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mention my sidekicks again. So I started blocking all apparitions, even Dad, though I sometimes let just enough of him through that I'd get this warm, fuzzy sensation."
    I smiled. "I know that feeling well. Wish I could block spirits when I didn't want to mess with them."
    "You mean you still can't do it?"
    "No. I'm hopeless." I tried to get him back on track, thinking he'd eventually get to the reason for today's kiss. "I guess when your mom got married you completely gave up on your sidekicks."
    "Yeah."
    "Did you want Marsh to adopt you?"
    "No. But I was ten, so nobody gave a shit what I thought, and I did want Mom to be happy. If that's what it took, then fine. I completely blocked Dad after that. I felt so guilty about changing my last name..." Cooper's voice faded to silence. "Eventually all my sidekicks left me. At least I thought they did. Now I'm not so sure since they seem to be coming back. I've felt a few things lately, and I saw that idiot on the stage today."
    And I thought I'd felt bad for him before.
    Just then I experienced the tingle of an approaching spirit that stopped right behind Cooper. He didn't seem to notice. I wasn't sure if that was because he couldn't feel her or because he had his eye on a guy with two little kids, who acknowledged him with a wave and started walking toward us. As they got closer I realized the hovering spirit, an elderly woman I'd felt before, had a message for the teen.
    "Who's that?" I quickly asked.
    "Marty Bookman."
    "Was he Jack Sparrow at the dance?"
    "Yeah." Cooper suddenly tensed. He glanced over his shoulder and then back at me, his gaze colliding with mine. "Please don't do this."
    "How can I not?" I retorted, unwilling to let his qualms become mine.
    Marty got to us, trailed by a precious little girl who looked about five and wore pink from her hair bow to her sparkly sneakers. The little guy with her was probably seven or so and obviously didn't give a flip about appearances. At any rate, a bright red Kool-Aid mustache stained his upper lip and the front of his white Pokémon tee.
    "Is this her?" Marty asked by way of greeting, his green eyes on me. He wore his blond hair, streaked by the sun, a little long. I noticed his shoulders and neck had that bulky weightlifter shape to them.
    Cooper, flushing, nodded. "Mia, this is my friend Marty and his little brother and sister, Joey and Jenn. Guys, Mia."
    "Hi." Spinning his Frisbee on his finger, Marty gave me a swift onceover.
    I didn't really mind, but only because I was so focused on what I needed to do. "Hi. Did Cooper tell you I'm a medium?"
    He stopped the Frisbee. "A what?"
    "I see dead people. Sometimes they give me messages. I have one for you."
    Marty couldn't even answer.
    But I was used to that reaction. "Did your grandmother just die?"
    "Yes..."
    "I'm seeing four fingers. Was it four months ago?"
    "Four weeks, actually."
    "Oh. I'm so sorry." Gulp. By now Marty looked a little spooked, so I began speed talking. "She wants me to tell you that what you're looking for is in a shoebox in her old cedar chest, which is in...a garage...no, scratch that. I think it's a closet. I'm seeing a red scarf, so maybe it's wrapped up in one. Does that mean anything to you?"
    Marty's eyes rounded in shock. "Could you guys watch the kids for ten minutes, fifteen tops?"
    Cooper nodded. "Yeah, sure."
    Marty took off at a sprint, quickly disappearing from view in the trees. I turned to Cooper, without words asking where his friend was going.
    "He lives right over there." He pointed to a gated community across the street.
    Oh. I smiled at Jenn, a precious little girl with wispy long hair and big green eyes. She had those eyes on me and swung her body slightly from side to side as she stared. "Love the pink tutu. I used to have one. Doesn't fit me now, though."
    Jenn pirouetted for me, which made us all laugh. Cooper struck up a conversation with Joey, who he clearly knew well, while Jenn and I discussed Angelina Ballerina, a mutual