S

o, Jinx thought, this is the downside of alienating everyone. Not having friends...

Jackson had left for dinner, and Jinx could smell the smells of spaghetti night coming from her family’s kitchen. The clatter of dishes meant her dad was home, making his famous spaghetti sauce. Garlic smell wafted to her nose, and her stomach growled. Good thing I don’t have a boyfriend to kiss, she thought. Tonight would be a perfect time to try to fool her parents—spaghetti night almost always guaranteed parental good moods.

She squared her shoulders and then stomped down the stairs in her usual fashion. She popped her head into the kitchen.

As if reading from a script, her mother said the usual, “Do you have to come down the stairs like a herd of elephants?”

Jinx shot back her typical, “Sorry, I forgot. Guess I’m not a herd of elephants, then.” She batted her eyelashes.

“Hey, pumpkin!” her dad said from the stove. He stirred deep in a pot, and his face was bright red, hair sticking up. “How was the asylum today?”

Jinx rolled her eyes. He always called school the asylum. “Fine,” she said and grabbed a piece of garlic bread to munch on. Before she could get it to her mouth, someone slapped it away, and it fell to the floor. She looked up in rage. Slime. Of course.

“Look what you did, dingleberry!”

“Mom!” her brother yelled. “Jane called me dingleberry!”

“He knocked that piece of bread on the floor!”

Her mom sighed a sigh so long that Jinx wondered how she had any breath left. And then the worst thing happened. Jinx saw her mom’s mood change, like thunderclouds rolling in. She needed to fix it, fast.

Quickly, Jinx said, “Mom, did you get your hair cut?”

Her mother touched her hair and then shook her head. “No, why?”

“It just looks really good, that’s all.” Jinx tried hard to keep an innocent look on her face.

Her mother frowned. “Jane, regardless of how my hair looks, you have to be nice to your brother.”

Jinx growled. She was always supposed to be nice to her brother, yet her brother never had to be nice to her. Jinx would never understand how that passed for fair.

She grabbed another piece of garlic bread and bit into it, then flopped down for dinner. Now she was in a bad mood. She sat at her chair, chewing and glaring angrily at her brother. He stuck his tongue out at her when her parents’ backs were turned.

Jinx needed to recalibrate. How was she going to approach her parents? So far it hadn’t gone so well.

Her dad set down the steaming pot and the glorious smell of spaghetti sauce took over the kitchen. Her mom plunked down the spaghetti, Parmesan, and red pepper flakes. Finally, her dad poured the water and the whole family sat down for dinner.

Jinx looked at each of her parents, trying to gauge expressions. Sure enough, spaghetti night had everyone slurping and snorfling happily. Even Slime had a big smile on his face.

Twirling her fork in the mound of spaghetti on her plate, Jinx said, “Shaun, will you pass me the red pepper?”

Her brother stared at her, mouth open, showing half-chewed spaghetti. Both of her parents looked at her in confusion. Maybe calling her brother by his real name was a step too far.

Her brother handed her the red pepper slowly, as if he was afraid she would bite. She snatched it out of his hand and said, “Took you long enough, Slime.” The whole table seemed to relax, and pretty soon, the only sound was of forks scraping and clanking on plates.

With a strand of spaghetti twirled on her fork, Jinx said, “So I’ve been invited to a slumber party on Saturday night.”

Her mother actually dropped her fork, and her dad choked a little. Slime snorted. “Yeah, right!”

Jinx threw a piece of garlic bread at him. “Shut it, dingleberry!”

“Jane!” her mom said, then added, “And, Shaun, don’t taunt your sister.”

Her dad drank a huge gulp of water and set the glass down. “That’s great, honey! Who’s the girl?”

Jinx sighed internally. She’d decided that the easiest thing to do was to tell the truth. “Her name is Emily. She lives in the Falcon Perch apartments.”

Her mom stared at her until Jinx said, “What?!”

Quickly, her mother shook her head. “Nothing, honey. I think it’s great. You haven’t had a girlfriend since...um...” She put her finger to her mouth. After a big pause, she said, “a while ago.”

Jinx twirled her fork into her spaghetti. She mumbled, “Don’t say girlfriend, Mom. That sounds so old.” She stared at her plate and pushed the spaghetti around. Though she’d never admit it, she was also a little surprised that she didn’t have any friends who were girls. Briefly, she wondered why. Then she remembered: they all sucked.

Sitting up straighter, she said, “So can I go?”

Her mom and dad looked at each other. Her mom gave a little shrug, and her dad said, “Sure!”

Jinx sat back and put a giant fork full of spaghetti in her mouth. Well, she wasn’t sure how she felt about her parents being so excited she had a female friend, but she’d gotten her way. And pretty easily too. Come Saturday night, she would be knee-deep in ghosts. A shiver of excitement shot through her. She had a feeling this would change everything.