by Mute80
Camille immediately noticed the change in me. “What’s with you today? You seem bouncy.”
“I dunno. I guess I’m just happy that we’re almost through with school.”
“Yeah, but we have tests today.”
“Some of us have actually been studying for the tests. I’m not concerned about any of them.”
Camille rolled her eyes and slammed her locker door shut. We walked side by side to our first period class. She’d been particularly quiet on the bus that morning and I guessed that she was still angry about being rejected on Sunday.
First period was English and I handed in the assignment I’d finished writing on Saturday. Thankfully I’d finished it during the first part of the weekend. If I’d met Sophia first, I don’t think I would have gotten around to it.
The rest of the day dragged on without anything eventful happening. I found myself continuously looking over my shoulder and peering into the middle of crowds, expecting Sophia to pop up at any moment, but she stayed away. In fact, I didn’t see her until Camille and I were heading out the school door at the end of the day. We planned to ditch the school bus and grab a ride on a city bus to Grandma’s Café so that I could make good on my promise to hang out with her. Sophia suddenly appeared, carrying a backpack and looking like any one of the other hundreds of kids spilling out of the school.
“Hey, you two. Where are you headed this beautiful afternoon?” She wore the sunniest smile I’d ever seen.
I could feel Camille tense next to me. She said nothing and just kept walking.
I shrugged. “We’re heading over to Grandma’s Café for some ice cream. Want to come?” I probably shouldn’t have invited her, but I thought that if Camille got to know Sophia it would help.
“Sure, that sounds fun. You don’t mind, do you, Camille?”
Camille turned to Sophia and half-smiled, but the look in her eyes screamed, ‘Go away’.
Apparently half the school decided that ice cream sounded good because Grandma’s was packed when we got there. We finally managed to snag a table made for two and an extra chair from a nearby table. It wasn’t a secret that a lot of the eyes in the room were on our little group—especially those belonging to the opposite gender. I’m sure they were all wondering who Sophia was and how they could possibly find out so they could try to hit on her. Sophia acted oblivious to the attention we were getting, but Camille kept flashing her own famous smile and tossing her hair over her shoulder with a flip of her head. I wondered if I should try the hair flip thing. With my luck I’d pull a neck muscle and end up embarrassing myself horribly.
The three of us made small talk and I kept looking at my watch. I wanted to get back to our research, but I didn’t know how to nicely get rid of Camille. Sophia tried to include her in the conversation as much as she could, but for the most part Camille ignored her and spoke only to me.
Finally, unable to stand it any longer, I pushed back from the table. “It’s getting really late. I should probably go home.”Camille looked at her watch. “What are you talking about? School’s only been out for forty-five minutes.”
“I have homework to do,” I lied.
“What homework?” Camille quizzed. She didn’t believe me.
“It’s for my math class.” The answer seemed safe since it was the only class we didn’t have together. I was in an advanced math class and Cam wasn’t.
“Whatever. Let’s go then,” Camille said dejectedly.
The three of us barely spoke as we walked home. When we got to my street, Sophia and I turned off together. Camille stopped walking.
“Are you following her home?” she asked Sophia in an accusatory tone.
“What? Oh, no. Well, sort of. I left something at her house when I was over there yesterday and I’m just going to grab it quickly,” Sophia answered.
Camille nodded slowly before quickly turning and continuing toward her house. I’d gained a spring in my step, but it seemed as if she’d lost one.
*****
The rest of the week actually flew by and before I knew it, Friday was upon us. The last day of school was always a half day and, in my opinion, a waste of time. It wasn’t like we actually did any work. We spent time signing yearbooks and goofing off. The teachers didn’t even try to quiet us or discipline anyone because they were just as excited as we were for the end of the year.
Sophia had gone to school with me every day that week . . . sort of. She never actually came to any classes, but she showed up between them and ate lunch with Cam and I every day. I wondered what she carried around in her backpack. I doubted it was textbooks. On Wednesday I asked her where she went when she wasn’t with me. It turned out there’s a whole network of ghosts that work together when needed. Who knew? Ghosts who were adults when they died could easily get a home and a job if they desired and live somewhere until people started to notice that they weren’t aging, and then they would just move on. Teenagers and children had it a little harder because the non-aging issue was a lot more noticeable. So, the younger looking ghosts would adopt friends who would claim to be parents when needed and sometimes they would even stay together. That was Sophia’s case. When she got to town, she met ghosts by the name of Jack and Rita and hung out at their home most of the time she wasn’t with me. She offered to introduce me to them, but I thought one ghost was enough for me to deal with right then.
On my way to Mr. Hanover’s biology class, Peter Ashby stopped and asked if I could sign his yearbook. He was at least six inches taller than me with dirty blonde hair and a skinny build. He was one of those guys that had no trouble making friends and knew everyone. And I was madly in love with him. Too bad he had no idea and I had no intention of ever telling him. I signed his book with a shaky hand. Sophia started laughing before he’d even walked away.
“What?” I glared.
“You like him.”
“I do not. He’s just someone from the neighborhood. I’m surprised he even knows my name.”
“Ha,” she guffawed. “In the few weeks since I’ve been watching you, Peter has said ‘Hi’ six times, talked to you twice, and smiled at you in the hall nine times. Every single time you had contact with him you blushed, just like you did when he asked you to sign his yearbook just now. You didn’t blush with any others guys.”
Stunned, I didn’t know what to say. My crush on Peter dated all the way back to the fourth grade when he first moved to Marion, and no one—especially Peter—had ever picked up on it. Even Camille, who knew me better than anyone, had never caught on. When we were kids I thought we were destined to be together because his first name was Peter and my last name was Peters. The childhood fantasy had never faded.
“Whatever.” It was the best I could come up with in that short amount of time.
“It’s true.” Camille giggled. “I’ve wondered about it for years. You do blush every time you talk to Peter.”
Of course, now she decides to side with Sophia.
“Can we please just go to class? I’d like to end this school year so I can get on with my life.” I really hoped no one in the hallway heard our conversation. I would be mortified if someone told Peter that I liked him. I doubted I was his type and he’d probably never consider asking me out. And I definitely didn’t want him to do it out of pity.
At the end of the day, after much cheering and rejoicing from the entire student body when the last bell rang, Camille and I climbed on the bus. Jubilation filled the air and everyone squirmed in their seats. Yearbooks passed up and down the rows and paper airplanes flew through the air. I got nailed in the head by the airplanes and a couple of books. The bus driver ignored everyone and pulled his visor down farther so that he didn’t have to look at us.
Camille glowed in her seat. “So, what are we doing tomorrow for our first day of summer break? We could go to the swimming pool, the beach, go on a picnic, or shop for summer clothes at the mall, but please don’t suggest we go to the library. I know. Maybe we could—”
&nbs
p; “Actually,” I cut her off, “I promised Sophia that I’d take her to visit some historical sites in Marion.”
Camille waited expectantly. I knew she wanted an invitation to go along, but I just couldn’t give it. That time I really felt bad. I didn’t want to hurt Camille, but I couldn’t exactly bring her along without her questioning what we were doing.
“You know, just forget it. I can see when I’m not wanted. You and Sophia have a spectacular summer together and maybe I’ll see you around school next year . . . or maybe not.” Camille spat the words out, jumped off the bus, and quickly began walking down the road to her home.
“Camille,” I called, trying to push through the dispersing crowd to run after her, but she just kept walking. I shook my head and stood on the sidewalk watching her go. Surprisingly, it was the first time we’d ever had a fight and I didn’t know how to react.
“Everything okay?”
Startled out of my thoughts I whipped my head around to see Peter Ashby standing next to me. I could feel the blush creep out immediately.
“It’s fine. Just a little disagreement.”
“Wow. And all these years I thought you two were attached at the hip. Who knew?” Peter laughed.
I tried to fake a smile, but it wasn’t very convincing.
“So . . . what are your plans for the summer?”
I shrugged.
“I was thinking that it might be fun if, you know, we umm . . . hung out sometime this summer.” Peter stumbled over his words and stared at his feet.
I was stunned. My throat felt as if it was closing off, but I managed to blurt out, “I’d like that—text me sometime,” before I turned and jogged the remaining block to my house. It should have been one of the happiest moments of my life, but the pain I felt from knowing that I might have just lost my best friend ruined that.
*****
“What took you so long today, slow poke?” Sophia asked when I arrived at my house. She sat on my front steps with her legs stretched out in front of her. “Let’s get to work.”
I didn’t respond. I just walked past her and unlocked my front door. On that afternoon’s agenda was a trip to the site where Sophia’s family lived before they all died. Her grandparents, Nathan and Sophia Briggs, built a home in Marion long before she was born. They planted so many rose bushes that it became known as Rose Cottage. Eventually Sophia’s parents, Benjamin and Sarah Briggs, built their own little home next to Rose Cottage. When they set sail on the Mary Celeste, Arthur stayed behind at Rose Cottage with Grandma Briggs. Little did he know that his family would never return for him. Grandma Briggs and her son James sold the home not long after the incident with the Mary Celeste, probably to escape the memories of the tragedy in their lives.
I put my things in the house and grabbed a snack. I didn’t bother to offer Sophia anything. “So,” I said finally, “how do you propose we get around this summer? I can’t drive yet nor can I fly around or creep through walls like you. I only have one bike and I’m sure as heck not pumping you around all over town.”
“Wow. You’re kind of touchy today.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t worry about it. You might not be old enough for a license, but I am. Remember?”
I looked up to see Sophia jingling a ring of keys in front of me. Attached to the ring was a small ship keychain. I knew immediately that it was a replica of the Mary Celeste. It was the exact kind of keychain I’d seen in souvenir shops my whole life. Tourists loved them.
“What do you drive? Wait, let me think . . . A little red, sporty, two-door something or other?” I guessed.
“Ha! I try to blend in, remember?”
I peeked out my front window to see a non-descript, white, four-door sedan parked across the street. It was the kind of car you could walk right by after you got off the school bus and not even notice.
I grabbed a notebook and we jumped in the car.
“So how long have you been driving?” I’ll admit I was a little anxious. It wasn’t often that teenagers drove me around.
Sophia put a pair of sparkly pink sunglasses on and looked at me. “Honey, I’ve been driving since Henry Ford rolled his first Model T off the assembly line.”
“Yay. I’m sure that would be the perfect story to tell my father when he finds out that you’re old enough to drive and proceeds to question your driving ability.”
Sophia was right—she was actually a great driver. In fact, probably better than a lot of the adults on the road. She’d been around for almost a hundred and fifty years, and I guess it was good that she had something to brag about. The site where Rose Cottage used to stand was on the other side of town. The cottage itself had burned down back in the early sixties. We didn’t know what we were looking for or what we were supposed to do. We hoped there might be other ghosts hanging around that could shed some light on the subject for us. We didn’t want to be caught trespassing so we sat on a grassy area across the street and watched the site where Sophia’s family used to live.
“My grandfather was killed at Rose Cottage, you know,” Sophia said after we sat in silence for a while.
“Killed? You mean he was murdered? Maybe that’s a clue to something.”
“No. He wasn’t murdered. He opened the front door to look outside during a big storm and was struck by lightning. He died immediately. Grandma Briggs cradled his body until the storm ended and she was able to get help.”
“That’s crazy. The chances of being struck by lightning are rare. Combine that with what happened to your immediate family and you could say that your family had a bit of bad luck.”
“Ha!” Sophia scoffed. “You don’t know the half of it. We had so much tragedy in our family that the townspeople began to talk about the Briggs family curse. All but one of my father’s brothers sailed as well. My Uncle Nathan died of yellow fever while at sea. Father’s sister and her husband, Maria and Joseph Gibbs, died when they were washed overboard when their ship collided with a steamer near North Carolina. They hadn’t been married very long and they left behind a son who stayed with Grandmother Briggs at Rose Cottage. Their son died a short time later, too. Then, the month I was born, my Uncle Zenus died of yellow fever while on my Uncle Oliver’s ship. The list just keeps going.”
I was astounded. I grew up with the story of the Mary Celeste, but I didn’t remember hearing anything about all the other tragic events. My heart ached for the strange ghost and her lost family.
“I’m really sorry, Sophia. No family should have to go through that much pain.” It sounded lame, but I didn’t know what else I could say.
“It is a really sad series of stories, isn’t it? But keep in mind that I was so young when I was kidnapped that I never knew any of my real family members. I didn’t learn about most of it until I started trying to extricate. And some of it I didn’t discover until this week when I was reading books in your bedroom. I know all of it happened to my family, but I’m having a hard time feeling any connection to them or this place where Rose Cottage used to be.”
Eventually, Sophia decided to invisibly poke around in a couple of the nearby homes. We didn’t find any ghosts that we could talk to. Our first mission was a complete failure.
Sophia dropped me off just before six, and I ran up the porch stairs and into the house where I found Dad making dinner.
“Dad? You’re home earlier than I thought. Sorry I was gone so long. I did plan on making dinner.”
Since Dad was gone so much, he gave me access to a household expense account. I usually did the grocery shopping and made dinner more often than not. Because I was typically a responsible child, he always kept money in the account that I could use to hang out with friends or shop for myself. It was a pretty good arrangement in my opinion.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad I get to see you on the first day of your summer break.” He paused to stir some soup in a pan on the stove. “Jamie, Camille stopped by a little while ago.”
“She did?”
I didn’t mean to sound surprised, but it totally came out that way.
“I think she was upset about something, honey. Were you out with Sophia again?” he asked gently.
“Yes. We thought it would be fun to visit the site where Rose Cottage used to stand.”
It was Dad’s turn to look surprised.
“Remember? I’m showing her all our town has to offer this summer. She’s got to learn the story of some of Marion’s most famous people.”
“I vaguely remember when the cottage burned down. I was pretty young, maybe five or six, but there were rumors of it being haunted. Kids in town would dare each other to go onto the property at night,” Dad reminisced before changing the subject. “Can we talk about something that’s been bothering me, honey?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Jamie, I’m worried about you. I don’t want you to throw away friendships that you’ve had your entire life to hang out with someone who might only be here temporarily.”
He didn’t know how right he was about the temporary thing. “I know, Dad. Sophia and I try to include Camille when we can, but she doesn’t get as excited about some of our suggestions as we do.” It was only a partial lie.
“Just be careful, sweetie. Remember to think before you act. How old is Sophia anyway?”
Now came the moment of truth. I wanted Dad to know that she was old enough to legally drive, but not that she was old enough to have graduated from high school already. What eighteen-year-old would willingly hang out with someone three years younger? I decided to go somewhere in the middle. It seemed safe.
“She just barely turned seventeen, Dad. She has her own car and she’s a really safe driver. Her parents totally trust her. I promise.”
Dad raised his eyebrows. “Just stay off your phones when you’re in the car, okay?”
“Of course,” I promised.
