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He would remember his last name, too He would He had to Even if he had to track down his own grave and read it there, he would know his last naain

He would keep them both, and no one would call hi other than Nick, Nicky, Nicholas

He took scraps of paper fro a tiny slip into each of his pockets, in every drawer, under his mattress, and even under the cushions of the sofa that Lief slept on Lief wouldn’t care--he hadn’t been back to the room for days, anyway

Nick, Nicky, Nicholas Maybe even Nic-o

He was interrupted by Allie pounding on the door He kneas Allie, because she was the only one who ever pounded Mary’s knock was gentle and refined

Allie knocked like she wanted the door to fall down

"I’m busy!" Nick said "Go away"

But she just kept on pounding, so he had to let her in

When Allie stepped in, she looked around, as if so in here?"

Nick turned around to look at his room, and for the first time he sahat he had done There were little scraps of paper everywhere--not just in and under things, but all over the roo of snow He hadn’t just used the paper in the drawers, he had torn out all the pages of all the books on the shelves Mary’s books He had torn them to shreds and had written "Nick" on every little shred, both front and back

Only now did he notice it was daylight Hadn’t he started this at dusk? Had he been doing this all night? Nick was speechless He had no idea how this had happened It was as if he were in a trance, broken only by Allies arrival The weird thing about it was that a part of hiet back to his work His important work Nick, Nicky, Nicholas

Just like the kids playing kickball, or the kids watching The Love Boat every day until the end of time, he had found his "niche," and hadn’t even realized it

He looked at Allie, pleadingly, opening his

He felt a certain shame about it that he couldn’t explain

"It’s all right," Allie said "We’re getting out of here"

"What?"

"You heard "

Nick resisted Leave here? Leave Mary? "No! I don’t want to leave"

Allie stared at him like he was a mental case Maybe he was "What do you want to do? Stay here writing your name forever?"

"I told Mary I wouldn’t leave" But then, thought Nick, that was before she so thoroughly rejected his sorry butt

Allie scowled, and Nick thought sheabout what a terrible person Mary was, and blah blah blah--but she didn’t Instead she said: "If you really want to impress Mary…if you really want to be useful to her, then you need to learn a skill"

"What are you talking about?"

"Hoould you like to be able to talk to the living--or better yet, hoould you like to reach into the living world and actually pull things out of it?"

Nick shook his head "But that’s Ecto-ripping! Mary hates it!"

"She only hates it because no one here can do it --and just because Mary calls them ‘The Criminal Arts,’ doesn’t mean they really are They’re only criminal if you use them in criminal ways Think about it, Nick If you come with me and learn all there is to know, you can come back with food and toys for all her little kids You can bring her a dozen roses that will never wilt or fade You can actuallyto her"

Nick found this irresistibly te The onna teach us that?"

"I know a kid who knows a kid," said Allie

Nick looked at his room, covered in little bits of paper If an eternity of that was the alternative, maybe it was time he trusted Allie, and took a leap of faith

"Tell me more"

"C’mon," said Allie "We’ll talk on the way to the arcade"

One down, one to go Allie found Lief exactly where she expected to: practically glued to the Pac-Man machine

"Lief?"

"Leave ot to beat this level"

"Lief, this ga people don’t even play it any, but this is prehistoric!"

"Stop bothering ainst the side of the game, with his arms crossed "He’s found his niche," Nick said "Like I almost did"

"It’s not a niche," said Allie, "it’s a rut Mary , but it’s not" Allie kne that in the same ater always seeks its lowest point, so do the souls of Everlost -- carving a rut that becoets, the harder it is to escape from Allie knew it, just as she knew that Lief, if left alone, would play this ga, Lief!"

"Just go"

She went to the back of the , only to find out that it wasn’t even plugged in, and she cursed the fact that the normal laws of science didn’t apply in Everlost Machines worked not because they had a power source, but because in so

Allie thought for ato a place that has even better games!"

"Don’t lie to hiht Lief’s attention He was looking at her instead of at the ue, like he was surfacing from a deep, deep sleep