Read The Memory Game for Free Online Page B

muddy from last night and
the soles are peeling away from the fronts.  I look up again. ‘What do you
think?’
    ‘I don’t know
what to think.’ She gives me a small smile. It makes her face look completely
different, like a light goes on inside her.
    ‘So, can I talk
to you now without you freaking out?’
    ‘I thought you
were going to get off my case if I spoke to you this once.’
    ‘I know, but can
I talk to you again? There are loads of things I want to ask you.’
    ‘You were pretty
horrible in the hall,’ she says, her face serious again.
    ‘Sorry, I was
just fed up.  I didn’t mean to make you pass out like that.’
    Her face twists
more into an accusing frown. ‘You were pretty horrible to me when you were
alive too.’
    ‘Yeah,’ I step
from foot to foot awkwardly, ‘but everyone is.’ Straightaway, I wish I hadn’t
said it.  Her frown deepens. ‘I know that doesn’t make it alright,’ I add
quickly. She considers for a moment and the darkness in her face clears.
    ‘Nobody else can
see you only me?’
    I nod.
    She looks at me
thoughtfully.  ‘I suppose that must be boring.’
    ‘If I wasn’t
already dead I’d die of boredom.’
    She gives me
another small smile.
    ‘What do you
think?’
    ‘You can’t come to
school with me,’ she warns.
    ‘But that means
I can come and talk to you again?’
    ‘Why do you want
to talk to me? I’m Bethany Willis.’ Her voice sounds harder now.  She’s
right, of course.  I can just imagine what Matt would say. But right now,
Bethany Willis is all I’ve got.
    I shrug. ‘Who
else am I gonna talk to?’
    She thinks about
this for a moment, like she might argue, then nods. ‘Not at
school though, and definitely not at home.   I’ll meet you later.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘I’ll think of
somewhere.’
    ‘But I won’t
know where to wait.  How about the swings?’
    She pauses for a
moment. ‘No, people will be hanging around there and they might see me.  I
don’t want to give them any more reasons to hate me.’
    I think about
what she’s said. I suppose apparently talking to herself on the swings might do just that. ‘The churchyard?’
    She nods. 
‘Wait for me around here after school. When I can get away, I’ll meet you
outside my house.’
    ‘You want me to
sit outside your house?’
    ‘How else am I
going to let you know I’m ready?’
    ‘Can’t I come to
school with you for a bit?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘I won’t talk to
you or anything.’
    ‘What’s the
point then?’
    ‘I’ve got
nothing else to do.’
    She chews her
lip. ‘You can’t talk to me, no matter what.’
    ‘I won’t, I
promise. You won’t even know I’m there.’
    ‘Ok.’ She starts
to walk again and I trot at her side.
    ‘What are you
doing?’ she says from the corner of her mouth.
    ‘We’re both
going to the same place.’
    ‘Yeah, but you
can’t walk with me.  What if someone sees?’
    ‘They’ll just see
you walking to school.’
    She throws me a
sideways glance. ‘Don’t talk to me then.’
    I pull my finger
across my lips in a zipping motion.  That smile lights her face again,
just for a moment, then she looks straight ahead and carries on walking.

Three: Bethany
     
    Bethany
is lit by her torch, her face in weird upside-down shadow.  Her jeans are
a bit too short and her coat doesn’t really look thick enough for the frost
that’s glistening over the grass of the churchyard.  But I imagine the
huge scarf that’s wrapped around her neck and the bobble hat pulled tight over
her head is helping. We’re sitting on an old blanket that she brought to keep
the damp ground from chilling her. I tried my hardest to keep out of her way
but she still saw me a couple of times today at school.  The first time
was in the corridor.  She was going to the IT block. Matt shoved past her
as he headed to the sports hall and nearly knocked her over. I ran over as she
pushed herself back up from the wall and told her he was a dickhead but she
totally