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Twenty-six

I DID USE THE JAR, as gross as it was I’d already provided o, I did it in the upstairs bathroo stuff under the sink Cleaning the bathroom was one of our chores, so I hoped that meant the nurses never went under there

We didn’t dowasn’t cooperating It was Friday and she saw the weekend loonments, then played solitaire on her laptop

Rae spentin therapy, first with Dr Gill, then in a special session with Dr Davidoff, while Tori went for hers with Dr Gill Thatlet us out early for lunch, I was left to pass the time with Simon and Derek, which was just fine bywasn’t nearly so easy, especially since it wasn’t stuff we could discuss in theoutside would have been the obvious choice, but Miss Van Dop orking in the garden So Simon offered to help me finish the laundry Derek said he’d sneak down later

"So this is where our resident ghost lurks," Si the laundry room

"I think so but--"

He held up a hand, then lowered hi the last basket "You don’t need to tellto ht Don’t let him push you around"

"I don’t push her anywhere" Derek’s voice preceded him around the corner

"If I tell so the corner "That’s not ue works, doesn’t it?"

Great The guy canme I don’t have to let him make me feel stupid

"So if they decide to transfer you, what are you going to do about it?"

Simon balled up a shirt "For God’s sake, Derek, they’re not--"

"They’re thinking about it She needs a plan"

"Does she?" Simon pitched the shirt into the colored pile "What about you, bro? If word coo, do you have a plan?"

They exchanged a look I couldn’t see Siathered a load for the washer "If they do, I don’t see that I have a lot of options I can’t exactly refuse"

"So you’ll just give in? Go along like a good girl?"

"Ease up, bro"

Derek ignored him, scooped up the laundry I’dbeside me as he did "They won’t let you talk to Liz, will they?"

"Huh--what?"

"Tori asked thisI heard Talbot told her no and said she’d told you the sarabbed the soap box froled it "This helps"

"They said I can call Liz on the weekend"

"Still, seeirl, and you’re the first one wanting to call her?"

"It’s called being considerate Maybe you’ve heard of it?"

He batted my hand from the dials "Darks, cold Or you’ll end up with the dye bleeding" A glance back at me "See? I’m considerate"

"Sure, when it’s h

"As for Liz," I continued, "I just wanted to be sure she was okay"

"Why wouldn’t she be?"

He’d scoff at h, that’s exactly what I wanted Reassurance that ot as far as the part about waking to see Liz on the bed, chattering away

"So…" Derek cut in "Liz returned froreat beyond to show you her really cool socks?"

I told them about her "dream" and her attic appearance

When I finished, Si frohost"

"Just because she’s a ghost doesn’t mean she was murdered," Derek said "She could have had a completely unrelated accident on the way to the hospital If that happened, they wouldn’t want to tell us right away"

"Or maybe she’s not dead at all," I said "Could she be astral projecting? Sha stuff around It wasn’t a poltergeist spirit--it was her spirit or however it works You said our powers kick in around puberty, right? If we don’t knoe are when that happens, this is just the kind of place we’d end up A hoed But he didn’t argue

"Would being a sha stuff around? Could she have been popping out of her body without knowing it?"

"I… don’t know" The admission came slowly, reluctantly "Let h dessert when Mrs Talbot reappeared

"I know you kids have free time after lunch, and I hate to interfere with that, but I’ to have to ask you to spend it in this end of the house, and give Victoria and her mother some privacy Please stay out of the classroom until it’s time for classes, and don’t play in therooive someone privacy, I’d make sure I stayed away That was only polite After a few days at Lyle House, though, when soo there," I didn’t say "okay," but "why?"… and decided to find out In this house, knowledge was power, and I was a quick learner

The question was: How to get close enough to Dr Gill’s office to overhear Tori and her ive thehter chat I could ask the guy with the supercharged hearing, but didn’t want to owe Derek any favors

Mrs Talbot said the girls were allowed upstairs, but not the boys, because getting to their rooave me an idea I went upstairs, crept into Mrs Talbot’s roo door into Miss Van Dop’s, then down the boys’ hall to the stairs