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the room.
    "She was cool," said Tomi, shrugging.
    "She wasn't here long and we didn't get to know her well. But she was nice. She and Devon were tight," concluded Lily. They turned their attention back to the TV. Undaunted, I pressed on.
    "Do you keep in touch with her?"
    Once again Tomi and Lily exchanged glances before Tomi shook her head no and glued her eyes to the TV screen. I was getting nowhere with this line of questioning and decided to pursue another.
    "What's the deal with Alex and Mrs. T.?"
    "Hmm?" Lily asked distractedly, not bothering to look at me.
    "Alex and Mrs. T.? Anything going on there?" Lily swung round to look at me with a horrified expression.
    "You mean are they a couple?" Lily asked.
    "Well, yeah." I said. Lily burst out laughing, causing Tomi to peel her eyeballs away from the TV.
    "What's funny?" she asked us with a half smile.
    "Mia wants to know if Alex and Mrs. T. are dating." Lily dissolved into laughter again.
    "Eew!" Tomi scrunched up her face in disgust.
    "What?" I said, throwing up my hands.
    "First of all," began Tomi, sitting up straight in the leather armchair she'd been curled up in with the orange tabby cat, whose name was Casanova. “Mrs. T. is still jonesin' for her husband. Haven't you noticed she still wears her wedding ring, even though Dr. Tarpley's been dead for like ten years?"
    "Plus, she's so old and Alex is only twenty-four. Oooh! Gross," concluded Lily, shivering in disgust.
    "Oh, come on. She doesn't look very old to me." I remembered the picture I'd found.
    "She's almost forty!" Tomi said, as if she needed no further evidence to prove her point.
    It still didn't explain the date on the picture. It had to be Mrs. T. in the picture; since she'd told me she had no family, it couldn't be a relative. Her hair was longer but she looked exactly the same as she did in 1970.
    "You don't you have a crush on him, do you?" Lily winked at me.
    "Me? No! Guys, it was just a question." My face was burning, and Tomi patted my shoulder like she felt sorry for me. Great. Now, they thought I was crushing on Alex. I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl under the rug.
    "Do you guys ever hear anything strange in the foyer?" I asked quickly to change the subject.
    "Like what?" asked Tomi? Lily ignored me and went back to watching TV.
    "Like a weird, deep voice," I said.
    "Uh… no," said Tomi, as she got busy scraping the last little bit of ice cream from the bottom of the container. "I haven't heard anything. It was probably just the TV."
    "Heard what?" asked Devon, sauntering in and plopping down on the couch. She was wearing a skirt so short it could have been a band-aid.
    This was the first time all week long Devon had entered a room she knew I was in. She'd been treating me like I didn't exist and spending most of her time in her bedroom. She would have even eaten in her room if Mrs. T. hadn't made her come down and join us.
    "Nothing," I said.
    "Mia just thought she heard something weird in the foyer," said Tomi.
    "Figures," said Devon, rolling her eyes.
    "What are you talking about?" I asked.
    "You're obviously not used to living in a mansion. Houses this big and old always have weird bumps and creaks and strange noises," Devon replied slowly, like I was stupid.
    "You don't know anything about where I've lived and for your information, I didn't hear bumps, and creaks. I heard a voice."
    "Sure you did." Devon made a swirling motion with her index finger next to her head. It was the sign for crazy. I was so mad and my face got so hot you could have melted butter on my forehead.
    "I'm… not… crazy, you… snotty… cow!"
    "You need to watch your mouth before I put my fist in it," replied Devon, jumping up from the couch and getting right in my face. She was so close I could smell her bubblegum lip gloss.
    "Try it and you'll be picking your teeth out of the hardwood floor, you pathetic hater!"
    "Come on guys," said Tomi, jumping between us. "This isn't cool. Arguing is so