The Ghost Next Door

by Ginny Baird

  Melody glanced at Joy with exasperation.

  “It will just take a minute,” Claire said.

  Melody shrugged at the others, then handed Joy her backpack to hold. “Shouldn’t take more than a second. Can’t imagine she’s got much to say,” she told the others, striding away. Once they stood off to the side, she snapped at Claire. “What exactly is your problem?”

  Claire met her stare. “I’m not sure why, but it appears to be you.”

  “I don’t have to listen to this.” She tried to turn away, but Claire caught her arm. Melody narrowed her eyes in warning.

  “I’m sorry,” Claire said, releasing her. “I just really need for you… Want you to hear this.”

  “Hear what?”

  Claire dropped her backpack to the floor and plowed ahead, willing her voice to remain steady. To her surprise, it came out nice and even, despite the tremors welling within her. “I’m not sure what I did. I mean, when I first got here. But, obviously, it was something to offend you. So…” She drew a breath and released it. “I want to apologize.”

  “What?” Melody lowered her voice in a whisper. “Are you out of your mind? You don’t apologize to me. I’m the one who’s been razzing you.”

  Claire felt a new surge of calm, as if the tables were turning somehow. “And, why is that?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “I mean, if I didn’t do something to you… And I was almost sure that I had—”

  “What could you have possibly done to me?” Melody hissed.

  “Date Perry?”

  “Hah! As if…” She rolled her eyes, then leaned closer. “That’s not what Perry thinks, is it?”

  “I don’t know what he thinks. About you, I mean.”

  “Has he said something? About me?”

  “Only that you’re a lot nicer than you come across.”

  There was a rush of color at Melody’s temples before her expression hardened again. “Yeah, well. If I were you, I wouldn’t believe it.”

  Claire had her on the hook now and only had to reel her in. “So…if it’s not my friendship with Perry that got you mad at me, what is it?”

  Melody’s face registered surprise. “Mad? Who said anything about me being mad at you?”

  “I just figured… From how you’ve been acting.”

  “Look,” Melody told her. “You’re the new girl in town, all right. I get that.” She glanced at her friends. “We all get that. But when you got here, it’s important for you to know, you walked into a certain…order of things.”

  “Like a hierarchy?”

  “Yeah. Whatever that means. So, as long as we’re straight on that, you’ve got nothing to worry about. You don’t have to go home crying to Daddy.”

  Claire pursed her lips hard to fight back the sting in her eyes. When she spoke, there was a hard edge to her voice. “There is no Daddy, for your information. And there hasn’t been for a long time.”

  Melody held her tongue.

  “Forget it,” Claire said. “This was a really stupid idea.”

  She spun away from the crowd and headed in the opposite direction, thinking what an idiot she was. There she’d stood, sucking up to probably the most vicious girl in school, and all she’d gotten out of it were more barbs.

  “Wait!” Melody cried, chasing after her.

  Claire glanced back over her shoulder to see Melody running up with her backpack.

  “You forgot this.”

  When she passed the backpack over, there was something different in her eyes. Something Claire hadn’t seen there before. It was almost like Melody had the capacity to be a real person.

  Nathan scraped another perfectly done hamburger off the grill and set on the plate Belle held beside him.

  “This will be one of our last good evenings for cooking out,” she told him.

  “Nonsense,” he said. “Grilling out’s always a good idea. Don’t even mind it in snow boots.”

  His sister laughed. “I forgot what a die-hard you are.”

  “You can call me Mountain Man Nathan, if you’d like.”

  “You haven’t been up in the mountains in quite some time.”

  “True. Though that’s about to change.”

  Belle’s brow rose with interest. “Taking time off?”

  “Just a day. But I’m due it, anyway.”

  “Darn,” she said with disappointment. “I was hoping you were whisking that new girlfriend of yours away somewhere.”

  The tips of his ears felt as hot as those coals. “Girl…? Girlfriend?”

  She waited until he set the last of the burgers on the platter then placed the lid on the grill. “Come now, brother. Fess up. Town talk is you were having lunch the other day. And I know firsthand she invited you to dinner.”

  “And I’ve got a very nosy sister,” he teased. “Who, not so incidentally, has also been going out to dinner. At Victor’s Italian Restaurant.”

  She swatted him with a potholder. “We’re just friends. Good friends. You know that.”

  “Can you say candlelight? Violins? A romantic table for two? And there I was thinking old Dan had some kind of reading addiction.” He winked at his sister. “Sounds more like an obsession for the librarian.”

  “Quit trying to change the subject.”

  He picked up his grilling supplies and carried them in the house as she followed after him. When they got to the kitchen, she set the platter on the counter with a suspicious look. “Who are you going hiking with?”

  “Uncle Nathan!” Melody cried, running toward him with a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming over tonight.”

  “Your mom invited me—to do the grilling. Wasn’t that nice of her?”

  “Superb.”

  Melody hugged him tighter as he cast a glance at Belle. Something was going on here, but he wasn’t sure what. Belle sensed it too.

  “Everything go okay in school today?”

  “Oh yeah, just fine.” She strode to the kitchen table and lifted a huge chocolate chip cookie. “Yum. Uncle Nathan bring these?”

  “Not until after dinner,” Belle said.

  Melody returned the cookie to its plate with a frown. “How much longer?”

  “Ten minutes. Time enough for you to set the table.”

  The teen sighed audibly, and Nathan chuckled. It was then that he remembered his mission. “Belle,” he told her once his niece was out of earshot. “Janet saw something at the Dollar Store she wanted me to mention to you.”

  “Uh-oh.” When her brother said something, it had apparently sounded more like someone to her.

  “Could be nothing.” He lowered his voice so Melody wouldn’t hear. “Just Melody Anne and her friends buying lots of spooky stuff.”

  “For?”

  “They claimed, the high school dance.”

  “That’s odd. Melody hasn’t mentioned a thing about it.”

  “If it were legit, wouldn’t she have been hitting you up for the cash?”

  Their gazes trailed toward the dining room.

  “Just forks and knives tonight?” Melody asked.

  “That’s fine, hon!” Belle called. “And don’t forget the condiments.”

  “I’ll find a way to casually mention it at dinner,” Nathan told Belle.

  On the other side of town, Elizabeth and Claire carried their plates of pasta salad to the front porch. “Are you sure you don’t mind being out here?” Elizabeth asked.

  “No. It’s a great night for eating outside.”

  “Pretty with the sun going down.”

  Claire set down her fork and studied the view. “You know, I don’t even see them anymore.”

  “What?”

  “The tombstones.”

  “Huh?”

  “I mean, of course I know they’re there. I just don’t think of them the way I used to.”

  “As creepy?”

  “I guess.”

  “Everyone needs a final place to be.”

  “I kn
ow. And those guys probably didn’t pick it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It was their families, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe.”

  Something creaked next door, and the women glanced across the way to see Phantom had jumped up onto an old rocker, sending it teetering back and forth. “Phantom!” Claire called. “Come away from there! Here, kitty, kitty!”

  He sprang out of the chair, sending it rocking even harder. Creak-crack, creak-crack, creak-crack against the floorboards of the old front porch.

  “And to think we used to be afraid of that too,” Elizabeth said with a laugh.

  “Speak for yourself.”

  “Hah!”

  “Seriously, Mom. I had no worries about it.”

  “Hmm. If you say so, sweet daughter of mine.”

  Phantom sauntered over and curled around Claire’s legs, whining softly for a piece of chicken.

  “Claire Jennings,” Elizabeth warned sternly. “Don’t you dare feed that cat off of your plate.”

  “Aw, Mom,” Claire said, “Wasn’t about to do that.” Then when her Mom turned her head, she passed Phantom a tiny morsel. He purred louder and sat down on his haunches, gazing up expectantly.

  “Claire,” Elizabeth said, “now you’re teaching him to beg!”

  But she couldn’t help it. Phantom was so darn cute, and such a baby cat too. He crawled up in her bed each night, tucking himself in under her arm. Claire had never owned a pet before. Although it was something she’d always wanted. Something like a full-fledged family with a father, but she’d never in a million years tell her mom that. Claire knew her mom loved her deeply, and understood she’d moved heaven and earth to provide the best life for her she could. But sometimes there were gaps. Times when it would have been good to have a dad around to step in. The way Nathan had when her mom had hesitated about letting her go out with Perry that very first time. Nathan was a good guy. Pleasant enough to be around and stable in a laid-back way. She could tell that her mom liked him, and vice versa. That was for sure.

  “You have any plans to see Nathan?”

  “What made you think of him?”

  Claire shrugged. “Just had a craving for chocolate chip cookies.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “We can’t go taking advantage now. Nathan doesn’t have to bake for us at every turn.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” Claire agreed. “But he can still come over.”

  Elizabeth studied her with surprise.

  “Hang out. Whatever. It’s all right, Mom. I understand.”

  “Well, thanks. Perry can come over too. Hang out, I mean.”

  “Might start getting crowded around here.”

  Elizabeth surveyed the mountains with a happy sigh. She’d thought of nothing but Nathan since their last lunch together and could scarcely wait until their date tomorrow. “It could at that.”

  “You look good, Mom,” Claire said.

  Elizabeth playfully flipped back her hair. “You mean, hot?”

  “That too, but there’s more to it. Something else now.”

  “Yeah? What?”

  “You seem… I don’t know, younger?”

  Elizabeth preened, liking this sound of this.

  “Yeah, hopeful somehow.”

  “Hopeful?”

  “I don’t know why, but that word fits.”

  Yes, Elizabeth found herself thinking, it certainly does. And Elizabeth Jennings hadn’t felt hopeful in such a long while, she’d nearly forgotten what that feeling was.

  Nathan reached over to grab the potato salad. “I hope you don’t mind my asking,” he said, addressing his niece, “but have you got a date to the dance?”

  Melody Anne flushed. “I don’t even have a boyfriend, Uncle Nathan.”

  “Oh, that’s right. I’m sorry.”

  “Kids all go in groups these days,” Belle told him. “I think I like it better that way.”

  “Hmm, yes. Can’t say I disagree. This potato salad is delicious, by the way,” he said, ladling up another scoop.

  “Why, thanks,” Belle returned before he continued.

  “So how’s it all coming together?” he asked the girl.

  “How’s what coming together?”

  “The dance.”

  “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to…”

  Belle widened her eyes at Nathan, and Melody Anne stopped talking.

  “Is something going on here?” she asked after a pause.

  “Not really,” Nathan said, loading up a forkful. “It’s just that Bernie heard you and some friends were helping decorate.”

  “You mean he heard that from Janet.”

  “Could be. Yes. Yes, I think that’s right.” He turned his gaze on hers. “So, are you? Helping decorate?”

  “I… We haven’t decided yet.”

  “But the dance is just three days away!” Belle broke in.

  Melody Anne shifted in her chair. “We got the stuff thinking we were, but then another team stepped in.”

  Belle studied her daughter. “Team?”

  Melody Anne rolled her eyes toward the kitchen, and Nathan could tell she was thinking fast. “There was a contest at school. Winning team gets to decorate. Losers help clean up. Something like that. Not sure of all the details. Anyway. Fact is, we thought we had won. Went out, bought all the stuff and everything. Turns out there was a miscount after all.”

  Nathan slowly raised an eyebrow. “So then, you’re helping clean up?”

  “Nope,” the girl answered quickly. “Didn’t win that one either.”

  Belle glanced at Nathan, then stared at her daughter. “Melody Anne, if I learn for one second that you were up to—”

  But Nathan stopped her by calmly shaking his head. “No need to go jumping to any conclusions, here. We both know our Melody Anne is a sweetheart.” He reached across the table and warmly patted her hand. “I want you to be especially nice to that new girl, Claire Jennings, you hear? She and her mom have been through some tough times. Having to leave their old home behind, settle into a new place…” He glanced around the table, then met her eyes. “I think we all know what that’s like.”

  Melody swallowed hard and finished her meal in silence But Nathan knew she’d heard him all the same.

  Chapter Seven

  The next day, Melody met her group of friends in the cafeteria at their regular table.

  “So, it’s tonight, right?” Penelope asked her. They’d been planning it all week, and Thursday was their target date. If things went right and Claire freaked as much as they hoped she would, she’d want nothing more to do with Blayton High. Nothing to do with Blayton, period. Which would mean she’d tell Perry on Friday she was no longer going to the dance. That would give him time to ask out Melody. Or, at the very least, allow him to go stag so he could ask her to dance.

  Joy glanced uncertainly around the table. “I was thinking maybe we should wait.”

  Melody didn’t know what it was with Joy. It was like she no longer thought the things they did were ultra cool. But still, she went along for the ride. It was only recently that she’d begun to voice some dissent. This irked Melody no end, because she was already having doubts of her own. She didn’t need things made overly complicated by having more misgivings heaped upon her. “What are you talking about, Joy?”

  “Only that, if it’s ghosts we’re playing, shouldn’t we wait until closer to Halloween?”

  “It’s only a week away.”

  “I meant, until Halloween.”

  “Don’t be stupid,” Penelope said. “Even I’m not going in a haunted house on Halloween to play the undead.”

  “Me either,” another girl, Lilly, agreed.

  The truth was, Melody didn’t much want a part of that herself. Not that she really believed in ghosts or anything. It just seemed kind of like tempting fate to call them out on the actual day. Night. All Hallows Eve. Whatever. “The point is, we were to get this done before the dance.”

  “Oh,
right.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m still not sure about it,” Joy said. “It feels kind of sacrilegious to me.”

  Melody fumed at her friend. “If that’s how you all feel, then let’s not do it!” On the outside, she was blustery, but on the inside, Melody felt the slightest twinge of relief. If the others chickened out, she wouldn’t have to go through with it. They could call the whole thing off, and make it seem like a mutual deal. Then she wouldn’t get in trouble with her uncle, her mom, or anyone else. Plus, she wouldn’t still be picking on Claire, which had started feeling less and less like a fun idea.

  Penelope eyed the others combatively. “I’m not chickening out, if that’s what you’re saying.”

  Melody met Penelope’s chilly green stare, seeing her own reflection in the other girl’s eyes. Penelope appeared almost gleeful at the prospect of upsetting another kid. It was like it got her juices going just at the thought of it. Melody had never understood how unappealing that looked until she’d glimpsed it from the outside. Her stomach roiled at the notion that others in the school saw her like she saw Penelope now. “Nobody’s chickening out. But maybe Joy is right. Maybe we should give this some time.”

  “But we already got all the stuff,” Lilly said.

  Penelope glanced at the others. “And I’m babysitting tomorrow.”

  Melody shivered at that thought, then turned her attention to the group. It was plain she wasn’t getting out of this. She was in too deep already. While it was true she wasn’t as pumped about it as she’d been at first, it honestly wasn’t more than a harmless prank. One that might cause a few goose bumps and chills. And, oh yeah, make her archenemy Claire want to leave town. That.

  Melody tried to forget the look in Claire’s eyes as she’d pulled her aside to apologize. “Have I done something to offend you?” Only by showing up and being alive. Melody felt her heart harden again, the one that had temporarily—and inexplicably—gone soft.

  “Okay,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Tonight, at the Fenton place. Here’s what we’re going to do…”

  Perry met Claire outdoors at their customary table. “Hey, Sunshine. What’s cooking?” He studied her lunch. “Peanut butter and jelly again?”