The Guidance - By Marley Gibson Page 0,26

an insult. I mouth sorry, and he seems to understand.

Rob glances past me. "The light is spectacular. I've wanted to check it out for a while."

"Your arm will be there for you ... in the light."

With that, he walks toward me, through me, almost. Although I feel a jolt like my entire system has been shocked, it soon turns to a warm sensation. I'm consumed by his joy and relief; he feels so loved and welcomed. He radiates tranquillity.

"Thanks, kid."

I smile. "You're welcome."

And with that, he's gone.

I double over, my hands on my knees, as I catch my breath. I don't get as winded talking to spirits as I did at first, but it still takes a toll on me.

"Check this out," Taylor says. She holds up her BlackBerry, and there on the screen is a wispy mist swirling around where I saw Rob standing. "Tres exciting!"

"Is he gone?" McDonough asks.

"Yes, sir. He's crossed over."

I crouch down to fill Jason and Becca in on what just happened and see that we've drawn quite a crowd. Celia slides out and shouts, "Kendall just crossed over another spirit! She rocks the house!"

People clap and cheer as Jason pulls me out of the crawlspace and into his arms.

Not everyone is cheering though.

I glance over people's shoulders to a small group gathered on the fringe. Courtney Langdon has been watching.

And she's pissed.

Jason pulls his Jeep into my gravel driveway and yanks up the emergency brake. I can tell he's not particularly pleased with me over tonight's turn of events. What was I supposed to do? Just let that Breslin guy wander around for eternity, looking for his missing limb?

The connection with Breslin completely drained me of my energy, but I'm trying not to let that show. I promised Jason a night without ghosts or ghost hunts, and it hasn't turned out that way. Then there was the nuclear death stare from Courtney. My life seems to be spiraling into a pathetic mess that I can't do anything about.

Well, I can do something...

I reach over and lace my fingers through Jason's. He's got such large, tan, strong hands. Mostly from working construction last summer—before I moved here and even knew who Jason Tillson was. Or what ghost hunting was all about. Man, talk about life-altering occurrences in the past two months: a new town, a new school, new friends, a boyfriend ... oh yeah, and becoming psychic. Most teenagers would go crazy with a list like that.

But I'm not crazy. And tomorrow, I'm going to prove it.

Jason curls his hand around mine and tightens his grip. I draw strength from just being around him.

"Don't let how Courtney acted tonight upset you," he says softly.

"Courtney's ass in a coffeepot," I say back.

"Huh?"

I giggle. "Sorry. It's one of my dad's stupid sayings. I have no idea what it means."

Jason's smile is illuminated by the streetlight. "I think it means who gives a shit what she thinks."

"Unfortunately I do, because at the present time, she's making my life a living hell."

"Don't let her," he says, so nonchalantly.

I nearly snort. "Easy for you to say. You're a guy. The one that dumped her. You don't have to deal with the repercussions of her nasty attitude. It's always easier for a girl to pick on another girl. Especially one who's already put herself in the spotlight by being 'different.'"

"You're not different, you're special," he says.

Awww ... heart melt...

"Yeah, but you don't buy into all of this stuff that's going on. You're the skeptic on our ghost team, remember?"

He lifts his blond eyebrows and moves his eyes back and forth. "I'm supporting you, Kendall. And my sister. You both believe in this stuff."

"You've seen and heard the same evidence as we have. What about what happened tonight at the bowling alley?"

Jason moves his hand in the air, gesturing, unable to come up with words. "I don't know. What do I know about the afterlife? Do I believe you connected with something tonight? Yeah, seems like you did. Was it a ghost? I don't know. I didn't see him."

I do get where he's coming from. "Do you believe in God?"

"Of course I do!"

"And in the devil."

"Sure ... so?"

"Well, then there have got to be other entities in this world that we can't see. We can't physically see God, yet we have faith that he's there."

"That's different," Jason says.

"How so?"

"It just is."

"Great argument," I say with a laugh. "I'm only saying that part of faith is believing what you can't see. You can't