Witch Ball - BK 3 (15 page)

"Sabine," Manny called, coming up beside
me. "Did you finish proofing that article on music
downloads?"

"Not yet." I slipped my backpack over my
shoulders as we moved into the hall and kids
swarmed around us. "I'll do it tomorrow."

"Good enough. Talk to you-" He gasped and
pointed. "IT'S HIM!"

I followed his gaze and saw a medium-height
kid with brown hair, wearing jeans and a tan Tshirt. A totally average-looking guy.

"K.C.!" I shouted.

He turned and met my gaze with a stark look
of terror. Then he spun around and ran away.

Manny took off running, and I was running,
too. We pushed through a group of girls in band uniforms, then turned a corner. I kept thinking of
Manny's predictions and how K.C. was my last
chance at proving one of them wrong. It was a
wild hope with no basis of logic. But logic didn't
have much to do with ghosts anyway. If K.C.'s prediction didn't come true, it would mean the witch
ball wasn't that powerful.

We seemed to be heading for the school parking lot, and Manny burst forward with amazing
speed. I couldn't keep up, but I was able to keep
him in sight.

"He's getting into that gray Chevy!" Manny
yelled to me.

"He'll get away!"

"Not if we hurry. Go to my car!"

Everything happened so fast. Car doors flung
open, we scrambled inside, grabbing for seat belts
and buckling in tight. The engine roared to life,
wheels squealed, and we zoomed out of the parking lot.

Manny floored it in pursuit. My elbow banged
against the door as the gray car made a sharp right.
We sped forward, zipping through a yellow light to
keep up. The other car changed lanes and disappeared behind a truck.

"Get out of the way!" Manny swore at the
truck.

As if the driver could hear him, the truck turned
into a grocery store parking lot. But there was no
sign of the gray car.

"Where did he-" Manny started to say.

"There!" I pointed at a gray blur making a left
turn. "He's trying to lose you."

"Almost did, too. Great navigating, Beany."

"Thanks! But don't call me ... Hey, I think he's
headed to the freeway."

"I hope not," Manny said with a worried frown.
"My car shakes at 65, so it would be hard to keep up.
Besides I can't afford to get another speeding ticket."

"Another ticket?" I teased.

"Don't ask." He groaned.

"Look!" I suddenly cried out, swiveling to gesture out the window. "He passed the onramp and
he's making a U-turn!"

"I'm on it. Hold tight!" Manny spun the wheel,
and only our seatbelts kept us from slamming into
each other.

"What's with him anyway?" I complained as I
rubbed my sore arm. "Why is he so desperate to get
away?"

But Manny was too busy dodging traffic to answer. The gray car snaked in and out of lanes and
Manny kept close behind. He clenched his teeth,
sweat beading on his forehead and a determined
gleam in his dark eyes. He made a sharp turn into a
residential neighborhood.

"I know this area," I said. "Danielle lives around
here. I think this street dead ends at a park."

"Good. That guy is driving like a maniac!"

"He's afraid," I said with a sudden insight. I
couldn't see K.C., but for a moment I felt him and
had a jumble of mental images: a graveyard, jail bars,
a rolled sleeping bag, and the letter "W."

"We've got him!" Manny exclaimed, pumping
his free arm in the air. "He's gonna have to stop for
that school bus up ahead and there are no side
streets. Unless he can fly, he's trapped with no way
out."

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding, glad this crazy chase was coming to an end. A
block away I saw flashing red lights on a bulky, yellow bus. I used to ride a bus like that when I lived
in San Jose-back when Mom worked a day job.
But when the twins started modeling, Mom quit to manage their careers. My sisters never had to ride a
crowded bus; Mom was their chauffeur.

"What's that idiot doing?"

I glanced over at Manny who was staring ahead
in jaw-dropping disbelief. I followed his gaze and
felt my own jaw drop. The gray car wasn't slowing
down! It barreled forward, ignoring the bus's flashing lights and zooming directly for the bus driver as
she escorted three little kids across the street.

The bus driver started running, grabbing and
pushing the kids to the sidewalk. At the same time
K.C. must have realized the danger because there
was a screech of brakes. The car skidded and
swerved, burning tread as it spun around in a dizzy
circle.

Everything happened so fast.

The kids and bus driver were safely on the
sidewalk while the gray car faced the opposite direction. I glimpsed pale fear on K.C.'s face as he
shifted the car back into gear, hit the gas, then
rocketed past us.

Manny groaned and smacked the steering
wheel. "Damn! We almost had him!"

"At least no one was hurt," I pointed out,
watching the bus crank back up, fold its doors, then
rumble off in a smoky stench of diesel.

"I blew it." Manny checked his mirrors and
followed the speed limit.

"It wasn't your fault. Maybe we can still catch
him."

"How?"

"Three guesses where he's headed?"

"I'll need more than three." Manny looked
at me, slowly realization dawned. "Oh-the
apartment."

I nodded. "It's worth a try."

So we headed back to the apartment building,
scanning the parking lot as we drove in. There were
two gray cars, but neither of them looked quite
right. "I think his gray car had a broken tail light,"
I said, wishing I'd been paying closer attention.

"The license plate started with WYW," Manny
said.

Even though we couldn't find K.C.'s car, we
decided to check his apartment. This time we both
went to the door, and my heart dropped when the
aunt answered our knock. She wasn't happy to see
me either and snapped, "He's still not here!"

"I wish she wouldn't slam the door so hard," I
said as we turned away. "My ears are ringing. Now
what?"

For the first time in my short history with
Manny, he didn't have an answer. I didn't have one
either. So we walked back, our footsteps heavy. We
had almost reached the stairs when I heard running feet.

"Wait!" a young voice called.

Turning, I saw a little girl with long, brown hair
and bright yellow sneakers. "How come you're looking for my brother?" she asked, breathing heavy.

Excitement rose in Manny's face. He went over
and knelt down by the little girl. "Brother? Do you
mean K.C.?"

She nodded solemnly.

"Zoey," I guessed, offering a friendly smile.
"I'm Sabine and he's Manny."

She nodded again, giving me a shy smile. "I
heard you tell Aunt Felicia you go to school with
K.C."

"He's in my class," Manny said. "But he's hard
to find sometimes. Can you tell us where he is?"

"I could, only I'm not supposed to talk about
him."

"But we're his friends," Manny assured, flashing a warm, dimpled grin.

"I'm not supposed to run in the halls, but I do
it anyway." She glanced behind cautiously, then
put her finger to her lips and told us where K.C.
worked.

I felt triumphant as we drove away from the apartment-until I glanced down at my watch. Then I
nearly died.

"Ohmygod! It's after four!"

"So?" Manny asked.

"I was supposed to meet josh at my locker."

"Doubt he's still there," Manny said wryly, slowing for a stoplight. "But I can take you if you want to
check."

"What's the use?" I put my hands over my face
and moaned. Josh must totally hate me! And he
would never accept my reason for standing him up.
Chasing after a ghost's prediction was not logical.

Damage control was needed-and fast. If I
could talk to josh, I'd tell him I'd been out on a
newspaper assignment with Manny. No reason to
mention ghosts or predictions. But when I pulled
out my cell phone from my backpack, I groaned. I
wasn't used to having a phone yet and had forgotten to recharge the battery. It was dead-like how
I felt inside.

"Take me home," I said grimly.

"Sure, Sabine."

As we pulled into the long driveway, I had an
unrealistic hope that I'd find josh here waiting for
me. I glanced around for his car. But there were no
cars parked by the yellow country home, not even
Nonas. I remembered she was over at Grady's, playing poker so I could be alone with josh.

Numbly, I told Manny I'd see him later.

"Yeah, at 10:30. And about josh-" He reached
out to pat my shoulder. "It'll be okay."

"Yeah," I replied with zero confidence.

Stepping into the house, my footsteps echoed
on the tiled entry. I found a note from Nona
propped in a fruit basket on the table. "Chicken defrosting and fresh corn in fridge. You two lovebirds
have fun," she wrote.

Crossing to the counter, I reached to pick up
the phone, then paused when I noticed the message
light flashing and saw there were three messages.
Instantly, I had a bad feeling. Like I should turn
away now, before it was too late. But I couldn't ignore the red message light, and pushed the "listen"
button.

The first message was from a very cheerful
mortgage lender who had a wonderful deal to offer
that would change our lives in amazing ways.

Click. Erase.

The second was from my sister Amy, asking
me to check my email as soon as I got home.

I'd check later. Click. Erase.

The final call was josh; his tone was cold.
"Sabine, I waited at our locker, but you never
showed. Then Zach tells me you drove off with
Manny. What's that about? I thought I could trust
you. Guess not. Don't call back. I'm headed over to
Evan's."

A heavy click. The message ended.

And that wasn't all that was ending.

My heart hurt so much, I wanted to crawl under
my covers and never come out. I had so blown it
with Josh. Being his girl always seemed like a miracle, like Id really made it at Sheridan High. Other
kids respected Josh for his athletic skill and allaround-nice-guy attitude. Not to mention the fact
he was totally gorgeous.

So why did I go and ruin everything?

I put the defrosted chicken in the fridge, and
pulled out a carton of mocha-toffee ice cream. I
didn't bother getting a bowl, and ate it directly from
the carton. When my brain started to freeze, I put
the ice cream away and went to my room.

Sorting through my CDs, I ignored all the
trendy artists that Penny-Love raved about, and settled on soothing ocean sounds. I tried to do homework. My mind strayed when I glanced at my dresser
and saw a picture of josh and me that Penny-Love
had taken with her digital camera. The angle of the
camera was just right, so my blond hair fell in shiny
waves that hid the stripe of black that was a family
trait of a seer. I looked as happy and normal as any
girl with the guy she loved.

And I so loved being josh's girl. Was that the
same as being in love with him? I wondered, as I
opened a cupboard in the wall and pulled out my
craft bag. Emotions were so confusing-guilt, hurt,
anger, shame. I didn't even blame josh for being
mad. I totally deserved it. I shouldn't have ditched
him to rush off with Manny. Josh would never do
that to me. I didn't deserve him. I never could figure out why he chose me anyway-we were so different. Maybe breaking up was inevitable.

Leaning back against my pillows, I worked on
my embroidery. Reddish brown thread wove in
and out, the needle like a quicksilver fish slipping
through waves of fabric. A bushy-tailed fox took
shape, then a snowy hill. My fingers moved automatically, my gaze lifting to the window where the
sky was a gloomy sea of gray. Even the oak trees
seemed to shiver, spindly branches bare of leaves.
Although my room was heated, I felt chilled and
huddled underneath my blankets.

I must have fallen asleep because when I lifted
my head and looked out the window, it was dark.
My embroidery and thread had fallen to the floor.
Glancing at my clock, I was surprised to find it was
after eight. No surprise my stomach felt queasy; ice
cream didn't make a satisfying dinner.

Downstairs, Nona had come back home and
bragged about beating the buttons off Grady at
cards. They used a jar full of old buttons instead of
money or poker chips. When she asked about my
dinner with josh, I told her he couldn't make it, but
I avoided any further explanation by saying I was
going to make a sandwich. Then I hurried away
from her curious eyes and into the kitchen.

I was relieved when Nona went to bed early,
leaving the coast clear for me to sneak out with
Manny. Slipping on a jacket, I waited by the mailbox until I saw the approaching headlights of his car.

"Hop in," he said, opening the passenger door
and gesturing for me to get inside.

"Okay." Now that I was actually doing this, I
had second thoughts. Like maybe chasing after a
weird guy was a bad idea. I'd rather be safe and snug
in bed. But I doubted I'd sleep well anyway, and
would end up with nightmares.