Confrontation time! And something to know...I have now finished all 62 books in the Goosebumps series. Some were worth it, others were a waste. Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse.

The day after Visiting Day, Della breezed into my cabin in the afternoon as usual. Then she saw the nervous look on my face. "Brooke? What's wrong?"

"I have a question to ask you." I said shyly. "Please don't be offended if I'm wrong, but there are a lot of signs, and even my bunkies have noticed."

"What's the question?" Della asked, her face full of concern.

"Are you a ghost?"

I didn't know how to say it, so I just blurted it out, completely straight. I couldn't think of another way to ask. I wanted to be tactful, but how tactful could it be to ask someone if they'd been dead for the whole time you'd known them?

Della's face went even paler than usual. At least, that's what I thought. Then I realized, to my complete horror, that I could see straight through her!

The girl I'd been friends with was transparent. I could still see her, but the wall behind her was visible, too.

Slowly, she stood up and walked over to me, becoming solid again. "I suppose you should know the truth." she said softly. "Yes. I am a ghost. But it doesn't mean I'm not your friend, Brooke! You have to believe me on this! I guess I knew I couldn't keep it up forever. I haven't lied to you, I swear. Everything I said was true. My parents did send me here because of my chronic fear of drowning. I have come to camp every year since. It's just I was only alive for the first two-and-a-bit years. And I suppose I should admit it here. Remember when I told you about the curse of Camp Cold Lake? That's sort of where I come in. But I didn't mean any harm. I just wanted a friend – a buddy."

I paused, thinking. Then I asked another question. "How are you solid?"

Della shrugged. "Don't ask me about ghost powers. I just got them – I don't really understand why. My natural state is transparency or invisibility, but I can look as solid as I want. And the reason your bunkies haven't seen me, and the reason you only see me here and at the bonfire, is because I only show myself to the people I want to see me, when I want them to see me. You're the only one who sees me at all, this year. You know, I was around, that first day at camp. I noticed you almost immediately, and that's why I decided to befriend you."

I thought about it. "What about the ghost story? The one my bunkmates told me? They said you followed someone around last year."

Della sighed. "Yeah, that was Sarah. I told you about her, remember? I told you about how she ditched me because she wanted to be friends with her bunkies."

"So...how long have you been here?" I asked.

Della thought for a moment. "I'm stuck here all year around. I guess this would be my...twelfth summer? That's counting the ones I was alive for."

Something stirred in my memory. Something Meg had said. "What about the summer before last?" I asked. "Did you have a friend then? Meg said she had a friend who mentioned you."

Della looked sad for a moment. "Yeah – Briana. Thing was, we were never really friends. Briana didn't really like me. I think the ghost thing weirded her out. Is it any wonder I didn't tell you straightaway?"

That comment made things a little lighter. I reached out and touched her hand. She felt solid at the moment. My hand didn't go through her like I half-expected, even though she'd hugged me before. "I'm not weirded out." I said. "I mean, it's a shock, but I still believe you're my friend. And I believe it when you said you haven't lied to me. Why should I be scared of a ghost? I mean, you're still Della."

My friend looked almost scarily pleased. "Really? You really mean that, Brooke? You still want to be my friend?" She threw her arms around me. "I thought you might have gotten scared after I admitted it to you. You looked afraid."

"I'm not afraid of you." I assured her. "It's just...you know how you asked me to be your buddy? I might need a little more time to answer that question. I mean, we're friends forever, no doubt, but how many times can I keep coming back to camp? You wanted me to be your buddy forever."

Della's face fell. "I didn't explain that fully. The thing is, I need a buddy to leave this camp. I'm stuck here until I have a buddy. That's why I make a different friend, every year. It never works out. Last year, Briana stole Sarah. And although it's usually not as bad as that, it's never worked out before. But I need a buddy, someone who can stick by me forever. Then I can get out of this camp. If you agree to be my buddy, I could maybe come back to your home with you. Your parents would never have to know I was there. We could go to school together – I'd let the other kids see me – and I don't mind fitting in with your other friends. We could be just like sisters!"

I had to admit, the future Della was describing was very tempting. But I still had a feeling Della wasn't telling me everything. There was something she hadn't said.

So I said "Do I need to give you an answer now?"

"Of course not!" Della said. "I don't mind waiting, as long as you're still my friend. But if you're serious about not coming back next year, please make your mind up before camp ends."

After that, we fell to talking about usual things. Something had changed between us, though. I felt both more relaxed and more nervous around Della than I ever had before. I was really happy that she'd admitted to me the truth. But at the same time, knowing for sure that she was a ghost made me a little afraid. I knew virtually nothing about supernatural forces and the dead communicating with the living.

I decided I'd need to pump Meg and Jan for more information about the ghost story. So when Della was gone and they came back from afternoon swimming, I asked them.

"You know that ghost story you told me a couple weeks ago? There was some more info I wanted to know."

Meg looked unsure. "How come? We pretty much told you everything."

Then the memory came. "The story said that Sarah said Della wanted her to drown, right? Did she say anything else?"

Meg looked at Jan, saying "You knew her better than I did. What did she say?"

Jan paused, thinking. "Not really anything else." she admitted. "I think she kept saying that Della wanted her to drown so Sarah would be her buddy or something-"

I couldn't help interrupting. "She definitely said that?"

Jan shrugged. "I don't know. I think that's what Sarah said, but you'd have to talk to her to find out, and I don't know how to track her down."

Still, that was majorly scary. I had thought there was something Della wasn't telling me, but I hadn't guessed that. Did that mean...if I was her buddy...

Did I have to die?

I know, a lot of information in a very short space of time. Della has no intention of letting Brooke leave the camp alive. But she also knows if she doesn't give Brooke that choice, it'll be very unlikely Brooke will still want to be her buddy. Her only choices are getting Brooke killed accidentally-on-purpose, or have her commit suicide.