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gotten away free and clear! Man, what a feeling! What a rush! Me! Patricia Hoyle. I did that, all by myself, with no help from anyone!
    I felt like a winner. I felt invincible! I felt as if I could do anything!
    But now, several hours later, with the sun peeking in through my window and my alarm clock buzzing at me, I found I could barely open my eyes. My mind felt all fogged-in, filled with soft, gray gunk. My head felt heavy, and my thoughts were slow and soggy. I felt as if I had a head full of sand. I could barely focus a thought. Nothing was clear.
    And I was tired. Boy, was I tired. I’d stayed up all night before—lots of times— but I had never felt this tired afterwards. Maybe it had something to do with all the adrenaline that had been pumped into my system last night.
    Whatever it was, I could barely keep my eyes open as I showered, dressed, and stumbled down the hall to the kitchen.
    “Morning, darling,” my Mom said, all bright and chipper. She was standing at the counter, a box of corn flakes in her hand. She rattled the box in my direction and arched her brows in a questioning way.
    “Uh, yeah, thanks,” I said.
    “Rough night?” she asked, as she poured flakes into a bowl.
    “Ummmm,” I answered. As far as I was concerned, that said it all.
    Mom gave me a strange look, then crossed to the refrigerator to get the milk. “I suppose it is pretty tiring staying out until after midnight and then sneaking back into your room like that.”
    She said it casually, as if she were just making conversation with the check-out girl at the supermarket, but I knew I was busted. I let out a sigh and just sat there, waiting for the other shoe to drop.  
    She set the bowl in front of me, then suddenly knelt down so her face was even with mine. She looked me in the eyes and said very sincerely: “I’d rather we knew when you were leaving and where you were going. Really bad things can happen to kids, you know. Your father and I love you and we want you to be safe.” She hugged me quickly, then stood, crossed to the door and added breezily. “I’m late for work. See you tonight, dear.” She blew me a quick kiss and was gone. A few seconds later I heard the front door close, then heard her car start up and back down the driveway.
    Wow! That was strange. I guess it wouldn’t have seemed quite so strange if I hadn’t had the night I had and if my head didn’t feel so slow and heavy. I didn’t usually drink coffee—I just don’t like the taste—but suddenly a cup of coffee seemed like exactly what I needed to get my brain up and working. I poured myself a cup, then sat there at the table sort of playing with my now-soggy corn flakes.
    I was trying to think. I was trying to make sense out of everything that had happened. Not just last night—which I tried to push to the back of my mind for the moment—but everything. Our first sighing of the ghost, Mr. Greenwald making fun of me in class (Mr. Greenwald! No, I’d think about him in a minute), Mr. Bell, the Aluminum Man, my “fight” with Jason (I’ll never understand boys!), and then last night.
    Maybe the caffeine from the coffee was beginning to kick in, but suddenly I sat up and realized: “I have Mr. Greenwald first period this morning!” What was I going to do? Maybe I’ll just skip school today, I thought. But then I thought, what if he didn’t get a good look at me last night? What if he doesn’t know it was me hiding in the bush. If I don’t come to class it’ll look suspicious. Then he’ll know it was me for sure!
    But what if he already knows? What if he’s waiting for me with—what? What exactly could he do to me in class, with all those witnesses?
    But what if— Oh, my mind was getting foggy again! My head was so heavy all I wanted to do was lay it on the table and go to sleep. My brain felt like a ton of wet, soggy newspapers.
    I couldn’t reason things out myself. Not the way I felt. I had to talk to someone. But who? Jennifer