In just a few hours, Carlita had worked past having to practically throw a tantrum in order to turn the pages of a book. Now she only needed to glare at the book in order to flip a page. The pages still flipped too roughly, and every once in a while she even tore a page. Currently, she was attempting to turn pages gradually. A quick, angry page turn, as it turned out, was much easier than a slow, contemplative page turn. One page would float up, quaver at the peak of the turn, then float back down to its former place. Another page would reach the top normally, but then the next page would begin to turn before the last page would finish. If Carlita was becoming frustrated she was very good at hiding it, as her face retained an expression of icy focus.
Where Carlita's eyes were focused on the task at hand, Ryan's eyes were focused on Carlita. It was a focus so intense that he barely blinked, barely even moved. Every movement caused a slight flicker of his pupils.
And then Carlita turned; their eyes met, and his pupils constricted.
"Let's take a break," said Carlita. "I've got something to ask you."
"Anything," said Ryan.
"How did you and Lisa meet?"
Ryan blinked a few times. "We were both shopping for clothes, and she approached me."
"She approached you?" asked Carlita.
Ryan nodded.
"But I thought you only went out with her to get at me," said Carlita. "That makes no sense."
"I…I was staring at her. And she noticed," said Ryan. "It's because I saw her talking to herself…But she wasn't talking to herself, she was talking to a space beside her. I knew somebody was there. I knew she wasn't insane, and I wasn't insane."
"Wait a minute…" said Carlita. "What do you mean somebody was there?"
Ryan's head jerked up, and he brought a hand to his forehead. "I forgot to tell you! Oh my God! I'm so stupid…How could I? I was just so involved…"
"Okay, come on, what are you talking about?" Carlita said, her tone agitated.
"It was Amber. She came back, like you did," Ryan explained.
"What?" Carlita said quietly.
"I knew I had to latch on to Lisa if I wanted to find out more about the spirit that was following her, but I didn't want to scare her away," Ryan continued. "She ran off anyway, but she mentioned that she was going to a prom soon. I drove all over town. I went to seven different proms. But I finally found her. That was the night you died. I saw it!"
"Okay, but what about Amber?" Carlita persisted.
Ryan turned his gaze to the floor. His words sounded slow and deliberate. "After you died Lisa was all shaken up. She stayed up late telling me everything. I was surprised that she was telling me all this, since she barely knew me, but I didn't discourage her. That's how I found out that Amber had completed her task and had left that night. I was disappointed. But I decided to stick around. I didn't want to give up so easily." Ryan's voice was quiet. It was the quiet of someone sharing his deepest secrets, his inflections both tentative and trembling. "I was right to wait, because I found out that you had returned when I accompanied Lisa to her filming project." At this, Ryan turned his gaze toward Carlita. "I had to hide my feelings. I had to bide my time. I collected objects for my own séance, and I finally, finally succeeded." He smiled. "It was beautiful. You were beautiful."
Carlita held his gaze, then she nodded. "I'm glad…that you went to all the trouble. Now let's keep on practicing."
Her focus turned to the tattered books once again.