunks onto my plate next to my toasted sesame bagel.

  Then it happens.

  My heart stops for a moment and then restarts like a ticking time bomb.

  "Well, look who's here!" Mom shouts out.

  I don't have to look because I know. Without a doubt.

  A shrilling scream of happiness is followed by "Taaaaaaaaaaaaylor!"

  My friend Taylor Tillson rushes into the dining room in all her blondness, hugging and air-kissing people on her way to me.

  "Kendall!" She hugs me tightly and I do my best to squeeze back in my surprised state. "I just got in late last night. Mom is out of rehab and I told Dad that I wanted to come back to Radisson to help her out."

  "That's fantastic," I say, so happy to see her perky face.

  "Where's Patrick?" she asks with a cheeky grin. "I can't wait to meet him."

  I reach into the crowd and tug him away from a convo with Dragon about rice rockets. "Patrick, this is—"

  "Taylor Tillson," he says with a grin. "Kendall's told me all about you."

  Tears fill my eyes as I watch my friend flit about the room as if she never left. "She's back," I murmur. Maybe she can go to Europe with us this summer. Of course, if Taylor's here in town, does that mean...

  Before I can finish the thought, blue eyes slice over me as Jason follows in his sister's wake. Jim and Sean high-five him, but his eyes never leave mine. I'll admit that my body physically reacts with a pounding in my chest when I see him move through the room. Then the blue orbs shift to where mine and Patrick's fingers are entwined.

  That's Jason Tillson, Patrick says to me.

  I gulp hard, knowing I don't need to respond.

  Jason, still tall and gorgeous and able to make my treacherous heart take a roller-coaster dip, steps forward like an alpha dog. He sizes me up in one glance and then does the same to my boyfriend.