Tiger Lily Read online

  “Yes, you and all the other spirits. You aren’t the only one, Nick. I’m being haunted by a whole herd of ghosts, which is why I’m going little nuts right now.”

  He shoved his hands into his pockets, his dark hair falling across his forehead. “I’m not a ghost, Lily.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. I said I’d help you, and I meant it, but I can’t do this at school, okay?”

  “I understand.” He bit his lip to hold back a smile and stared at a point right over my shoulder. I winced, knowing that someone else must have heard my tirade. I turned around to see Maura and Jessica behind me, both on the verge of tears, and Mrs. O’Leary, the lunch lady, wringing a dishcloth worriedly in her hands.

  “See you later, Lily. Good luck with the guidance counselor.” Nick gave me a little wave before he disappeared.

  I frowned. “Guidance counselor?”

  Mrs. O’Leary nodded. “Yes, dearie,” she said, gently placing a large, soft arm around my shoulders. “You need to have a visit with Ms. Petties.”

  They marched me straight to the guidance office. Mrs. O’ Leary went in first, and I could hear the murmurs of her conversation with Ms. Petties through the door. A few minutes later, Ms. Petties called me back, her soft brown eyes full of concern. A chain made of colorful beads trailed from the ends of her tortoise shell glasses, so that she could wear them like a necklace when she didn’t need them. I’d made that chain for her at camp a few years ago.

  Ms. Estelle Petties, with her meticulously styled dark hair and skin the color of rich chocolate, radiated warmth and understanding, and she always had perfect nails. She was the one who’d introduced me to Mr. Wan in the first place, and she’d always had a soft spot for me.

  “Lily, child, what is going on?” She sat behind her desk with her hands folded on her lap. “Please don’t tell me its drugs, girl. That would be going straight into a dark place without a lantern, and you have always been a beacon of light.”

  I blinked in surprise. “Drugs? Of course not.”

  Ms. Petties sighed in relief. “Then what is it? You were seen talking to yourself in front of a crowd of people, and it looked like you were having an argument. That is a little west of normal on my map.”

  I stared at her, my cheeks getting so warm I thought the fire detectors might go off. I had to think up a lie, and it had to be quick. Not a skill that came naturally to me, but I did surprisingly well.

  “I was trying to memorize something. For a class. It helps if I do it out loud.”

  I reached into my purse and pulled out my sanitizing gel. Immediately the smell of apples and lavender made me feel better. I looked up to see Mrs. Petties watching me as I sniffed my fingers. She shook her head, studying me carefully. I knew she was weighing my sanity, so I held her gaze and tried to look as normal as possible. Evidently, I passed.

  “If this happens again, I’ll have to tell your parents. Do you understand?”

  “It won’t. I promise,” I said.

  My parents were out of town yet again, although I didn’t share that information with Mrs. Petties. My mom needed a few days at the spa to recover from my accident, and my dad had left right after her to go on a golf vacation with his buddies. I was on my own, not uncommon this time of year. I’d gotten used to it.

  Maura and Jessica waited for me outside Mrs. Petties’ office. Maura had her arms folded across her chest, and Jessica bit her nails, a sure sign of distress.

  “Let the interrogation begin,” I muttered.

  Maura held up a finger in front of my face. “You stop right there. As your friends, we have the right to be concerned.”

  “Yeah,” said Jessica, tugging on a strand of her blonde hair.

  I rolled my eyes. If Jessica and Maura formed a united front, the world truly might be coming to an end.

  “People are saying you’re on drugs. Is that true?” asked Maura.

  I couldn’t believe she asked me that question. I hoped Jessica would show me some support, but no luck. She pulled out her phone and began scrolling through her contacts.

  “It’s okay. I know a really good place for rehab. My cousin went there. You’ll love it. They have a salon on site, a wonderful spa, and a gourmet chef.”

  I grabbed Jessica’s phone out of her hand, and glared at both of them. “Who is saying I’m on drugs?”

  I kind of screamed the last part, and traffic in the hallway came to a dead stop. Nick would have found this hilarious.

  “I’m not on drugs,” I said again, very calmly addressing the students who watched me in stunned silence. They shuffled around before turning away in embarrassment, and I knew I’d just made things worse. Now half the student body would think I was a drug addict.

  Maura edged closer to me. “I saw you with Goth Girl. Are you buying your drugs from her? I am so going to report her to Principal Goodman.”

  “No. Stop it. What can I do to convince you?”

  Minutes later, I peed into a cup at the nurse’s office. Jessica and Maura sat outside waiting for me. I washed my hands in the bathroom, but still didn’t feel clean. I used up the last bit of my Apple Lavender hand gel, and reached for Cool Minty Cucumber. I always kept a few extra bottles in my purse for emergencies. I offered some to Jess and Maura, but they shook their heads.

  “Okay. I submitted myself to voluntary drug screening. Are we good now?”

  “We will be tomorrow,” said Maura. “Once we get the results back.”

  I threw my hands up in the air and walked straight out of the school, skipping class for the first time in my whole entire life. I didn’t care. Granted, I would only miss study hall, art and gym, but this was a milestone for me.

  I jumped into my Audi and took off. I didn’t know where I was going until I found myself on the shores of Lake Eugene. I pulled into the parking lot, walked over to the lake, and sat down on a bench. Several geese approached me, thinking I’d come to feed them, but I didn’t even have gum in my purse. I carried sanitizer, money, and a bottle of emergency nail polish.

  I stared down at the waters that had nearly killed me. Nick was nowhere to be seen. The blobs had followed me here and curled around my feet, as if trying to make me feel better. Mr. Wan had definitely chosen the right color this week. Melancholy Baby described my mood exactly.

  “Is this seat taken?” Josh Parker, of all people, stood in the sunshine, looking down at me like a statue of Adonis.

  “Do you like hang out in this park, waiting to rescue people?” I asked, and he laughed, sitting down on the bench next to me.

  “Uh, no. I’ve been working on a nature study for my senior project. I come here a few afternoons a week to check on it.”

  He wore a blue Baldwin Soccer t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. He looked way too tan for March with his golden brown skin and sun-streaked hair. Several of my friends would have paid good money for those highlights. Josh earned them naturally.

  “Sorry. I’ve had a bad day.”

  “Worse than the first time I met you?” he asked and I smiled.

  “Not quite that bad.”

  He leaned back on the bench, stretching his arm out behind me, and we sat for a few minutes in comfortable silence. The blobs had migrated over to Josh and snuggled on his lap. If they had been kittens, I would have said they purred. They obviously liked him as much as I did.

  I looked at him shyly from under my lashes. “It was kind of weird how we met.”

  He grinned. “Yeah, most people just go out for coffee on a first date.”

  “You think of it as a first date?” I considered that for a minute. “That’s creepy. You do remember the whole drowning thing, right?”

  He laughed out loud. “Why don’t we think of right now as a first date? I even have the coffee.”

  He ran over to his car and pulled out a thermos, and we sat by the lake, talking as we sipped from a single cup, but it didn’t gross me out. Usually I couldn’t stand sharing a cup with someone, but Josh had already used his delectabl
e lips on me for resuscitation purposes, so I didn’t mind.

  The coffee, warm and perfect, had just the right amount of sugar and cream. The company felt pretty perfect too. Josh relaxed me. He didn’t upset me like Nick, who constantly judged and teased me. It was a relief just to sit with a non-ghost for a minute and talk.

  One of the blobs must have gotten bored. It decided to play a game called “Slip Through Josh.” It popped back and forth, going through Josh’s body, causing him to shiver.

  I looked at him in surprise. “What was that?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I just felt a chill. Right here.” He pointed to the spot where the blob played.

  “Weird,” I said, taking another gulp of coffee. Knowing that Josh, a normal and sane guy, sensed the presence of the blobs made me feel slightly better. And braver.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure,” he said, rubbing the spot where the blob now rested. It had gotten tired of its little game and had taken up residence on his chest.

  I stared at the lake and took a deep breath. “Would you go to prom with me?”

  Josh ran a hand over his jaw. Even his stubble sparkled. Josh Parker. The ultimate golden boy.

  “You aren’t asking me because you feel like you owe me something, are you?”

  I looked at him in surprise and shook my head. “I’m asking you because you seem really great and there’s no one else I’d rather go with.”

  A brief thought of Nick fluttered through my mind, but I ignored it. There was definitely something wrong with me if I thought about a dead hoodlum when I had a perfectly nice and perfectly handsome living, breathing boy sitting next to me.

  “Well, I guess we’ve already had our official first date, so that’s out of the way.”

  I nodded seriously, holding up the thermos cup. “And we had our coffee.”

  He stared out at Lake Eugene. The sunshine reflected off the water, making it look like it had been filled with diamonds. A light breeze ruffled my hair. Josh sat so close to me on the bench I could feel the warmth from his body. He turned to me with a smile.

  “I’ll go to prom with you, but only on one condition.”

  “What’s that?” I frowned at him but he just winked at me.

  “I drive.”

  “A chicken is hatched from such a well-sealed thing as an egg.”

  Chinese proverb

  Chapter Six

  I heard Zoe’s arrival before I saw it. She came barreling down the street on the loudest, dirtiest motorcycle possible. I noticed several of our neighbors lifting their blinds to see what was going on, and hoped no one would call the Neighborhood Watch. Zoe did not look like she belonged on Mockingbird Lane. She looked like she belonged in the Mugshot Monday edition of our local newspaper.

  Nick stood by my side. “Cool bike,” he said. She ignored him.

  “Would you like to come in?” I asked.

  “Yes, I would, Dolly Madison.”

  “It’s Lily,” I said. “Lily Madison.”

  She gave me a pointed glance. “Dolly Madison. Wife of President James Madison. Famous hostess. It was a joke.”

  “Ha,” I said, making an effort to be sociable. She rolled her eyes.

  “Can we get on with this?”

  As we went into the house, Nick trailed behind, a worried frown on his face. “I don’t think she can see me.”

  “Of course she can,” I muttered. “Give her a minute.”

  Zoe gave me a strange look. “You’ve gotten even weirder since the first time we met.”

  “I’ve been under a great deal of stress.”

  Zoe looked around our house, which my mother described as French country chic, but I liked to call early European ostentation. Then she took in my clothes and the daisies on my headband.

  “Yes. It looks like you have a lot to worry about.”

  My patience faded faster than a silk damask armchair left in the sun. “Look, I’m sorry I’m not a tortured Goth chick like you. I’m sorry my parents are rich and I have nice things. I’m very, very sorry, but I died for just a few short minutes, and now a whole herd of ghosts is stalking me and I can’t get rid of them. Can you please help me take care of this?”

  I waved my hand at the assorted blobs cowering in the corner of the foyer. They didn’t like Zoe much, and neither did I.

  Zoe’s expression softened slightly. “You do have a little ghost problem, don’t you? Well, let’s get on with it.”

  “With what?”

  “The séance. Why do you think I’m here?”

  The blobs shivered in the corner. They stayed as far away from Zoe as possible.

  “You aren’t going to hurt them, are you?”

  She looked genuinely shocked but then quickly reclaimed her usual expression, the perfect balance between boredom and annoyance. “Of course not. What kind of person do you think I am?”

  I shrugged. I didn’t know anyone else who wore black every single day and had all different parts of her face pierced. She frightened me as much as she frightened the blobs.

  Zoe took a deep breath. “I’m here to help them, Princess Buttercup. That’s what I do. Is there somewhere we can sit down, and do you have a candle? It helps me focus.”

  I found a soy vanilla candle and another that smelled like bayberry. I didn’t know which one would work, so I brought them both to Zoe. She gave me an annoyed glare, grabbed the vanilla one, and set it down on the dining room table. I hurriedly stuck a placemat under it so the wax wouldn’t drip on my mother’s antique furniture, and then ran upstairs to get the powder from Mrs. Chang. Nick followed me into my room.

  “She can’t see me.” He looked so forlorn I wanted to give him a hug, but that obviously wouldn’t do any good since my arms would go right through him.

  “We’ll figure this out, Nick. I promise. Let’s just see what happens when she lights the candle, okay?”

  He nodded. “Thanks.”

  I stopped in my tracks, putting a hand to my heart and giving him a very false flutter of my eyelashes. “Did you just thank me? I think that is the first nice thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  Nick actually looked embarrassed. “I haven’t been myself lately.”

  “That might be the understatement of the year,” I said. “Come on. Zoe is waiting. I’m afraid she might burn the house down if I’m not there to supervise.”

  Zoe hadn’t burned the house down. She sat on top of our table, the candle lit and glowing in front of her, and the sweetest, most angelic smile on her face. The blobs had gathered around, gently rubbing against her like a pack of love-starved kittens.

  “Wow,” I said, and the sweet expression on her face vanished instantly.

  “I don’t appreciate the sarcasm,” she said, her voice almost a snarl.

  “Coming from you, that’s an interesting comment, but I wasn’t trying to be mean or sarcastic. I’m honestly impressed. Ghosts love you.”

  She stared at me, as if trying to gage my sincerity, then narrowed her eyes. “What took you so long?”

  “I had to get this.” I held up the bag of powder and showed it to her. “A Chinese ghost remedy my manicurist Mr. Wan recommended. It’ll help get rid of the blobs.”

  “The blobs?” Her horrified expression reminded me of the day I discovered running through the water sprinkler after applying self-tanner was definitely a bad idea and made me look like a spotted leper. I’d worn a very similar and equally horrified expression that day.

  I pointed at all the fuzzy wonders curled around her. “That’s what I call them because that’s what they look like, except you, of course,” I said to Nick. He sank down into a chair across from Zoe.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “Wow. Thanking me two times in one night. A new record,” I muttered.

  Zoe stared at me for a moment, and then shook her head as if trying to clear it. “They aren’t ‘blobs,’ dimwit. They’re people who need our help. Now do what you must with that Chin
ese crap and then sit down and try to concentrate.”

  I sprinkled the powder from Mrs. Chang all around the room, paying special attention to the doors and windows, just as Mr. Wan had instructed. Our cleaning lady would have a field day with this tomorrow, but there was nothing I could do.

  I sat down at the table just as the sun began to set. Midnight would have probably been a better time for this, but I had a strict eleven p.m. curfew on school nights. I wondered if Zoe had a curfew. I wondered if Zoe had parents.

  Nick and I watched as Zoe began talking to each of the blobs, explaining to them why they had to move on. It didn’t seem spooky or magical to me. She acted very practical about the whole thing.

  “Now, Helen,” she said to one blob. “You know this isn’t where you want to be. Your entire family and all your friends are on the other side. They’re waiting for you. You need to go.” And with that, the blob named Helen flew over to the window and straight up into the sky.

  “Amazing.” I leaned sideways in my chair, watching Helen soar into the heavens.

  “That was a simple one.” She reached out to touch the white powder on the windowsill. “Although I think this stuff is actually helping, not all of them will be that easy to convince.”

  After nearly an hour, all the ghosts were gone except for one very stubborn one and, of course, Nick. Zoe looked completely exhausted. She tried reasoning with the last blob. She tried threatening it. Nothing worked.

  “I think we need to call it a day,” she said.

  I gave Nick an uncomfortable glance. “But what about Nick?”

  Zoe wrinkled up her face at me. “Who?”

  “Nick.” I tried ever so subtly to tilt my head to the left to show here where he sat. Zoe just looked confused.

  “She can’t see me, Lil.” He leaned back in his chair, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

  “I’m sure she can.” I tried to sound as reassuring as possible, but I’d started to worry. “You can see him, can’t you Zoe?”

  “There’s only one ghost left in this room,” she said, pointing to the blob on the ceiling. “Who’s Nick?”

  “He’s a ghost too. He’s sitting right here, wearing black like you and looking all bad-boy hot. You’d probably like him if he weren’t dead.”