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desktop from its storage space under her armrest and took out her laptop.  Opening a blank document, she angled the screen toward Janie, intending to write a short note explaining what she’d learned at the library.  Luckily, there was no one sitting directly behind them, so she didn’t have to worry about anyone reading over their shoulders.
    “I found the librarian from that article – she pointed me towards some old books of property records and I was able to find the house in there.”
    Feigning attention to the lecture as she scribbled in her notebook, Janie quickly shifted her eyes to Alessa and raised an eyebrow, encouraging her to continue.
    Alessa cleared what she had written and started a fresh sentence.  “There was a Mason family who built the house in the 1870s, and they had two sons, Albert & William.  Then Albert took ownership of the house about 30 years later and had a son named Isaac.  I think it might be one of those three.”
    Janie nodded and wrote something in her notebook.  She slid it quietly towards Alessa.  Alessa saw something scrawled in the margin in Janie’s signature tiny capital letters.  She leaned closer for a better look.  “ ALBERT?  SEXY. ”  Janie had underlined the last word for emphasis.  It was amazing how Janie’s voice rang clear in Alessa’s head, even just from her writing.  Alessa could hear the sarcasm dripping from those two syllables.
    Alessa rolled her eyes playfully.  She turned back to the keyboard and typed, “Isaac?”
    “ DEFINITELY BETTER. ”
    Alessa laughed silently and shook her head at Janie’s antics.  Albert, William, Isaac… She didn’t care what the ghost’s name was, only who he was.
    She was opening the file with her physics notes as Janie pushed her notebook in Alessa’s direction once again.  “ SO WHAT’S THE PLAN? ”
    Alessa looked at Janie and shrugged.  She typed, “Going to see if I can find death records for these people.  Beyond that, not sure.”
    Janie acknowledged the response with a nod and went back to her notes.  Alessa did the same.
     
    An hour and fifteen minutes later, Professor Liu was reminding the class to check the syllabus for the reading due next session.  Alessa was surprised at how much she had absorbed once she started paying attention.  With what she picked up in class today she thought she should be able to skim through the reading, which might give her enough time to continue her research about the ghost between now and Thursday’s class.
    Janie turned to Alessa as she was packing her notebook into her messenger bag.  “Did you eat lunch yet?”
    Alessa was surprised to find that she actually had an appetite for once.  “Nope.  Did you want to grab something?  I’ve got a half hour until my next class.”
    “Let’s go to the cafeteria.”
    Alessa nodded her assent.
    Janie led the way down from the back of the lecture hall, following the tide of students to the door.  As they passed the front podium, Alessa was startled to hear someone other than Janie call her name.
    “Ms. Khole?”  Alessa and Janie stopped in their tracks and turned around.  Professor Liu was looking directly at Alessa.
    “Yes, Professor?”
    “Yours was one of the few exams I had time to grade before class today.”  Alessa felt a twang of trepidation; this couldn’t be good news.  She braced herself.
    The professor continued.  “I was quite impressed with your performance.”
    “Oh, uh, thanks,” Alessa stammered.  That was not what she was expecting.  She reminded herself to smile.
    “I haven’t finished the curve yet, but I think you can expect at least an A-minus.  Keep up the good work.”
    Alessa perked up.  “Thanks, Professor.”  She turned towards the door and caught a surprised look on Janie’s face.
    As they exited into the hallway, Janie said, “He knows your name ?”
    Alessa was just as puzzled.  Besides his brief chiding in the beginning of class, Alessa had never had any