A/N: Hey there crazy cats! Thank you for being patient with me, guys! I really appreciate it. You have no idea. Anyway, I have some direction…I've even planned it all out till chapter 10. The only thing is that it really doesn't have a definite mold. There are things I want to include but I don't know when and how they'll happen. Well, enough technical story-writing junk…

"Susannah," I heard a voice, so distant, call me.

Jesse…he was so far away. I was riding on a bus, each mile bringing me farther away from him. I guess it was good going to sleep instead of staying awake, only to watch the scenery pass by. It made me nearly sick to imagine how long the road that trailed behind was.

"Oh, Susannah…"

Maybe he would visit me. Gosh, it had only been a few hours and I already missed him more than anyone else! I could only imagine how it would be, seeing him again.

I could see Jesse standing there, holding his arms out invitingly to me. "Querida," he would coo, making my legs turn into a glob of pudding. I would force my jelly-legs over to him and flop into his strong, muscular arms. He would draw me closer to him, running his hand down my back soothingly. And then…we would both look into each other's eyes, not even having to mutter a single word. And we'd know exactly what the other wanted to say. Then we'd share another spine-tingling, mind-numbing, knee-trembling kiss. Sigh…

"It's time to wake up…"

I felt someone plant a gentle kiss on my forehead. I let out a sigh and fluttered my eyes open dreamily while a huge smile broke out on my face…

But then it completely wiped off…

"Eeep! P-Paul how did you…" I trailed off as I noticed that the bus was totally empty.

"Calm down. You've been asleep the whole bus ride, including dinner. We're at the hotel now," Paul explained as he kneeled down in the aisle, making him now at eye level with me.

I stretched my arms out widely and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. How could I sleep through the whole thing? I guess I should refrain from all-night packing from now on. My stomach let out this huge, embarrassing growl. Paul chuckled and from behind his back, he pulled out a gigantic dinner roll. I grabbed the roll from his hands and munched down before my stomach could start yelling again.

"Let's get out of here," Paul beckoned as he got up and headed down the aisle toward the exit.

Something felt weird. It just felt like something was out of place…something wasn't quite right. I climbed out of my chair and moved toward the bus door, using the chairs to support me as I went by. Paul held out his hand and I stepped off of the bus. I expected everyone to be already in the hotel, or maybe even waiting on me, possibly in order to get a good laugh at my prolonged nap. Everyone was there all right. But no one was laughing. No one was even moving…not in the slightest bit. Time was, like, frozen or something. I looked at Paul, who flashed me another one of those dangerous toothy smiles.

I tore past Paul and searched around my classmates for an answer. Mr. Walden stood still with his whistle in his mouth, ready to shush the junior class. Kelly was applying some lip-gloss while holding a compact mirror in her manicured hands. Brad was hunched over, probably from laughing at a disgusting joke one of his perverted friends told.

I scanned the silent and motionless crowd for CeeCee and Adam. They were high-fiving one another, their hands clapped together. The look in CeeCee's violet eyes was priceless. A huge smile was spread across her face. A hint of crimson shone through her creamy white skin. Adam's mouth was open with joy. His glance was directed right at CeeCee. They were both sharing joy in who knows what. But they both seemed pretty happy.

Besides all of those times when I was with Jesse, I had to say this was one of the best moments of my life. It was filled with jubilation and anticipation of events coming. I didn't want it to end. I didn't want to go back into the world where I had to deal with ghosts or shifting. And even though this was incredibly strange, I wasn't afraid anymore.

"Cool, eh?" Paul's deep voice echoed behind me. I spun around quickly and nearly jumped when I realized he was only two feet away.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked, my heartbeat quickening in pace suddenly. I heard the thumping of my heart echo in the silence. Oh great, Paul could probably hear it too.

"I knew that'd wake you up," Paul commented as he took a step closer. That well known half smirk graced his face again.

"W-what…this?" I asked cooly as I motioned to my frozen classmates.

Paul chuckled heartily and said, "Nevermind. Let's get your stuff."

Paul took my arm and ushered me behind the bus and unloaded my luggage from the bottom of the bus. He offered to carry it, but you know me. Never let a man do something you are perfectly capable of doing yourself. I followed him back and noticed the scene was now full of life and motion. Time was no longer standing still.

In seeing the joy of my classmates frozen in time, I thought everything would be okay. But now that it time continued on as normal, I felt as if it were a threat. Each minute, even each second, could possibly yield new danger. And it didn't help that the guy that could ruin most anyone's life (and afterlife) was only walking about a foot away from me.

"Did you have a nice nap, Miss Simon?" Mr. Walden asked as he dropped his whistle from his mouth.

"Why, yes I did. Thank you, Mr. Walden," I answered politely.

"Suze, over here!" Adam called as he waved his arm in the air. I smiled and joined him and CeeCee as Mr. Walden blew his whistle.

"May I have your attention please, juniors?" Mr. Walden asked, "Once you get your room keys, you may go up to your rooms and unpack. You will have some free time afterwards to do whatever you please, as long as you stay on hotel property."

Everyone began hooting and hollering. Adam said "Score!" while he held up a hand. CeeCee gave him a high-five. Brad was laughing hysterically and Kelly was reapplying her lip-gloss. Wait a minute…déjà vu! A smile crept on my face as Mr. Walden blew his whistle again.

"Let me finish," Mr. Walden continued when everyone quieted down. "There are a few rules…not guidelines, rules. First of all, please don't play with the elevators. Secondly, no going to rooms belonging to members of the opposite sex. If we catch you, you will be immediately sent home and quite possibly expelled. No loitering in the hallways because there might be other guests on our floor. Remember, we are representing the junior class of the Juniperro Serra Mission Academy, so be on your best behavior. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: curfew is at 11 p.m. We will be checking each room to make sure you're there."

Everyone let out a groan.

"Enough, ladies and gentlemen. Mrs. Tarentino, would you please pass out the room keys?" Mr. Walden asked as he gave Mrs. Tarentino a box.

"What kind of hotel is this?" Adam asked when he was given his key. "They don't even have those high-tech card key thingies."

"This place must be kind of old," CeeCee replied as she studied the small golden key that was given to her.

Oh no. Oh great. Oh man. Why did we have to get placed in an old hotel?

"Suze, are you okay? What's wrong?" CeeCee asked, taking note of the change in my expression.

"Oh, it's nothing really. Old places kind of freak me out is all," I explained.

"What? Are you afraid of ghosts or something?" Paul asked. I could feel him step behind me. What did he think he was trying to do? Tell the whole world about my 'abilities' or something?

"You could say that…Yes I am," I answered cooly. I couldn't force myself to face him, in fear of looking him clear in the eye. Maybe because I feared that if I did, that would somehow confirm that I was afraid, not of ghosts, but of Paul Slater himself.

"You could've fooled me," Paul retorted, his voice maintaining its deep calm. I felt him walk away in a breeze.

"Don't pay any attention to him, Suze," Adam said comfortingly as he patted my shoulder.

"Oh don't worry," I told him as I looked back at Paul, "I hadn't planned on it."

A/N: I hadn't planned on ending it there, but now it seems like the best place. Sorry it took so long. Thank you all you lovelies who reviewed last time. You guys rock! The title has its reasons, but it may take a few chapters to get into that. 3 more to be exact…hopefully. I'm so tired. School is stressful because finals are coming up. Oh, and all this week we have Drum Major Tryouts/ Leadership training for marching band next year. But after finals are over May 27th, I get to start my sixteenth summer! Of course, mine won't be half as eventful as Suze's was, considering her sort of boyfriend almost got exorcised thanks to a certain hottie she met at work that happened to share her abilities. Now that would be interesting…

I'm starting chapter 5 right now!

Hayley