Hello all. Sorry this took so long...school started. Ugh.

Pens in Potatoes- Don't worry, they will...sooner or later.

Word of warning: This chapter is not that exciting. It's kind of a filler chapter. But I hope you like it anyways. Alrighty, then. Here's chapter four!

"...and then, he said he wasn't leaving until I was dead too, so obviously I had no choice but to kick his ass."

"Obviously." CeeCee cut in, mocking me. It was lunch time on Monday, and I was telling CeeCee and Adam about my first encounter with a really violent ghost. I had filled Adam in on everything that I had told CeeCee when we all went to the beach on Sunday, and he thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. I didn't find my life half as funny, but there's Adam for you. So since then, I had been entertaining them with my New York mediation stories.

"Shut up." I replied, very wittily, I might add. Not. "He wasn't that hard to beat, either, even though I was only ten. One good kick in the chest changed his mind about me, and after that he left me alone."

"You were ten? Jeez, remind me again never to mess with you, Suze." Adam said, shuddering.

"Hey, Adam? Don't ever mess with me." I scowled at him playfully, and he pretended to hide behind CeeCee. Just then, Paul sauntered up to our table and sat down next to me. I groaned and scooted as far away from him as I could without falling off the bench, and CeeCee and Adam both glared at him.

"What's with you two?" He asked, looking confused.

"Oh, we were just thinking about how much of a dickhead you are." CeeCee replied pleasantly, and I snorted.

"Suze, what's up? Did you tell them...the truth?" Paul asked dubiously.

"Yeah, I did. Something wrong? Are you here on business or do you just want your ass kicked?"

"Well, I was just thinking that we should probably set up a specific time to have your lessons. You know, so you can avoid me as much as possible during school hours because we won't have to spend time talking about it." He grinned at me. "What do you say?"

"Sure, whatever." I sighed. "When were you thinking?"

"How about Mondays after school? I'll drive you."

"OK, fine...hey wait. Today's Monday!" I said.

"Yeah. Meet me out front after seventh period, OK?" And he was gone before I could reply. CeeCee looked at me curiously.

"Why do you put up with that? I mean, he's just making your life miserable."

"I told you, I'm keeping Jesse safe. There's no telling what Paul could—and would—do to Jesse if I don't keep him in check. Also, as much as I hate to admit it, a part of me is really curious. Paul is telling me that I could do all these amazing things, and I kind of want to find out if it's true."

"Yeah, well, if you don't watch out, Paul will want you to do some other things too, if you know what I'm saying." Adam scowled. I laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry, dad. I'm a tough little girl. I can take care of myself." I said it to reassure Adam and CeeCee, but deep down, I wanted to reassure myself, too. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. I sincerely hoped that was true.

Wow. Déja-vu. Wasn't I just here? It was 2:45 in the afternoon, and I was back in Paul Slater's room. Everything was exactly the same as it had been before; no clothes on the floor, no papers out of place, if it weren't for the fact that there was no dust anywhere, I would say that nobody ever set foot into this place. Was Paul just a really, really clean person? I guess so. Paul looked at me.

"What are you thinking so intently?"

"I could never, ever be this organized! How do you keep your room so spotless?" I asked.

"I just like my things to be neat and organized. I always know where everything is, and if there's no mess, I don't have to clean anything up." Why did I get the feeling that he wasn't just talking about his room? I dismissed it, however, and sat down on the edge of his giant gray bed.

"So, O Great and Glorious Shifter, what are we learning today?" I joked, braiding my hair absently. Paul grinned at what I called him, and suddenly disappeared from my sight. I gasped, and looked frantically around his room. Then I screamed as I heard a voice in my ear coming from on the bed behind me.

"Today, we're going to work on materializing." Paul whispered. I whirled around and glared at him. I acted angry because I didn't want him to know how much he scared me...and impressed me. Even though I hated my teacher—I did hate him, right?—I really was excited to learn this.

"Ok, like I told you before, there's not really much to materializing. Just picture the place you want to shift to, and you're there. The only thing you have to remember is to shift your whole body. To do that you have to really concentrate on your physical body, your skin, your hair, whatever. When you're just beginning, it helps to pinch yourself or something, and concentrate on the pain. As you know, while your soul knows pain, it can't physically feel it; thinking about it will help you concentrate on your body while shifting." It didn't sound very easy to me, but what the hell. I'd give it a try. I pinched myself in the arm, and thought about Paul's dresser on the other side of the room. Suddenly I found myself sitting on it, facing him. I looked down, and saw that I had taken my whole body with me. I looked up, smiling in relief and excitement, and saw that the look on Paul's face mirrored mine exactly.

"See, Suze? You're a much more powerful shifter than you think. I couldn't even do that on my first try! That was awesome!" My smile grew, and I forgot my misgivings about my host for a second.

"Really? You think so?" I asked excitedly. Paul nodded, and said,

"Try again." I did, and ended up with my body slumped on the floor in front of the dresser, and my ghost—or soul, technically—standing dejectedly by the huge walk-in closet. Paul smirked, but told me that it takes practice to get it right every time. I materialized back into my body, and woke up with an awful headache. I groaned, and looked to Paul, who explained.

"The headache happens every time your soul is separated from your body, not just when you shift to the Shadowland. Your body can't live without your soul for long, so when they're separated it's painful. So normally materializing and dematerializing won't give you the headaches, unless you make a mistake and shift out of your body, like you just did."

I made a few more successful materializations that afternoon, but still went home with a pounding head, wondering what we were going to work on next week.

OK, you can stop throwing things now. This story does have a plot, I swear! I promise next chapter will be much more exciting...I might even end it on a cliffhanger...I've always wanted to write one! Haha I know I'm a loser. Don't worry, we'll get to the good stuff soon...unless you don't review, then I might not write another chapter at all! So review. NOW.

By the way, my birthday is tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 11) in case anyone cares...which I know you don't, but I'm excited about it. I'm finally gonna be 16!!!!