T

he next three days at school dragged by for Jackson. He only got more nervous as the weekend drew nearer. By Friday, even Jinx, who really only thought of herself, noticed his moods.

“Seriously, Jackson, go dunk your head in water or something. Snap out of it!”

Jackson glared at her. “Snap out of what?” But he knew exactly what she was talking about—he’d snapped at everything she’d said.

They were sitting at the picnic tables outside the school, going over the plan one more time.

Jinx leaned in. “Did you find anything that sounded like real ghost-banishing techniques?”

Jackson snapped, “I’m looking! Anyway, I have the hard part of this whole deal.” He moved away from her, and Jinx snapped her notebook closed.

“All right, that’s it. I’ll see you tomorrow. Sleep this mood off, dude. You’re being a real—”

“Sorry, sorry. I just...I can’t find anything that doesn’t involve crystals and stuff. I don’t want to end up having to do some stupid ritual and hoping it works.” He didn’t tell her the real reason he was upset—he couldn’t find anything, not one thing, on how to bring a ghost back.

Jinx, who was half on and half off of the picnic table bench, sat back down. Her brown eyes softened, and she almost touched his hand, then moved to play with her Fringe patch.

“Look, we don’t even know if we’re dealing with a ghost yet,” she said. “You may have nothing to get rid of.”

“Yeah, but from what Emily said, it’s pretty bad.”

Jinx snorted. “And I’m sure she’s totally reliable.”

“Jinx, not everybody is as bad as you think, you know.”

Jinx stood up and swung her backpack onto her shoulders. “I’ll believe it when I see it. I wish there was an ‘Intention-meter’ like the EMF monitor I have.”

Jackson laughed. “Or you could just trust people.”

Jinx spread her hands in a what-are-you-gonna-do? gesture, and Jackson felt his mood begin to lighten.

They walked to the old Impala that used to be his brother’s. Jinx got in and said, “OK, one more time.”

Jackson nodded and started, “So we go over around eleven and set up the equipment.”

“I’ll set up the EVP recorder and the EMF sensor in the places where Emily said there was the most activity.”

Jackson’s brow crinkled. “Explain to me what those are again?”

Jinx sighed but Jackson knew it was just for show. She liked nothing better than to take him through the details of her tech-head geek equipment.

“EVP stands for ‘electronic voice phenomena’ and is used to record any voices that may be struggling to speak,” she said. “So, like, if a ghost isn’t that strong and his voice comes through the static in a radio or something.” Jackson nodded and tried to look interested, but he had to work at it. He kind of regretted asking.

Jinx went on. “EMF stands for ‘electromagnetic field’ sensor. That will let us know if there are any electromagnetic changes in the atmosphere, which means a ghost’s nearby. Also, mine has a temperature gauge, so we can tell if the temperature goes way down. Finally,” she said, practically bouncing in the seat, “we’ll set up the camera in the kitchen-slash-living room.”

“Then we’ll all go to Emily’s room and hang out!” Jackson finished up.

Jinx elbowed him. “Right. Then we sit and ask if the ghost wants to contact us. Maybe we should bring magnets or something....”

Jackson didn’t ask her to elaborate. He only understood about a third of what Jinx said most of the time. He did ask, “So if there are ghosts there, then...?”

“Then we tell Emily we’ll come back another night to get rid of the ghosts,” Jinx finished. She hesitated and then said slowly to Jackson, “I think we should have one camera that we don’t tell Emily about. Right in the same area.”

Jackson turned onto their block and pulled into Jinx’s driveway. He could feel anger rising up in him. He thought he knew the answer, but he asked anyway: “Why?”

Jinx hugged her bag closer on her lap. “I just want you to consider the possibility...” Jackson shook his head, but she said louder, “the possibility that Emily may be lying.”

Jackson’s bad mood returned with a vengeance. Why couldn’t she for once think about someone else besides herself? Emily was in pain. Anyone with eyeballs could see that. Sometimes being Jinx’s friend was near impossible. He could hear his voice come out louder than he meant it to. “Why would she do that, Jinx? Tell me, why?”

Jinx just shrugged and tightened her lips, staring out the windshield.

Jackson went on. “Listen, I know Emily. She looks horrible, and she keeps crying in the hallway. Do you think she would let people see her like that if something wasn’t truly wrong? Even if you don’t trust her, Jinx, I need you to trust me.” He shifted angrily into reverse, keeping his foot on the brake.

The silence settled in the car, thick. Just when Jackson thought he couldn’t take any more, Jinx said, “OK.”

Jackson put the car in park and looked at her. “OK?”

Jinx looked at him with a half smile. “OK. I trust you.”

Jackson was flooded with happiness. He knew what a step it was for Jinx to let go a little bit. He punched her shoulder lightly. “About time.”

She punched him in the shoulder hard. “Dingus.” She opened the door and got out, then leaned back in and said, “Tomorrow night, eleven. I’ll meet you at Emily’s?” Jackson nodded. Jinx went on, “Remember, park far away. My parents know your car.”

He smiled at her and said, “Trust me.”

Jinx snorted. “Once a day is enough.”

Jackson chuckled to himself as he pulled out of the driveway.