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“It goes over to that abandoned church next door. A long time ago, the two buildings were connected.”
    “Why was the church abandoned, anyway?”
    “Ah, the floor was going to fall in or something. So they closed it down. They say there’s all sorts of treasure buried in the basement.”
    “You’re kidding,” Rose said, not sure whether to believe him.
    “No, no, I’m not.” Rob was earnest. “The old priest over there—Fr. Raymond—he used to collect hundreds of chalices and gold stuff for the altar—all the stuff churches were throwing away when they got rid of the Latin in the Mass. He collected it all, and hid it in the church. Then one night, when he was polishing his collection, he was murdered.”
    “Murdered?!”
    “Yeah. Some crazy guy came and shot him in the back, right behind the altar. They say they’ve never gotten the bloodstains off the floor.” He grinned at Rose, who was shuddering. “You’re pretty gullible, you know that?”
    “Did he really shoot him?” Rose flushed. She was gullible.
    “Honest, he did. The guy who shot him stole everything. All the gold and stuff. My old man says most of it was junk. They’ve never found the guy who did it.”
    “That’s horrible!” Rose was indignant.
    “Yeah. It happens. They had to close down the church because they said they couldn’t raise money to fix it, but it was really because they couldn’t find a priest who would work in that church again. You see, it’s haunted now.”
    He looked at Rose to gauge her reaction. She half-believed him.
    “It’s the truth,” he said, cocking his head. “Just be careful when you pass the church after dark. The ax murderer who lives there will get you!”
    “I thought you said the priest was shot,” Rose accused him. The bell rang.
    “Yeah, by an ax murderer who mislaid his ax. Next best thing. Oh, and he strangled the priest, too.” Rob grinned, slapping his books out of his locker. “Must have been a real sicko.”
    He punched Rose playfully on the shoulder. “That should put you to sleep at night. Did you know they took the word gullible out of the dictionary?”
    Rose made a face at him as he bounced off down the hallway to class.
    He was about the only boy at St. Catherine’s that Rose felt a more than passing interest in. It was a pity he acted like a jerk sometimes, usually when he was with his buddies. Blanche disliked him, but Rose found him appealing. He was almost always nice to her, and that was flattering. Just about every junior girl she knew had a crush on him. He had this fascinating charm that melted the hearts of even the most sensible teenage girls. His singling Rose out hadn’t made her terrifically popular among her classmates.
    But unlike Blanche, who had resigned herself to occupying the lowest social strata in the school, Rose preferred to stand defiantly outside the structure. 
    Going into the cafeteria, Rose found a place at a table with some girls from her biology class. Something cold touched the back of her neck right over her collar and she jumped. There was a burst of male laughter behind her, and she turned to see Manny sitting at the next table.
    “Hi, Rose,” he grinned, tossing and catching the cold pack he was carrying around for his leg in one hand. He played on the basketball team with Rob and always seemed to be recovering from some kind of injury.
    Rose allowed a deliberate look of disgust to come over her face, and cued her eyes. She had chameleon eyes—hazel eyes—and she believed that she could make them change color on command. So now she mentally cued herself. Show temper. Let him know he’s in trouble if he keeps this up. Eye color: stone grey.
    With a toss of her red hair, she turned back to her sandwich, took a bite, and began to chew slowly. She rolled her eyes at the girl across from her, who grimaced back.
    “Hey, Rose,” Manny leaned over beside her. “You going to the senior prom?”
    “Of course not,” she said, not