Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu

Author:Anne Ursu
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

Twelve

The Fall Harvest Fest

Violet continued to feel better all week, and it was like whatever energy-sapping, dizzy-making creature had attached itself to her was just gone now. And she wasn’t going to let it back. What had Eliot said? She’d hold her head high and show that creature that she was not afraid of it. She made it through each day without incident, just tired enough to fall asleep as soon as she got to her room at night—no time to imagine shadows creeping around the walls.

Whatever had happened with Paige, she seemed to have forgotten all about it on Tuesday, and for the rest of the week, the five girls had completely normal lunches together. Just as the plan had been all along. And she could see Will happily placed with the D&D kids; he even seemed to talk sometimes.

And on Saturday, they were all going to the Fall Harvest Fest. It was the middle school’s big fundraiser—and, for the students, a celebration of surviving until October. Of course, Violet, Paige, Ally, Kennedy, and Quinn were all going to go together. She wasn’t going to have to miss hanging out with them again. Her body was done messing things up for her.

In the car on the way to the festival Saturday night her mom said, “I haven’t seen you with this much energy in two weeks!”

Really, Violet hadn’t seen her mom smile that big in two weeks either.

She and the rest of the squad met in the school lobby just as the festival started. This was not supposed to be a costume event, but both Quinn and Kennedy wore cat ears and had elaborate cat eye makeup that was half–runway model, half–actual cat.

“You look . . . amazing,” Violet told them.

Quinn giggled. “Nic would be happy to do this for you anytime!”

Violet grinned. “As long as I don’t have to be on TikTok.”

“I promise,” Quinn said.

Meanwhile, Paige sidled up to Violet, squeezed her hand, and whispered, “You look like you feel good!”

“Thanks,” Violet whispered back. “I do!”

And just like that, Violet was spending Saturday night with her group of friends, old and new. The missed sleepover was a distant memory. And together, they surveyed the festival options on the poster in the front hall:

Carnival in the Cafeteria

Slime-Making in the Science Lab

Ghost Stories in the Library

Field Activities in the Gym

And something called Clown Game in the art room.

“We are not doing that,” Ally said.

The girls decided to head to the cafeteria first; that was where most of the candy would be. None of them wanted to go anywhere near the gym on the off-chance Mr. Bell had decided to turn sack races and egg-and-spoon relays into some kind of Hunger Games–type elimination contest.

Inside the cafeteria were rows of tables staffed by eager-looking parents, each with its own theme—pumpkin decorating and scarecrow stuffing, raffles and carnival games, face painting and temporary tattoos, bake sales and popcorn machines. They were early enough that it wasn’t too crowded yet; arriving precisely when it started was part of Paige’s carefully thought-out plan for getting the most candy.

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