Author's Note: Look, I actually managed to get 2 chapters up in one day. Weird, huh? ^.^ Especially since I'm not known for my consistency...oh well. Read. Review. ^.^ *******

"Oh, these are great," Paige heard a voice say from the kitchen. "I haven't had these in FOREVER!" The statement was followed by the somewhat loud sounds of crunching and slurping.

Paige wearily walked from her bedroom into her kitchen, still wearing her Garfield pajamas and barefoot. She was greeted by the sight of George hunched over the table, eating a large bowl of Lucky Charms with gusto. Milk and a few odd bits of cereal were splashed around him on the table and the cereal box sat before him, with the back of the box facing him so that he could look at the colorful puzzles on it while he ate. "Oh, hi, Paige," he said upon seeing the oboe player. "Want some? I think there's enough in here for another bowl." He shoved a bite in his mouth and tilted the box with his free hand to peer inside.

"What EXACTLY do you think you're doing?" Paige asked George irritably. "You're eating my cereal! You're dead, you don't even have to eat!" She snatched the box from him and poured herself a bowl. "And you woke me up, you noisy--"

"I don't have to eat, but I can," George replied brightly. "And at least I saved you some. Give me a break, will you? I haven't sitten in a kitchen and eaten Lucky Charms since the morning before I took the long sleep." He grinned at her, then dug into his food again, chewing with gusto.

Paige sighed and sat across from him at the table, taking her food with her. "You are one disgustingly noisy eater," she told him, eating her breakfast.

"Ouch!" George replied good-naturedly. "How is it that you're in such a grumpy mood on a day when there's no school? Maybe you're sick." He leaned across the table and placed one cool, ghostly hand on her forehead. "I ought to drive you to the hospital," he told her, a look of mock seriousness on his face.

Paige smiled...she couldn't help it. George's good mood was infectuous. "With *your* driving record?" she asked him. "No way! I'd end up floating two inches off the floor before we even got out of the driveway." She hurried to finish her cereal. "Got big plans today," she told him between mouthfulls. "We're going to see the Northville High Annual Rummage Sale."

George looked at her skeptically. "Rummage Sale?" he repeated, his brown- grey eyes looking at her with keen disbelief. "We're going to go spend your money on people's old junk? Please! Let's go shopping somewhere that at least has *new* stuff."

"Old stuff is great," Paige replied. "And maybe we'll see Brad there, too." She sighed happily as she thought of the football player who had actually called her last night. He'd not only talked to her about the movie (which she hadn't exactly enjoyed...but what did she think they were going to go see, 'Riding in Cars with Boys'?) but had also mentioned that he and his cheerleading girlfriend, Jessica, had broken up and he was single again.

"Brad," George repeated, grimacing. "What do you see in him, anyway? He's a big bulk of muscle with little brainpower and less personality." He sulkily sat on the kitchen counter, folding his arms over his chest.

Paige grinned. "Are you *jealous*?" she asked him, her green eyes lighting up.

George looked at Paige anxiously. "No!"

"Yes you are!" she crowed. "Jealous, jealous, jealous!" Paige stuck out her tongue at George, who blushed. "I'm going to go get dressed," she told him. "If you're coming with me, meet me at the front door in five minutes." She ran upstairs and George floated through the kitchen to wait at the front door. ******* "It's junk, Paige, don't buy it!" George muttered in Paige's ear. "Look at it...the paint's chipping off! It's plastic!" The ghost hovered urgently behind Paige's left ear, glaring at the pendant held in Paige's hand as if it had offended him. His oboe-playing charge was seriously considering buying it...and George, as an 'expert' on the supernatural, held quite firmly that the smooth rose quartz crescent moon was as likely a source of magic as a stale dinner roll.

"Shut up, George," the oboe player muttered from the side of her mouth. "I know what I'm doing. And it's my money anyhow, you old woman." She shot the ghost a green-eyed glare.

The person behind the stall looked startled. "Did you just call me an old woman?" the young Hispanic girl asked, her silky black brows shooting up.

Paige's cream-colored, freckled cheeks turned pink. "No," she replied hurriedly. "I was just...er...talking to myself." She glared again at George, who pretended that he didn't notice. "Here, I'll take it," she told the girl, handing her the five dollars being asked for the pendant. She then fastened its silver chain around her neck.

"Thank you! It's very lucky, really!" the girl called after Paige as she left. George muttered something under his breath.

"Let's go get a snack from Go-Mart, huh?" she asked George once they had left the Rummage Sale. "I'm dying of thirst." She stepped off the sidewalk and hurriedly crossed the blazing parking lot, grateful that she still had some money left over.

"Aah..." George and Paige both sighed simultaneously as the door opened and a blast of frigid air wafted over them. "I love air-conditioning," George sighed appreciatively. He lingered over the candy bars as Paige headed for the coolers where the 20-ounce bottles of soda were kept. "Can I have one?" he asked Paige as she strode over to see what he was looking at.

"Sure," Paige said. "Just point to it so people don't think that I'm making candy levitate now, too." George pointed at a Butterfinger and Paige grabbed a Snickers bar for herself. Scarcely had she started for the register before she bumped into Brad.

"Paige, hey!" Brad said, smiling down at her. "I see that you've got good tastes."

"Snickers are my favorite," she replied with an idiotic grin.

"I was talking about the Butterfinger," Brad replied, confused. "Hey, would you get me one, too? I'm short on cash and I'd be *so* grateful."

"Sure," Paige sighed, her green eyes dreamy, while George scowled darkly and stormed off down the aisle. Paige grabbed another Butterfinger and cheerfully paid for it, then handed it to Brad.

"Thanks," he commented with a smile, ruffling her hair again before walking out the door.

Paige stared after him with a somewhat stupid look on her face before shaking herself and resuming her walk home. George sulkily floated beside her. "I can't believe you actually paid for that candy bar, only to give it to that buffoon," he said, biting into his butterfinger viciously.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Paige replied, rubbing the rose quartz amulet that hung around her neck. "See? Lucky already."