by Tifani Clark
*****
When we got home I excused myself and ran up the stairs to my room. I really hoped I wouldn’t find Sophia there. I whispered her name and then said it a few times a little louder, just to see if she was lurking in the shadows somewhere. I didn’t get a response so I called Camille and told her everything that had happened at the library in New Bedford. She was just as shocked as I was. When I got to the part about Nick actually being a “good guy” she squealed into the phone. She was definitely the romantic in our little duo.
It grew late and we agreed to meet to tell Sophia in the morning. I flung myself across my bed, stared at the ceiling, and called Peter. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.”
“Any ghost business going on?”
I loved that it was such a casual subject with him, as if he did that kind of thing every day. “Actually, yeah. Peter, Sophia’s old flame is alive. I mean, he’s dead, but he’s a ghost.”
“Do you mean Nicholas Trenton or Michael Mason?”
I cringed at the thought of Michael still being around. “Nick. Nick’s still here. I met him in New Bedford today.”
Except for Peter’s breathing, the other end of the line was quiet. Finally he spoke. “What’s he doing here? Is he trying to hurt Sophia again?”
“That’s what I thought, but it turns out he’s been following the Goodwins, who are also ghosts. Peter, they’re bad news. Jeremiah had Nick kidnapped and then killed him so he couldn’t marry Sophia.”
“Wow . . . this story just keeps getting crazier.”
“I know. I can barely believe it. I keep hoping I’m going to wake up and find that I’ve been having a wicked crazy dream and it’s still the last week of school.”
There was silence on the other end of the line again. “I don’t think I want this to be a dream. I’m kind of having a good time.”
I paused. “Actually, I’m having a good time, too.”
Peter agreed to meet with the rest of us in the morning as well. I texted Sophia and then I quickly fell asleep, once again dreaming of kidnappers, lovers, and old ships.
