Shadow School #1 by J. A. White

Author:J. A. White
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

15

An Unexpected Trip

It was Christmas morning. While her parents drank coffee on the sofa, Cordelia opened her presents. The last one was a long, thin box with an elaborate bow. Inside, nestled between several layers of red tissue paper, was a plane ticket to California.

Cordelia looked up at her parents, stunned.

“Is this real?” she asked.

“Be pretty mean if it wasn’t,” Mrs. Liu said, taking her husband’s hand. “We’re spending the rest of December there! Your friends can’t wait to see you!”

Cordelia squealed and hugged them.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the best present ever!”

And so, two days later, Cordelia found herself sitting on the beach with her old friends, staring out at the Pacific Ocean. They asked Cordelia what her school was like and whether her teachers were nice. Cordelia told them what answers she could. They laughed a lot and built a bad sand castle and swore that this was going to be the greatest school break of all time.

By the end of the first day, Cordelia was bored out of her mind.

Her friends hadn’t changed. Mabel was still sweet and bubbly. Ava was still a good listener. They had been nice girls when Cordelia lived here, and they were nice girls now.

The problem was her.

Things that used to seem important now felt like a total waste of time. Cordelia couldn’t feign interest in the cute boy that Ava liked or Mabel’s latest swim medal when the ghosts of Shadow School were in such terrible danger. Her mind kept wandering to the boy. She pictured him alone in that dark school, the ghost snatchers stalking him through the corridors. Cordelia was the only one who could help him, but she was trapped three thousand miles away, whiling away the hours watching bad movies or strolling through the mall.

She grew sullen and snappy. By the third day, Mabel and Ava said they had plans and couldn’t hang out. Cordelia didn’t blame them.

The Lius flew home a day earlier than planned.

On the night of New Year’s Eve, Benji and Agnes came to Cordelia’s house to watch the ball drop on TV. Cordelia made sure they had better snacks this time: pretzels, nachos, salsa, pepperoni and cheese, and three types of soda. Agnes even added some homemade peanut brittle. Cordelia had never seen Benji look so happy.

They settled into the couches and left the TV volume on low. The basement was colder than the rest of the house. Cordelia shared a blanket with Agnes.

“I have so many questions,” Agnes said after Mr. and Mrs. Liu had gone upstairs. “I don’t even know where to begin.” Cordelia had already texted them about her frightening experience with the ghost snatchers, but this was the first time they had talked about it in person.

“I’ll start,” Benji said. “Why are there pyramids behind the walls of our school?”

“And when do we get to see them?” Agnes added eagerly.

“I thought about the secret passageway a lot while I was in California,” Cordelia said. “And I think the whole weird setup has to do with the thing Mr.

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