Mason nodded. “I thought you knew. The way you act around me.”
“Me? You’re the one who’s been acting weird,” I said. “I didn’t know it was you. Wow. So you can move whatever you want with your mind?”
He shrugged. “I guess. It’s pretty crazy. Sometimes it just happens. I think my emotions trigger it. But if I focus on something, yeah, I can move it with my mind. ”
My mind was still reeling. “Are you sure you bent that spoon? I thought maybe it was me.”
“Really?” Mason scooted closer. “Try it. See if you can.”
I focused on the glue bottle. Focused harder than I’d ever focused.
Mason watched me.
It didn’t move. At all.
“Yeah, you bent the spoon,” I conceded. “Did you cause the skeletons to drop?”
“Yeah. I had to get out of there. The walls were closing in.” He took several large gulps of air.
“You’re not the only one, you know.”
“Really?” He laughed. “Do you mean like the guy in the movie Lily was talking about? Would someone like us really want to have a movie made of our lives, showing off what we can do?”
Someone like us.
“No, I definitely wouldn’t want to deal with all that attention . . . but the point is, there are other people out there like us. Lady Azura has powers too. You didn’t know I could communicate with spirits, did you?”
“I knew something was up with you. That’s why I tried to stay away.”
“Up how? I thought you hated me.”
Mason’s checks flamed red. “I don’t hate you. You just made me feel weird. Like there was this crazy electrical current zapping me every time you appeared.” His green eyes searched mine.
“Me too. I felt it too. The connection.”
He held my gaze for a long moment. Then we both squirmed uncomfortably.
“I need my inhaler.” Mason stood abruptly.
“Can you unblock the door with your mind? I think Henry pushed my computer chair against it.”
Mason’s face took on that same faraway look I see in Lady Azura’s eyes when she goes into a trance during a séance. He tried desperately to move the chair through the door. I stayed quiet and waited.
“It’s not going to work,” he admitted, wheezing slightly. “I can’t focus on it without seeing it. Buddy stopped barking. Why’s that?”
I pushed my ear against the door. I heard Buddy panting and then the repetitive thump of his wagging tail hitting the floor.
“Henry!” I shouted. “I know you’re there with Buddy. Let us out!”
“You can still play with the dog,” Mason called.
I smiled at him. “You just talked to a ghost.”
“Yep. I figured you need all the help you can get.”
“That’s it!” I leaned against the door. “Eleanor! Dwight! Can you hear me?”
I continued to call their names. I knew they were close by. After a while, Dwight’s limping shuffle brushed across the crafts room floor. Through the door, I instructed him to move the chair away. Unlike Henry, Dwight listened.
We burst out of the closet. Buddy bounded across the room and pounced on Mason. He covered his face with slobbery licks.
I glared at Henry as the little boy pouted.
Mason’s eyes flicked about, searching for the dead people only I could see. “They’re here?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool.” Mason stood. “I got to get my inhaler. We could leave Buddy up here for a little while if you want.”
I followed Mason, Dwight, and Eleanor out, closing the crafts room door tightly. Henry would get a little more time with Buddy. I would deal with reprimanding him later.
Eleanor and Dwight dropped into chairs at the kitchen table. For once, they seemed tired from all their searching. Dwight still grasped that old flight bag.
I stood awkwardly by the refrigerator, watching Mason suck in air from his inhaler.
Had I really just told him everything? Everything I hadn’t even told my best friend? It felt unreal. And embarrassing.
I watched him replace the inhaler in his backpack. I barely knew him. Up until a little while ago, I wasn’t even sure I liked him. Could I trust him? Would he keep my secret?
Or had I just made a huge mistake?
Mason jiggled his leg and eyed me nervously. “I’m not going back to the party.” He pulled out his phone. “I’m going to text my mom to come get me.”
“Is your asthma still bad?”
“No. It’s okay.” He titled his head. “Thanks for mellowing me out up there. It helped.”
“No problem. Why are you going home?”
“Not really in a party mood. Lots to process, you know?”
I did. “I probably missed the ice-cream part. I might as well text Lily and just meet up at her house for the sleepover.”
“All-night party.” His leg jiggled even faster. “What do you girls talk about for all those hours? Guys? Secrets?”
“Silly stuff.” Then suddenly I knew why he was worried. “I won’t say anything. About what happened. About what you can do. I promise. I’ll never tell anyone.”
He swept his hand through his spiky hair. “Same here. Just you and me. Our secret.”
The warm tingle crept along my skin again. Our connection.
It felt good to have told someone.
The rock in my stomach had grown lighter.
“I was not expecting you home.” Lady Azura entered the kitchen. Her arched brows raised when she saw Mason. “I certainly was not expecting you.”
I explained about forgetting Lily’s gift. Mason stiffened as Lady Azura looked him over. Could she sense his powers? I wasn’t sure. She was definitely looking at him closely. But then again, it wasn’t that often that she walked out into our kitchen and saw me sitting there with a boy. Well, I wasn’t going to tell her. I’d made a promise.
“Got to fly. My mom’s out front.” Mason went to lift his backpack. Eleanor’s pudgy hands were playing with the pins. She grabbed on. Panic seized her shimmery body. I felt her panic.
Mason didn’t hear her, didn’t feel her pull. He yanked the bag up onto his shoulder and left through the back door.
Lady Azura headed to the pantry to make her nightly hot chocolate. I’d been the only one to hear Eleanor. My mind sorted through all the bits and pieces. The flight bag. Avery’s shirt. The pins.
“Is there someone in Eleanor and Dwight’s life who’s a pilot?” I asked suddenly. “Someone important?”
“Yes. They had a son who was a pilot.”
“Was?”
Lady Azura turned. “He died.”
“How?”
“I do not know.”
“Can you find out?” I asked.
“Yes. I’ll ask Mrs. Merberg tomorrow. She mentioned him once. His name was—”
“Bob,” I finished. “His name was Bob.”
Lady Azura leaned toward me. “How did you know that?”
“I figured out who Eleanor and Dwight are searching for. They’re searching for Bob.”