"Jessica!" I yelled as I ran up the stairs. I looked at the ground as I did, noticing that my shoelaces had come untied, but I didn't bother stopping to fix them. I needed to get Jessica as soon as possible and then get the hell out of here.

Not a minute ago, I'd seen…something. My mind was warring with itself, as if my brain had been split in two. One side said it was just a trick of my eye; I hadn't really seen anything abnormal, unless you call mistaking a perfectly placed light in the corner of your eye as a ghost abnormal. The other side…well, it was saying that I had seen a spirit from the other side and it scared the crap out of me.

"Jessica, I am not playing!" I yelled when I got to the top of the stairs. Jess, my best friend, had talked me into coming into this place. Murder House, they called it. It had been abandoned for years, supposedly because – as the rumors went – the house was already occupied. Families would move in, waving the rumors off, only to move out again, just as fast. Some lasted longer than others, seeking out medication, thinking they were crazy… The smarter ones, though, they'd leave in a heartbeat.

That's why I didn't want to come here. I believed the stories, even though no one could prove they were true. Two years ago, a family moved in, the Schmidts. They moved out a week after moving in and immediately went to the press about their experience in the house.

Apparently, the sixth night they'd been there, a swarm of ghosts had attacked them. They claimed that the house was filled with them. They sent a camera crew to stay the night in the house, but nothing ever happened. Last I heard, ever one of the Schmidt family – except their two-year-old son – had been admitted into a mental hospital.

I looked back and forth down each side of the hallway, wondering which direction she had gone. I wanted to find her and get out of here so bad it almost hurt. "This isn't funny. It's creepy in here! Let's just go."

"Oh, stop being such a baby!" she yelled from downstairs. "This place is amazing! I honestly don't get the stories now that I've been in here. It doesn't look scary at all!"

I spun on my heel and headed back down the stairs, going as fast as I could. I wanted to keep Jess talking so I wouldn't lose her again. "Just keep talking! It might keep me from having a panic – "

I was trying to take another step down when my foot suddenly came out from under me. In the split-second before I hit the ground, while I was in mid-air, I thought, I should have tied my shoes…

I felt the pain the first couple of times I hit the ground. I heard a few things snap as I rolled down the stairs. The only thought that kept me conscious was that I would stop breaking things when I hit the flat surface of the small floor that connected both sets of stairs. To my surprise, however, I gained so much speed on my way down that I just hit the wall before tumbling down the second flight of stairs.

The pain wasn't as bad this time. I think I went into shock before it could set in. I thought I heard Jessica scream right before I hit the bottom of the stairs, but a loud crack! cut her off…

…and then there was nothing but blackness.

I woke up face-down on the cold floor. I groaned as I opened my eyes, wondering where I was. Nothing looked familiar at all. As I tried to sit up, my skin stuck to the floor – probably from being there so long – causing me to move as slow as possible. As I did, I thought, God, what happened last night…?

I finally detached myself from the floor and sat up, absentmindedly rubbing my stinging cheek, the one that had been on the floor the most. I imagined it was pink, like skin that has been under a bandage for a while.

I looked around me, taking everything in. I was in a house I'd never seen before, one that was bare of all furniture. It looked like it was vacant, but that wouldn't make any sense. If I had gotten trashed at a party and passed out, someone would have woken me up while they were cleaning. I mean, they wouldn't just leave me here.

"Oh, you're awake," a voice said from behind me.

I spun around as best I could while sitting and scooted backward, not sure if friend or foe had snuck up on me. It was a girl, probably about sixteen, with long, layered brown hair and light brown eyes. At first glance she looked a bit plain, but upon closer inspection I came to the conclusion that she was pretty. She'd probably be gorgeous with a bit of makeup.

Once I realized that she hadn't moved and wasn't going to hurt me, I said the first thing that came to mind: "Where am I?"

She sat down on the ground right where she had stood, giving me a sad smile. "Let's start off with the basics, alright? Do you remember who you are?"

"Uh…yeah. My name is Lily, Lily Baschutta. Who are you?"

"My name is Violet," she answered. "Harmon's my last name. So how old are you?"

I opened my mouth to tell her I was seventeen, but never got the chance to talk. A new voice rang through the room. "Oh, would you stop beating around the bush and just get to it?"

I turned to find another girl in the room, older than both me and Violet. She, like Violet, had brown hair, but her eyes were a darker brown. She looked pretty, but something about her – maybe it was the tone of her voice – told me her insides didn't match her outside. She looked…cynical.

Her eyes found mine and she bent closer to my face. "You're dead. Welcome to the place you're going to spend the rest of eternity in."

"Would you stop it, Hayden?!" Violet exclaimed. "You're not just making things worse for Lily; you're making things worse for all of us. You know what it's like to wake up here – well, maybe you don't, but the rest of us do. We all know how it feels to find out you're dead."

I backed away from both of them, my mind reeling. "What the…? You guys are crazy! I'm not dead, I'm right here!"

Violet took her attention off Hayden and returned it to me. "I can explain everything to you, you just have to stay calm. I know it's a lot to take in, but it only makes things worse if you freak out."

"Screw that!" I yelled, standing up for a moment before breaking into a run for the door. I jerked it open, causing it to hit the wall before bouncing back into place. I heard it slam shut behind me as I ran down the pathway to the gate. It took me a moment to get it open because my fingers were shaking so bad, but I managed.

I looked at my feet – a habit I'd had all my life – as I burst into the street, noticing that my shoes were still untied. I bent down to tie them, not wanting them to trip me, but when I stood back up, I was in the house again. Violet was waiting for me across the kitchen's island. "That's not going to work. I tried to tell you."

"No, no, no," I mumbled to myself, my hands going up to my head. "I've gone insane. I had to have gone completely bonkers."

"You haven't, trust me," Violet answered, even though my comments hadn't been directed at her. She walked around the island to stand next to me. "Now, do you want to know what happened or what?"

I don't know how long I stayed in the shadows, all to myself. Time seemed to pass differently when you were dead. I barely noticed when the sun was up or down; it didn't really matter anymore.

I'd cried, yelled, tried to break out of the house a million times… I'd even gone into trances where I didn't feel anything at all, didn't see or hear anything. I'd ignore the others when they came to see me, whether it was to console me, like Moira, the maid, or Vivian, the "house mother", or to try to make me stop bothering them, like Nora, the blonde who looked like she came from a completely different world, or the charred woman who'd never told me her name.

Finally, I accepted my fate and felt I could move on. To what? I had no idea. I filled my time by daydreaming or watching the others do whatever entertained them. I eventually remembered where I was and was amazed at the fact that the rumors were true: there were a lot of spirits in here. But it wasn't their fault that they were unlucky enough to be cursed. Well, for most, that is.

One day, though, something new happened. As I rested on the floor of one of the only rooms that was empty – it looked like an office; I thought it was because the shrink was always coming in and out of it – and suddenly heard crying. I sat up immediately, my heart racing. I found it amazing that I could still feel it beating in my chest, even though I knew it would never really beat again.

Without even thinking about it, I got up and made my way toward the crying, curious. It didn't take long to reach the basement and, from there, the crawl space in the house. It was dirty and smelled of mold, but what did that matter when you were dead?

I tried to be as quiet as possible as I crawled across the floor, staying behind a corner so that whoever it was couldn't see me. I peeked around the wall to find a guy who looked around my age sitting in a ball up against the wall. His head was tucked in his arms, on top of his knees. His wavy blonde hair stuck up in spots, like he'd been messing with it.

I'd never seen him before, which was amazing to me because it seemed like I'd pissed off every other person in here. My heart broke as I watched him; he seemed so grief-stricken that I wanted to console him, make him smile.

"Hey," I whispered, trying not to spook him. By the way his head shot up, I'd failed. "Are you okay?"

He wiped his face with the back of his hand, but it didn't really do any good. The tears were still wet on his cheeks. "H-how did you find me? I'm pretty good at hiding from the others."

I shrugged, coming out from my corner. "I guess when you have nothing to do all the time, you get better at listening. I could hear you all the way from upstairs."

"You could?" He showed how shocked he was for only a moment before all his features hardened. When he spoke, I could tell it was through ground teeth. "Well, I'm fine. You should go."

I was shocked at his reaction, but I was too eager to have something new to do that I didn't really care. I did just the opposite of what he told me to do, coming closer to him. "Why? I don't even know your name."

"It's Tate, okay? Now will you leave me alone?"

"How did you wind up here, Tate? What was your demise?" I asked, dodging the question.

It worked. "It's a long story, one I don't want to get into."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I tripped over my shoestrings and fell down the stairs, effectively breaking my neck and killing myself. Could it be any more embarrassing than that?" I wanted to make him laugh or at least smile, but I didn't get anything but that stern look of his.

He brushed some hair that had fallen in his eyes back and I saw that he had deep brown eyes, so deep you could almost get lost in them. I vaguely thought, You could hold a lot of secrets in those eyes…

"It's not embarrassing," he answered. "It's…horrible."

"So tell me," I insisted, giving him a smile. "Who cares about anything that happened when you were living anymore? I mean, it's not like you can mug or kill me anymore."

He looked up and into my eyes. For the first time since I'd seen him, I did feel scared. "But you can still get hurt. I can still hurt you."

I gulped, hoping he wouldn't see. By the way he smiled, though, I knew he did. He could tell that I was scared and he was enjoying it. "You know, at this point, I'd do anything to get rid of my boredom. Do your worst."

It was a total bluff. In no way did I want him hurting me – hundreds of different scenarios played in my head, none of them very pretty – but I also didn't want him thinking he could bully me. To my surprise, he laughed. "You think you're bored now? We have eternity in this place and they keep scaring away all the new people, the only entertainment we really had. Better if we just keep things simple, just get used to the boredness."

It was my turn to laugh. I scooted next to him, leaning on the wall as he did. "Then there's nothing stopping you from telling me how you ended up here. How did it happen?"

"It's kind of a sensitive topic…" he started, but I gave him a look, making him smile. He looked like he was still hesitant, but he continued, apparently giving up. "I, uh, set my mom's boyfriend on fire before killing a group of kids at my school. I came back here, where the cops shot me in my bedroom."

I have to admit, that shocked me. It made me want to scoot back away from him, but something kept me there. My gut was telling me that I was the prey in this instance and he was the predator. If I moved back, showed any kind of weakness at all, he might pounce. So I settled on a bit of humor to smooth things. "So we're opposites, you and I? I went out with a whimper and you went out with a bang. We make a good pair, huh?"

Tate laughed and it turned him into a completely different person. However close he had looked like a demon before didn't matter. He looked even more like an angel right then. "You might not think so if you knew all the rest."

"There's more?!" I exclaimed, not expecting that, and immediately regretted it. The smile wiped smooth off his face. I swallowed again, clearing my thoughts, and made myself smile again. "You've been hard at work for a dead guy." He looked away from me, not saying a word. Feeling awkward in the silence, I added, "Why were you crying? You never told me."

"Do you always ask so many questions?!" The demon side of him was back and it was strong. He could almost pass for a monster in those moments.

I wouldn't let him know it affected me, though. "Yeah, kind of. If you want me to leave, though…"

"No." I hadn't expected him to answer so quickly with the way he'd been acting. "No, I don't want you to leave."

"So tell me what happened. It might make you feel better."

Tate observed me for a moment, trying to find something in my face. What he was looking for, I could only guess, and I thought he was wondering if he could trust me. "What I've done…it's horrible. If I tell you, you might not want to be around me anymore."

I didn't know if that meant he wanted me around, but didn't give myself the chance to second-guess my actions. "Then I promise I won't run screaming into the night when you tell me. It's not like I can leave this house anyway. Just tell me!"

"Okay…if you insist…" He took a deep breath, steeling himself. "The last family that actually lived here – you know, for longer than a couple days? I destroyed them. I fell in love with their daughter and, for a while, we were together, happy. But…the beast inside me always wins out sooner or later."

Tears began running down his face again, but he didn't try to wipe them away this time. "I raped her mother. I don't know what I was thinking. I mean, how stupid could I be? How could Violet love me after I'd done something so horrible?"

I had to fight the urge to gasp. It was Violet he'd fallen in love with? I could see why: she was pretty, smart, and nice. He was lucky to find someone like that in this house. And if it was Violet he'd fallen in love with, then it was Vivian he'd raped. It was really hard to keep my emotions off my face.

He continued, "But the worst part is that I got her pregnant…and then…" He trailed off for a moment, a sob rocking his entire body. "And then her mother died giving birth." The sobs completely disappeared, his face going slack as he stared at a spot on the wall. "And then Violet broke up with me and my existence has been worthless ever since."

I had no idea what to do or say for a moment, the shock was so hard-hitting. And then, for reason I can't explain, I threw my arms around him, tugging him to me. He stiffened, clearly not expecting that, and then relaxed, to my surprise. I'd expected him to shake me off and push me away, but he leaned into me instead.

We stayed like that for a long time, neither of us speaking as he let the tears just roll down his face. I'd been there before – hell, I'd been in that kind of misery just a few days ago, wallowing in my death. I knew how it felt to want someone to comfort you and no one would come to your aid. If I could do even this small act of kindness for someone else – living or dead – being stuck here would be worth it.

When Tate's tears finally disappeared, he took one look at me and disappeared himself. I felt blood rush into my cheeks as I replayed everything that had happened between us. I'd been way too forward. One of the perks of being a ghost, though? You can disappear whenever you want.

I sat in what everyone else called the nursery, looking out the window at the moving van across the street. Someone was moving into the house across the way and it was the most exciting thing to happen in days.

I was watching their dogs play in their new yard when I heard the door open behind me. A young woman with blonde hair walked in, dressed in a black and white polka dot dress. I'd made myself invisible, so she couldn't see me…or so I thought.

She looked right at me as she asked, "Have you seen Tate around here?"

I looked around the room again, wondering if someone else had slipped in when I wasn't paying attention, but there wasn't anyone. I turned back to her, pointing to myself. "You talking to me?"

"Yes," she answered with a smile. "I can see you. I'm a medium. I'd introduce myself, but I doubt I'll be coming around again, so it's not really necessary. Back to Tate…?"

"Oh, I haven't – "

"I'm right here," Tate interrupted me, appearing a few feet away from me. "What do you want?"

I put my hands on my hips, turning toward him. "And how long have you been there?"

He ignored me, all his attention on the medium. She picked up on that and went ahead talking to Tate. "Oh, uh, well… Would you want to step outside for a moment?"

He waved her question off. "Nothing is secret in this house. Go ahead and tell me."

The medium glanced at me but didn't say anything more about leaving. "Your mother wanted me to tell you – "

"I don't care," he immediately replied. She opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her. "Don't say a word. I don't care what my mother has to say to me. I'm dead. Nothing she has to say means anything to me anymore."

The woman looked in between us once more before straightening. "Well, okay then. I guess my work here is done. I'll be leaving now."

When she was gone, he turned toward me, a smile on his face. "How do these people keep getting in here?"

"It's actually pretty easy," I replied, remembering how Jess and I had found an unlocked window to get in. It was like the house wanted people to find their way in so that it could kill them and trap them here forever. "Back to before, how long have you been there?"

Tate ignored my question and came closer toward me. "Would you want to dance?"

His question caught me off guard and I laughed. "Dance? There's no music."

He shrugged, a smile on his face as he grabbed my hands and pulled me toward him. There was no distance between us at all as we moved in a circle. He brought his lips to my ear and sung a few lines, low and sweet.

"You say I only hear what I want to…

You say I talk so all the time, so…"

I laughed as he swung me around. "What is that?"

He stopped moving, smiling down at me. "You don't like that song?"

"Not really," I answered. "We need something that gets us hyped up, not something that reminds us of the gloom in this place."

"Okay," he replied, swinging me around again. "How about this?" He pulled me closer and swung his hips to the sides, singing in a goofy tone, "I'll make love to you, like you want me to. And I'll hold you tight. Baby, all through the night, I'll make love to you…"

That sent me into a fit of giggles and I pulled away from him, catching my breath. "Where have you been the past few days?" I asked, causing the mood to come down. "I looked for you, but I couldn't find you anywhere."

Tate looked down at the ground, obviously not liking where the conversation was headed. "Most of the people here don't like me, so I try to keep a low profile."

I leaned up against the wall, crossing my arms. "I like you. There's no reason for you to hide from me. You're the only interesting person, really, in this damn place. Everyone else just gets on my nerves. They either hate me – for reasons unknown – or they try to coddle me."

"So why don't we hang out? Just the two of us?" he asked.

"I was going to suggest that a long time ago," I said. "I just couldn't find you."

He smiled at me and, for the first time, I didn't see any of the hurt in his eyes.

I don't how long it took me to realize that I'd fallen in love with Tate. I mean, when you're a ghost and time means nothing to you, you don't really pay attention to these things. I just know that one day, while we were making cookies float and tea cups tumble out of people's arms at an open house, I realized just how much I felt for him.

He was my lifeline, the only thing that kept me sane. I didn't know if you could go crazy when you were dead, but I was leaning toward yes. I think I had gone semi-mad when I first learned that I was dead.

After we'd scared away all the potential buyers, we slunk back to the crawl space, now our domain. Tate had had dibs on the place for a while apparently, so no one came down here. I hadn't talked to all of the other spirits in the house about it, but Violet had told me that she was surprised Tate had let me into his place.

We were together all the time and I was having a blast. I'd seen nothing but good things about Tate and I wanted to continue seeing them.

Usually, we would just talk for most of the night before disappearing into our own personal domains, going invisible. Every now and then, we'd lie down together and just pretend we were normal. I'd been thinking about it all day and had finally come to the decision to change things up.

I got down on the hard ground like I usually did when we sprawled out together, only this time I faced him instead of the opposite direction. He looked a bit surprised at the new position, but didn't protest. He was talking to me about something, but I couldn't hear a word he was saying. I was too focused on my racing heart and controlling my breathing. I was nervous.

Without giving myself time to talk myself out of it, I reached forward, brushing his hair from in front of his eyes and behind one of his ears. My touch cut his words off and he gazed into my eyes, trying to read me. I didn't give him enough time to figure out what I was thinking before I leaned forward, crushing my lips against his.

One of his hands came to rest against my face, holding it against his as he kissed me back. Butterflies were erupting in my stomach and every nerve felt like it was on fire. How could I be dead when I felt so alive? It made no sense to me, but perfect sense at the same time.

Tate suddenly let go, pulling away from me and disappearing. The shock had me paralyzed for a minute, not knowing what to do as the rejection flowed through me. I sat up and put my head in my hands, wondering what to do. All I really wanted to do was crawl under a rock and stay there, but a thought popped into my head, changing my mind. What have you got to lose?

"Tate!" I yelled. "Tate, you get back here right now. Don't run away from me. Just talk to me."

You wouldn't understand… His voice spoke in my mind. I hadn't known we could do that.

"Understand what? Look, come out and talk to me, face to face."

I can't… I can't allow you to get that close to me. I'm like an annoying piece of gum that stick to the bottom of your shoe. You can pluck me off, get rid of me, but a part of me will always remain, darkening your life…

My eyebrows came together in confusion. "If you're as annoying as gum on my shoe, then I'll take my chances. Please come out."

He appeared on the other side of the room, sitting in a ball in the corner. "You don't get it. I'm like gum, only I'm darkness. I bring nothing but hurt and sadness and evil into people's lives – um, existences."

I crawled over to him, wanting to take his hands in mine, but he pulled away from me like I were a snake about to strike. "I don't think so," I replied. "I know you've done bad things in your past – okay, really bad things, but that doesn't mean you're all bad. In fact, I know you're not all bad. You feel awful about what you've done. That's proof enough that you've changed."

He looked skeptical. "You really think so? You think I can change?"

"I know you already have," I answered, moving closer to him. He didn't pull away and I placed my hand over his. "Look, I don't have all the answers and I'm not going to pretend that I do. What I can tell you is that I've gotten to know you and…I like you. A lot."

I could feel myself blushing. I tried to stop it, to force the heat in my cheeks back down, but it wouldn't obey me. Tate reached out with his open hand and traced my cheekbone with his thumb. "I like it when you blush, Lily. It's easy to forget we're dead when I see it."

That made me blush even harder. I started to turn away, not wanting him to see, but he took my chin in his hand, making me face him just before he kissed me.

Sparks flew under my eyelids as the butterflies began their dance again. His touch made me feel – the most I had the entire time I'd been in this house – alive again. It was then that I realized I never wanted to lose that feeling.

I pulled away from him, surprising him. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me and he opened his mouth to say something, but I stopped him. "Wait. I just have to say this. Maybe you don't see it, maybe the others don't see it, but I can see the light in you. I see it in every tear, in every expression you wear. Sometimes the good in us comes out as something bad, like sadness or regret. Just having the ability to feel those things means that we're not all bad and I see those emotions in you all the time. You aren't a monster, Tate. You've just had…well, a pretty harsh existence."

I expected him to say something, anything, but he stayed silent, just staring at me with those endless brown eyes. Finally, just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, he whispered, "You really think there's good left in me?"

"Yeah," I whispered right back. "I really do."

And then he kissed me again.

"Oh, we're going to have some fun," I giggled, watching a group of teenagers come through the front fence. No wonder it was so easy for people to get in; it seemed like no one really cared about what happened to the house.

Tate smiled, looking out the window. He glanced at me and said, "They have a Ouija board…"

Without a word, we ran out of the room and downstairs, lying in wait. As we did, others appeared around us. First Violet and her family, then Moira, Nora, Charles, and Maria.

"We've got to try to get them out of here as soon as possible," Ben, Violet's father, said. "As we can see from Lily's experience, it doesn't take long for this house to claim you."

They all started talking amongst themselves as I grabbed Tate's hand and took him into the living room. "Listen, I remember something my mom said about Ouija boards one time. She said she never wanted me to use one because you could easily open up a portal for a spirit to get through. What if…what if we could really get through? Do you think we could get out of here?"

"I can't believe we've never thought of that before," he replied. "Well, it's not like we've had the opportunity until now anyway. You're a genius." He took my face in his hands and kissed me, making my entire body tingle.

"Thanks for noticing," I whispered, a little breathless. I'd never felt for anyone the way I felt for Tate and it scared me a little. Having someone that you care so much for was dangerous. Anything could happen to them. I mean, we were ghosts, yeah, so not much could hurt us, but you never knew. Murder House had a way of inflicting pain on anyone, even ghosts.

We watched the group – three girls and three guys – drink and listen to music for what seemed like forever. I wanted nothing more than for them to use the board, scared that the others would scare them off before we had the chance to do anything.

Finally, one of the girls brought it out and started setting it up. One of the other girls was protesting, but everyone else called her a chicken and she shut up pretty fast.

"What do you think we have to do?" Tate asked, taking my hand in his and squeezing it.

I shook my head. "I have no idea. We'll just have to wing it."

As they finished setting up the board, Vivian appeared in front of them. They asked if any spirits were around and she bent to move the little magnifying glass piece. I guessed she spelled out "yes" because the teenagers all looked at each other in disbelief, taking turns accusing different people of cheating.

It was then that I noticed the blue orb floating on the ceiling, above the Ouija board. I pointed it out to Tate. We smiled at each other, happy to finally have a plan to get out of here. Who knew if it would work, but we had to try.

It wasn't close enough or big enough for us to do anything with yet. So we waited while the kids asked questions and Vivian answered. The orb would grow bigger with each answer, slowly making its way to the floor.

"Okay," the only blonde male kid said after Vivian had told them how many spirits were in the house. "I think it's time we stop and get out of here. I'm starting to get freaked out."

One of the girls laughed. "Oh, do you really believe in the old ghost stories surrounding this place, Chad? You're so gullible."

"I'm with Chad," another girl said. "We've taken this far enough. Let's not push it."

The girl who'd made fun of Chad frowned. "Fine, we'll stop. But we have to come back another time for more answers. I just have to close the portal before I put it up or they can come through."

Tate and I exchanged a glance. Without a word, we surged forward toward the orb, knowing we had to act fast. The closer I got to the orb, the more off-balance I felt, like I would fall over at any moment. Tate's grip on my arm kept me upright and tugged my forward, not letting go of me. Right before we got close enough to touch the orb, I felt a pushing sensation all through my body and, suddenly, Tate's hand was no longer wrapped around my arm. When I looked down, I realized that it was because we were no longer in our physical forms.

I was somehow floating near the ceiling, looking down at the girl as she tried closing the portal. When I looked to the side, I saw that another orb had appeared, orange this time. I don't know how, but I knew that it was Tate, in his spiritual form. I saw him for a split second before he went through the blue orb. I followed as fast as I could.

Going through it was disorienting. I had no control over myself, over where I went because I couldn't see where I was going. I felt a tug and suddenly –

I was back in my physical form, sitting on the floor with the kids. I looked down to find I had the magnifying glass piece of the Ouija board in my hands. But they weren't my hands. They were too skinny, the nails too long.

No, I wasn't in my body. I was in the smart-mouthed girl's body. I looked over the rest of the kids in the room to find Chad looking at his hands and body, just like I had a second ago. I didn't have to ask to know that Tate was in there.

"Nicole?" one of the other guys asked, looking right at me. "Are you alright? You look kind of pale."

I hesitated only a second before answering, "Oh, no, I'm fine. I have a bit of a headache and I'm tired, but I'm alright. Maybe I'm coming down with something."

Tate, in Chad's body, spoke up. "Yeah, me too. My head's been pounding the last ten minutes. You want to go out and get some fresh air?" That last part was directed at me and I nodded in response. "We'll meet you guys outside when you're done?"

One of the other guys rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you conveniently get sick right before we start packing up. Fine, go on outside. We don't need your help."

We didn't need to be told twice. I don't know about Tate, but I would have run to the door if the rest of the kids hadn't been in the room. As soon as we were out the door, we took each other's hand and started to sprint. We needed out of here like a drowning man needed air.

When we burst through the gate, we stayed exactly where we were. We weren't transported into the house like usual. I glanced over at Tate, a gigantic smile spreading over my face. He shortly returned the look before wrapping me in his arms and kissing me.

We were free.