School Spirits - By Rachel Hawkins Page 0,33

maybe it was better just to wonder.

“Anyway,” I said, fiddling with the ends of my hair, “it seems pretty cut-and-dried. The frog and Barbie thing is odd, but—”

Mom held up a hand. “The what?”

Oh, right, I’d forgotten to tell Mom about Romy’s theory that Mary was somehow warning her victims. As briefly as I could, I filled her in.

When I was done, Mom was frowning. “That is odd,” she said. “But it doesn’t really matter. If this Mary Evans is the ghost you’re after, get rid of her.”

“Planning on it,” I told her. “But you have to do a banishing on the last day of the month, right? That’s still a couple of weeks away.”

Mom made a noncommittal sound in reply, and I thought of what Torin had said. Was coming here really about protecting the students of Mary Evans High? Or was it Mom’s attempt at letting me have a taste of normal life?

“So this Adam,” Mom said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Is this part of the job, or is it—”

“Part of the job, for sure,” I said quickly, and for some reason, Dex’s face suddenly appeared in my mind. How would I feel if it were him I was meeting tonight? Just the thought sent my heart racing in a way that wasn’t totally unpleasant.

Mom peered at me. “You’re blushing.”

I just stopped myself from covering my cheeks with my hands. “What? No, I’m not. I’m just…it’s kind of hot in here.”

But Mom was not so easily fooled. “Iz, I know we haven’t talked much about boys.”

“And we don’t need to,” I hurried on. “Dex is just a friend.”

I didn’t realize my mistake until Mom frowned at me. “I thought you said his name was Adam.”

“It is,” I said, turning away and heading for the door. “Dex is just this other boy. He’s in that ghost hunter thing, and you had mentioned that, so it was on my mind. We should go if—”

Mom stood up. “Two boys?” she asked, and I wasn’t sure if she was horrified or impressed.

“Friends,” I said again. “Nothing else. And didn’t you say it was important to blend in? Going on a…er, going to a basketball game is totally blending in.”

I could tell Mom was struggling between the Brannick part of her that wanted to believe I was doing all of this for the mission—which I so was—and the Mom part that suddenly realized she had a teenage daughter. A teenage daughter who was hanging around teenage boys.

She reached out, and I think she was going to lay a hand on my shoulder or something, but in the end, she just let her arm drop to her side. “Izzy, I’m glad you’re so dedicated to this, but…you have to remember that these kids you’re spending time with are just part of a job. You can enjoy spending time with them, but in the end, there isn’t any room for them in your life permanently.”

I should have just nodded, but instead I said, “But you have friends. Or connections, or whatever. People like Maya. Like whoever found you this house.”

Mom frowned slightly. “Those aren’t my friends, Izzy, and they’re not…civilians. They’re people who are already wrapped up in this life. People who know about Prodigium and what we do. It’s different.”

“I understand that,” I replied, but Mom just ducked her head to look into my eyes. “Do you? Do you really?”

I thought of Dex again, and the way it had been kind of…nice sitting with Romy in English class.

But I looked at Mom and said, “Absolutely. A job. Means to an end, all of that. On it.”

Mom held my gaze for another beat before sighing. “Okay,” she said at last. “Then let me grab my car keys and we’ll get you to this game.”

CHAPTER 14

The gym was brightly lit, and as I made my way down the hill from the parking lot, I could hear the banging of drums, the squeak of sneakers, and the occasional shout. Inside, it was even louder, and way more packed than I would have expected. Apparently sports are a really big thing around here.

Adam was waiting just inside the door, and I was relieved to see he was wearing more or less the same thing he’d had on at school today. That was one thing I’d gotten right at least. And from the look he gave my hair, I guess that had been right, too. “You look nice,” he told me, waving his hand in my