School Spirits - By Rachel Hawkins Page 0,67
come out and we’ll shout some more.”
“That sounds…dumb.”
Romy nodded. “It is. Intensely. But it’s better than history, I guess.”
At that, the basketball team, all wearing their warm-up suits, jogged out into the gym and everyone started hooting and clapping like these weren’t the same guys we saw every single day. About half the kids in the bleachers even leapt to their feet, but since Romy, Anderson, and Dex all stayed seated, so did I.
The band started up, and I saw Adam on the very edge, playing his drum. I’d kept a close eye on him since the locker thing, but so far there had been no sign of Mary. I wasn’t even sure what she was planning for him. Snyder had gotten the frog with the bashed-in head, signaling that he was about to get his head bashed in. Beth had gotten the mangled Barbie a few days before she was nearly hit by a car. Adam had gotten an explosion. A month ago, I would have said a ghost making someone blow up was pretty much impossible, but if Mary could wield a killer microscope and manipulate a car, what was to stop her from sending Adam sky high? Still, I wondered how she was going to manage that, exactly?
Dex leaned closer to Anderson. I heard him murmur something, and all thoughts of Adam were forgotten.
Maybe I could try to talk to Dex on the bus. Tell him…I don’t know, I’d lied about not having a boyfriend. And then I’d felt guilty about the kiss, and that’s why I’d spazzed out. He was probably too smart to buy that, but it was worth a try. God, why were boys so complicated? I suddenly wished I had a ghost to fight right that second. Or a vampire. A werewolf. Heck, I’d even take a gollum, no matter how messy killing one was. Anything to make me feel like me again.
I sat there brooding through the rest of the pep rally. It worked pretty much exactly like Romy had said, and I had nearly tuned it out by the time the giant hedgehog rushed onto the court.
On the other side of Romy and Anderson, Dex snorted, and in that moment I wanted nothing more than to be sitting beside him, hearing whatever snarky comments he undoubtedly made about the mascot.
I hadn’t realized I was staring at him until he turned his head and looked at me. Romy and Anderson were talking, their heads close together, but for a second it was like there wasn’t anyone but me and Dex. A little smile drifted across his face, and just when I was thinking about returning it, there was a shout from the gym floor.
The hedgehog was wheeling out a big “cannon.” As one of the cheerleaders handed him a sparkler, I leaned over and asked Romy, “What’s the deal with that?”
She rolled her eyes. “Ugh, this is the big finale every time. He pretends to light the fuse, and then it shoots out glitter and confetti while we all ooh and ahh and pretend he hasn’t done it a million times. On the upside, it means this stupid pep rally is almost over.”
“So it’s not a real cannon?” I asked.
Romy shook her head. “Nope. Just an air cannon.”
“But…” I leaned forward. “It looks like a real one. Like that one that’s outside the front of the school.”
The hedgehog took the sparkler as the student body stomped their feet, chanting, “M! E! H! S!” He lit the fuse, and it kindled, smoking.
I sat up straighter. “Did he just really light that?”
Squinting, Romy peered down. “Huh. Yeah. Maybe this is a new part of the routine.”
But the cheerleader who’d handed the mascot the sparkler was staring at the fuse in confusion. Then she started backing up, saying something over her shoulder to one of the other cheerleaders. And the hedgehog, suddenly looking a lot more malevolent than I’d ever thought a hedgehog could, pushed on the barrel of the cannon until it was pointing straight at the band. Or, more specifically, straight at Adam. I saw him drop his drumsticks, face wrinkling in confusion. A group of kids cheered, obviously expecting glitter and confetti, like Romy had said.
Shooting to my feet, I tried to make my way down the bleachers, but I was too high up and there were too many people. Distantly, I heard Dex call my name, but I was too busy trying to get to the floor.
One of the cheerleaders was