Is She for Real?

by P. J. Night

  These days, the B and B’s website indicated the location of the graveyard and included a cheesy warning to prospective guests: “Come to Old Warwick and meet new friends at the Warwick Inn. Who knows … maybe you’ll even meet the ghost of Lady Warwick!”

  Nate and Lissa had an old, ongoing joke with their parents about that sentence. They’d repeat it to fit whatever situation they were faced with. If Lissa had a cold, for instance, Nate would say, “Come to Old Warwick and meet new friends at the Warwick Inn. Who knows … maybe you’ll even meet a stuffy-nosed, cranky kid!”

  Or, when their parents were hanging wallpaper to perfectly match the original Yankee kitchen style, Lissa would say, “Who knows … maybe you’ll even meet two obsessive amateur historians!”

  But the website must have said something right because the Warwick Inn was awfully popular. The NO VACANCY sign was constantly up in front of the house, and guests really seemed to enjoy themselves. Nate and Lissa’s parents always made guests feel at home, with special touches like homemade cookies in their room upon arrival.

  They were also happy to give full tours of the place and explain exactly how each part of the house had been restored. They’d even pull books off the shelf about the town history and show the guests how homes looked way back when, and how the inn matched the descriptions. And they’d walk with them through the overgrown-with-weeds graveyard to show them Lord and Lady Warwick’s gravestones, which were kind of hard to find if you didn’t know where they were.

  Corny as she thought the whole legend of Lady Warwick was, Lissa mostly avoided the cemetery. The few times she’d entered the graveyard, she felt totally creeped out. Something about Lord and Lady Warwick’s gravestones made her feel really nervous and scared. But she’d never admitted that to Nate. She knew he would never let her live it down.

  As they stepped off the bus, Lissa saw Olivia’s purple backpack right away. Practically everything Olivia owned was purple. It was an interesting look, given Olivia’s bright red hair.

  They waved to each other and walked to their lockers. Nate was already off with his friends, and the girls still had some time before homeroom, which they had with their friend Lily. Nate was in a different homeroom. The school separated twins as much as possible as a matter of policy, though Lissa wouldn’t have minded having classes with Nate. She was pretty much used to being side by side with him in every other way.

  “We’re on for Friday night,” Lissa reminded Olivia. “Sleepover. My house. Cookie dough. Totally raw.”

  Olivia smiled to reveal the purple rubber bands around the tiny metal squares of her braces. “Excellent,” she said. “Lily is psyched too.”

  “And my mom is obsessed with her new scone recipes,” Lissa added. “Who knows, maybe we’ll even eat something that’s cooked.” They spun the locks to their lockers and opened them, putting books in and taking books out. The inside of Olivia’s locker was full of purple stickers and ribbons, plus photos of her, Olivia, and Lily doing fun stuff together: burying one another in sand at the beach, dressed up on Halloween, on the Ferris wheel at the town fair, and on a class trip to New York City, atop the Empire State Building. Lissa had some of the very same photos inside her own locker.

  As they walked to homeroom, Lissa thought about what a great year it had been with her friends. She’d never been part of a gang of three before, and she loved it. That old phrase “two’s company, three’s a crowd” never seemed to apply to them. Instead they were like a chemistry experiment in which all three chemicals reacted perfectly with one another to create some bubbling, colorful potion.

  The homeroom routine was always the same. The kids sat in a circle with their homeroom teacher, Ms. Lang, who asked them how things were going, what was happening in their classes, what issues were coming up with schoolwork and friends, and so on. If there were problems, the group tried to come up with solutions. When they got to the circle, only Ms. Lang and a new girl were sitting there.

  “Hi, girls,” Ms. Lang said to Lissa and Olivia. Just then Lily entered, her straight black hair halfway down her back. They all sat down, along with a few other kids who had entered the room at the same time.

  “Everyone, we have a new student in our school today,” Ms. Lang said, gesturing toward the girl next to her, who had long, curly blond hair. “This is Bethany Warren, and she’s just moved here from New York City. Welcome, Bethany. Let’s all introduce ourselves and offer one thing we can do to help her first day go smoothly.”

  Bethany seemed totally relaxed, and not at all nervous to be meeting a room full of kids for the first time. She smiled and made eye contact with each of the other students.

  “Lily, why don’t you start,” Ms. Lang said.

  “Okay,” Lily said. “I’m Lily, and, um, I can help you with your class schedule. It can look kind of confusing at first because every day is different.”

  “Thanks, Lily,” Ms. Lang said. “Great idea. Olivia?”

  “I’m Olivia, and I can help you with your locker,” Olivia said. “In case you can’t open it or something. And if you want, I can help you decorate the inside. Most kids put some stuff up inside to sort of personalize it. Like, everything in mine is purple.”

  Now it was Lissa’s turn. “I’m Lissa, and I can help you find the right bus to go home on today,” she said.

  “Oh, thanks, but that’s easy,” Bethany said. “My bus is bus number two. It goes right by the graveyard. My new house is right next to the graveyard.”

  “I know!” Lissa said enthusiastically. “I live on the other side of the graveyard. My brother told me about you. You’re my new neighbor!”

  Ms. Lang smiled. “You two should finish this conversation after we’ve gone all the way around the circle. But it’s great that you’re neighbors. Kier?”

  “I’m Kier, and I can help you with the lunch line,” Kier said. “The food is pretty gross, and I can help you choose the good stuff.” Everyone laughed, and Lissa and Bethany smiled at each other.

  After everyone finished going around the circle, homeroom was soon over, and everyone went their own ways to class. Lissa had math with Olivia, Lily went off to English, and Bethany had history. Lissa and Olivia pointed her in the right direction.

  The history teacher, Mr. Parmalee, was one of the seventh graders’ favorite teachers. He was young and cool, and made the subject interesting even to kids who claimed to hate it. They did projects like researching their own family trees, exploring the history of their own house and neighborhood, and interviewing senior citizens about historical events like the Great Depression and World War II. Like Lissa and Nate’s parents, he was extremely interested in local history.

  Mr. Parmalee saw Bethany and gave her a friendly hello and showed her where to sit. It happened to be right next to Nate, who was also in this class. Bethany gave Nate a sidelong glance. He was shaking his hair out of his eyes in a really cool way.

  “Hey,” Bethany said to him. She got a better look at him and noticed his dimples. He’s just as cute as he was on my porch! she thought. But what she said instead was, “I just met your sister. Let me guess, you’re twins?”

  “Ding, ding, ding!” Nate said, as if Bethany had just gotten an answer correct on a game show, and they both laughed.

  “We’re the two and only,” he added. Nate was pleased he’d said something sort of clever, to make up for his awkwardness yesterday. She’s even prettier than I realized, he thought, trying hard not to stare.

  “Okay, everyone, the unit of study you’ve all been waiting for,” Mr. Parmalee said. “The history of your own hometown, Old Warwick.”

  Everyone was ready for this. Mr. Parmalee was famous for this unit, which explored the history of their town from its very beginning to the present. It included a field trip to the Old Warwick Historical Society and the graveyard next to Nate and Lissa’s. The kids always made rubbings of the gravestones, which was more fun than it sounded.

  “I could teach this unit for you if you like,”
Nate joked. Everyone, especially Mr. Parmalee, knew where Nate lived and what his parents did.

  “Well, your parents certainly could,” Mr. Parmalee said. “Perhaps we should have them in as guest speakers.” Nate looked like a deer in headlights.

  “Kidding! I’m kidding,” Mr. Parmalee reassured him. “But if it wasn’t such a horrifying idea for you, I’d be tempted to include your home in the field trip. I hear your parents have done an amazing job with the historical restoration.”

  “Stop! Just stop!” Nate had his head down on his desk. Everyone laughed.

  Mr. Parmalee passed out reading and activity packets to begin the unit. “Now, what do you already know about Old Warwick?”

  “It’s named for Lord and Lady Warwick, the original founders,” someone said.

  “Righto,” Mr. Parmalee said. “And where did they come here from?”

  “England,” someone else said.

  “Right again,” said Mr. Parmalee. “Who remembers when?”

  “The 1600s,” someone else said.

  “And why did they leave and come here?” Mr. Parmalee probed.

  “The Puritans were fleeing religious persecution in England,” Bethany said. She already knew this from history class at her old school.

  “Good,” Mr. Parmalee said. “You guys already know the basics. What else do you know?”

  “Nate’s house is right next to a graveyard haunted by Lady Warwick,” someone else said, and everyone laughed again.

  “Um, well, the same could be said for me, if that were true,” Bethany said. “What’s up with that?”

  “Ah, the legend of Lady Warwick.” Mr. Parmalee sighed. “You guys know that’s just a ghost story, right? But I’m sure you want to have a quick recap for fun. Who wants to share it with our newcomer?” A few kids raised their hands.

  “We might as well hear it from the expert,” Mr. Parmalee said, gesturing to Nate. A few kids laughed, and Nate grinned.

  “Okay, here’s how it goes,” Nate began. “Lady and Lord Warwick moved here, and soon after, Lady Warwick died after some mysterious illness. Lord Warwick buried her in their yard. But when he moved, he wanted her grave moved too, so they dug her up. When they opened the coffin, the inside was full of scratch marks. Because she had been accidentally buried alive. And there was no skeleton there.” He paused for effect. He had heard this story many times before, of course.

  “And now, they say when you hear the windows rattling or branches scratching at your window, it’s Lady Warwick trying to get back in, trying to reunite with her beloved Lord Warwick. And also, she’s crazy and heartbroken. She’s been roaming the woods all this time.”

  “I know it’s just a story, but the end always gives me shivers,” one girl said.

  “A ghost story can be fun,” Mr. Parmalee said. “But everyone remember it’s just a local legend, told and retold over the years to scare people.”

  “Especially the guests at my parents’ B and B,” Nate said sarcastically. “That story is framed above our staircase.”

  Bethany flashed a smile. “Maybe I should get a copy for our house too. No wonder that graveyard is so quiet and overgrown. Everyone’s scared to go in.” She couldn’t help but notice Nate was staring at her.

  Next up was math, which Bethany and Nate also had together. It was easy for Bethany; she’d already covered the material in her previous school in New York City. When it was time to work on problems with partners, she even helped Nate. Again, she felt his eyes on her the whole time. He struggled to pay attention to what she was saying, so he could finish the problems himself, but it was difficult. She was so pretty and easy to talk to. Nate had never met a girl like her before.

  On the bus on the way home, Lissa found a seat next to Bethany. Nate had soccer practice, so he wasn’t on the bus. Lissa and Bethany got off the bus together and looked at each other.

  “There’s my house, of course,” Bethany said, and pointed.

  Lissa laughed. “There’s my house, of course,” she said. “I’m so glad a kid moved in there. Mr. Reiney was nice, but there was never any fun in the neighborhood.”

  “Ta-da!” Bethany said, and threw her arms up in the air. They both cracked up.

  “Hey, the Warwick Inn,” Bethany said, seeing the sign. “Cool.”

  “Kind of,” Lissa said. “But not really, you know?”

  “Really? I think it would be so fun to live in a B and B. My parents like to stay in them sometimes. I like the breakfasts,” Bethany said. “They’re always really big.”

  “Well, you’ll love our place, then,” Lissa said. “Hey, Olivia and Lily are coming for a sleepover on Friday. Why don’t you come too?”

  “I’d love to,” Bethany said without hesitating. Lissa was impressed by her confidence. She wasn’t sure that she’d have been able to make new friends so quickly at a new school. But Bethany just seemed so at ease.

  Spring had finally sprung in Old Warwick. The magnolia tree in front of Lissa and Nate’s house was in full bloom as Olivia marched happily down the path leading to the front door. She was carrying her purple backpack and her pillow in its purple pillowcase.

  Lissa has adored Olivia ever since first grade, when their class went on a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History and Lissa had gotten scared of the big dinosaur. Other kids were giggling because Lissa was afraid, but Olivia quietly took her hand as they all walked by the giant creature. Olivia also never made fun of Lissa for sleeping with a teddy bear or being afraid of birds that swooped too close to her head.

  Olivia was the most rational and logical of the three of them, and the least likely to get spooked by ghost stories, which made her the perfect person to sleep next to at sleepovers. No matter what Lissa told her mom, the truth was, they did tell ghost stories sometimes.

  Moments later Lily arrived, her mom dropping her off in the driveway with a wave good-bye. Lily was the most naive of the three, the most likely to get spooked by ghost stories, and also the only one of the three who didn’t roll her eyes at the Lady Warwick ghost story. She seemed to believe it wholeheartedly and took it very seriously. Lily even avoided the framed story about Lady Warwick hanging in the entranceway, claiming, “I think it’s probably bad luck to even read about her!”

  Lily had made friends with Olivia right away when she arrived in town in fourth grade, but Lissa didn’t really get to know her until fifth grade. It was later that summer that they had begun their tradition of burying each other in sand after the school year ended. This year would be the third annual “Sandy Lady” ritual at the beach. Nate laughed at the Sandy Lady ritual, but the girls thought his hobby of fishing off the pier was equally lame. Lame and gross, according to Lissa.

  It was seven p.m., the sun hadn’t set, and the girls hadn’t eaten dinner. Neither had Nate, so the Carlsons ordered pizza: one pepperoni and one plain, since Olivia had recently become a vegetarian. As they waited for the pizza to arrive, they used their phones to take pictures of one another climbing the big tree in the front yard.

  It was an excellent tree, and while Lissa had loved climbing it and playing in it when she was little, these days it was more of a photo op tree. The pictures were artsy and cool, and the girls took turns looking at one another’s photos and laughing. The best was one of Lissa and Lily hanging upside down off a low branch, their hair hanging down strangely.

  “So Bethany will be here soon,” Lissa told Olivia and Lily. “You’re sure that’s okay? I didn’t really ask you guys about it before I invited her. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

  “Totally,” Olivia said. “I really like her. And she’s your next-door neighbor, after all.”

  “And Nate’s in love with her,” Lily added immediately. Olivia and Lissa stared at her in disbelief.

  “No, really,” Lily said. “It was ridiculously obvious all week in school. He can’t stop staring at her. I can’t believe you guys didn’t notice.”

  Lissa frowned. “First of al
l, ew,” she said. “My brother is gross. Second of all, I don’t keep tabs on him all day.”

  “Whatever,” Lily said. “I can see why Nate would like her. She’s really pretty, and she’s smart and funny. What’s the big deal?”

  “It’s not a big deal,” Lissa and Olivia said at the same time, and then both laughed. A moment later they saw Bethany and her parents approaching from the sidewalk.

  “Hey!” they called. Bethany gave a little wave and smiled. Her long, curly hair bounced around her shoulders, and she wore pink lip gloss that made her look very glamorous. Her parents went to knock on the door to meet Lissa’s parents, who opened their door with a smile and let their new neighbors in. They already had lemonade and cookies set out for them.

  “Welcome to the neighborhood!” Mr. Carlson said. “I’m Ed Carlson, and this is my wife, Linda. We’re so happy to meet you, and glad the girls made friends so quickly.”

  “Richard Warren. Pleasure to meet you,” Bethany’s dad said. “And this is Sally,” he added, indicating Bethany’s mom. The four stood in the kitchen smiling at one another.

  “So where are you from, and what brings you to our fair port?” Mr. Carlson asked the Warrens.

  “We’re from Manhattan,” Mr. Warren said. “My marketing firm is opening a new office in New Haven. They sent me here to get it going. And Sally here writes for an advertising firm, and she’s going to commute to the city three days a week, and write at home the other two days.”

  The Carlsons nodded attentively.

  Mr. Warren continued, “We’re both going to be out of the house a lot for the next few months while we settle things with our jobs. My aunt is living with us. She’s helping to look after Bethany on the days when Sally and I have to stay over in the city. We’re trying to keep those days few and far between, but we probably won’t be around as much as we’d like for a while. We’re really hoping things settle down this summer!”