Ghost Maven by Tony Lee Moral

Author:Tony Lee Moral [Moral, Tony Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Saturn's Moon Press
Published: 2016-10-03T04:00:00+00:00

The next day, I went through the Saturday morning ritual of going to the market with Sophie. The winter vegetables started to make an appearance, and we browsed through the butternut squash, the zucchini, and the ripe avocadoes. When we got home, I made a simple salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado then covered the bowl with plastic wrap and stored it in the refrigerator for later.

It was a sunny October day, so when Dad came home, we enjoyed lunch on the back terrace. In spite of the grim undercurrent in our community, we managed to squeeze in a few laughs as we ate.

After dinner, I headed to our book club meeting at Starbucks. When I got there, I spied Christian and Rachel sitting in the far corner. As I approached, I heard Heather’s name; she was still the topic of conversation. I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Christian since the dance and his fight with Henry, not confidant in how he would react to me.

Much to my surprise, he looked at me with a friendly smile on his face. “Hey! Guess what we’re talking about.”

“Heather?” I replied.

“What do you think happened to her?” asked Rachel.

I shrugged. “The police are still looking.” I glanced around the table and noticed the empty seat. “Where’s Ethan?” I asked, surprised he would be late, since he chose the book for discussion.

“I dunno, but I’m sure he’ll turn up,” Christian replied. He looked at me shyly. “Hey, I wanna apologize for the other night.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m the one who should apologize. It was inexcusable what Henry did, attacking you like that and calling you names. I’m sorry.”

Christian smiled at me gratefully.

Thirty seconds later, Ethan arrived. He sat down without a word, opened his copy of Little Women, and went to the counter to order a latte.

“Hey, bud. We thought you might be a no-show,” said Christian good-naturedly.

Ethan avoided our eyes, and sat down his latte. “Let’s get started,” he said. “The central character is confused and alone, repressed beyond belief.”

“I disagree with that,” I said.

Ethan and I dove into a literary debate, something I immensely enjoyed. We had only been debating for two minutes, when he picked up his books and stormed out of the coffee shop, abandoning us and the high-priced drink—shocked, I just watched him go.

“What was all that about?” Rachel said in astonishment.

I wondered, too. I could recall a time I’d seen him and Heather talking together at the lockers, and I wondered about their connection. They seemed an unlikely pair.

When I returned home, I almost collided with Dad, who rushed out the front door with a pained expression.

“Alice! Thank God you’re home, honey,” he said, obviously flustered.

“What’s wrong?”.

“Uh—just a little crisis in the bay. A few sea otters have washed up onshore, some mysterious disease. I have to go to the aquarium.”

“Now?”

“Yes, and I need you to stay home and look after your sister.”

“Sure, Dad. Of course.”

“Thanks, Sweetheart. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, disappearing down the path.

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