Chapter Two
"Kimi is being mind controlled by some evil pioneer ghost boy and you're eating lunch?"
"Calm down, Chuckie; you're starting to sound like Dil." Tommy pocketed the change handed to him by the cashier, shaking his head at his frantic best friend. Chuckie had been ranting incoherently about Kimi ever since they had met up in the hallway on their way to the lunchroom.
"This is serious, Tommy!" Chuckie exclaimed in frustration, following quickly as Tommy carried his tray across the crowded cafeteria towards where Phil and Lil sat waiting for them. "I was in Pangborn's office all morning! Anything could have happened to her by now!"
Tommy placed his food on the table as the two boys sat down across from their friends. "What's up with that, anyway?"
"I was trying to save my sister and—"
"Say no more." Tommy sighed and turned his attention to his lunch.
"What are you guys doing?" Chuckie slammed his fist against the table as he regarded each of his friends in turn. "We have to help Kimi!"
"No offense, Chuckie, but you do tend to… overreact a bit when it comes to these things," said Lil, choosing her words carefully. "I'm sure Kimi can take care of herself."
Tommy nodded in agreement; hadn't Chuckie learned to trust his sister yet? Kimi had probably just been trying to make the best of a bad situation by gathering information. Any minute now, she'd walk into the cafeteria and explain everything. Then they could all focus on getting to the bottom of the real issue here—why Bean was suddenly hanging around their school.
"You guys don't understand! You didn't see the way she was sitting there talking to him! I-I tried to stop it but…" Chuckie trailed off dejectedly.
"C'mon, Chuckie," Phil said, scooping up a sporkful of macaroni and taking a sloppy bite. "You're always spazzin' out over something."
Chuckie stood up angrily. "I am not spazzing out!" he shouted, earning irritated glares from all across the lunchroom. He made a noise of embarrassment and fell back to his seat.
Tommy looked back and forth between the door and his watch, finding it more difficult not to worry. Maybe Chuckie was actually right this time; Kimi was a little late, and Dil was also nowhere in sight. Tommy had been trying to make sense of what happened at Camp Everwood all morning, desperately curious to know if Bean's motives were sinister. Until he got the chance to properly confront him, there was no way to be sure…
"Just try to cool it a little, OK, Chuckie?" Tommy said. "If she doesn't show up soon, we'll go looking for her."
Chuckie's expression brightened somewhat. "Oh, thanks, Tommy; I knew you'd help! Just don't expect me to sit around here and wait much longer…"
Tommy and the twins went back to eating, leaving Chuckie to watch the doorway for any sign of their missing friends. After a few moments of silence, his startled gasp caught their attention.
"Look, Tommy!" Chuckie gestured wildly towards the cafeteria's entrance, grabbing Tommy's arm and giving it a rough shake. "There she is!"
Turning from his seat, Tommy saw Bean surreptitiously slip into the room and head for a free table. He was flanked by both Dil and Kimi, who were chatting animatedly despite his lack of response.
"That's…different," Lil said, cocking her head to the side in obvious confusion.
"See? See?" Chuckie continued to point hysterically.
Tommy blinked as he stared on, thoroughly perplexed. He wasn't surprised that Dil had taken to tagging along with Bean (though he certainly didn't approve), but what could Kimi possibly be thinking? She had to realize what a risk she was taking. Perhaps she felt offended by whatever Chuckie had done that landed him in Pangborn's office all morning. She could be impossibly stubborn when it came to asserting her independence.
"You know, Kimi wasn't in the woods with us that night," Lil began thoughtfully. "She must not realize what she's getting herself into."
"I can't just sit here; I've got to get over there and do something!" Chuckie started to stand up.
"No!" the others cried in unison.
"Why not?" Chuckie seemed genuinely surprise by their reaction and sat back down. "You guys see what he's done! I have to rescue her!"
Phil laughed. "Yeah, like you 'rescued her' from Z? Face it, Chuckie; if you freak out on her now, you're only gonna make things worse."
"This is completely different!"
"Maybe," Tommy said, "but I think Kimi would take it better if you let someone else handle this one."
"Like who?"
Lil cleared her throat. "It's obvious that this situation requires a woman's touch."
"Then why are you gettin' u—ow!" Phil's laughter was cut off by Lil stomping on his foot.
"Good call." Tommy nodded to her. "But be careful. And while you're at it, see if you can pry my brother away from him, too."
"Will do!" Lil smiled, grabbed her tray, and headed off.
Chuckie groaned and buried his face in his hands. "This just keeps getting worse and worse…"
"Chill, Chuckie," Tommy said. "Everything will be OK, and once Lil brings Kimi back to her senses we can find out what's really going on here."
Chuckie said nothing and did not bother to look up. Tommy and Phil looked at one another and exchanged shrugs, finishing up their meals as they awaited Lil's return.
"Is this the greatest day ever, or what?" asked Dil, who had made his way to their group, as he leaned over the north end of the table and grinned madly. "I mean, I always knew this school was haunted, but I wasn't expecting an actual physical manifestation until at least seventh grade!"
Tommy picked up his milk carton and took a drink before regarding his brother with a slight smile. "Figured you'd think so. How'd you manage to drag yourself away from Ghost Boy?"
Dil sat down in Lil's former spot, his expression a bit more pensive as he nodded his head in Bean's direction. "He's a little…distracted at the moment."
Curious, Tommy spun around to get a better look. Kimi and Lil were now sitting on either side of Bean, obliviously talking over each other and smiling flirtatiously.
The milk carton slid from Tommy's hands and clattered to the floor. He was dimly aware of Phil's startled gasp and Chuckie's shrieking, but the utter shock of the situation refused to allow him to react. This was getting too weird. Sure, he'd seen both girls do some pretty crazy things when it came to guys before, but how could they not realize how dangerous this was? And deadness aside, what was so special about this Bean guy, anyway?
Tommy turned back to Dil, completely baffled and unable to speak.
"Don't ask me, bro. He said what happened at camp was just a prank and they totally bought it!" Dil shrugged. "I mean, sure, not everybody's going to be open-minded about the whole 'ghost thing,' but he can't expect us to believe that."
Phil shoved his tray back. "That does it! I'm not lettin' that guy get near my sister!"
"Hold up, Phil!" Tommy cautioned, holding up his hand. "Remember how mad Kimi was when we tried to keep her from Z?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So, imagine adding Lil."
Phil winced. "Ouch. Not pretty."
"If we can't confront them, what can we do Tommy?" Chuckie asked, drooping over the table miserably.
Tommy stared off, deep in thought. If only there was some way to show them what a liar Bean was; to remind them of the truth…. He grinned slyly as a plan began to formulate—of course it would work!
"He might be able to trick them for now, but we've got actual proof on our side," said Tommy, watching his friends' faces light up as they caught on to his idea.
"You really think that'll work?" Phil asked.
"It has to! We'll get everyone over at my house after school today for a screening of my movie. After they see that again, everything will go back to normal."
I hope so, anyway….
x x x
"Do you guys realize you're being completely ridiculous?" Lil asked, crossing her arms in annoyance.
The entire gang (minus Dil, whose mother had picked him up earlier for his yoga lesson) stood on the sidewalk in front of the school. School had ended a few minutes earlier, but working on the Science Club display had been all but forgotten. Tommy and the others—who had been acting incredibly weird all day—were now insisting that they all head over to his house to watch one of his old films. Lil was normally more supportive of her friend's hobby, but not when he was using it as an excuse to attack a virtually defenseless new kid.
"Us?" Phil protested. "You two are the ones droolin' over some dead guy!"
"That is so immature, Phillip." Lil rolled her eyes. Why couldn't the others just accept that they'd been fooled? Were they really dense enough to think that one dumb photograph made someone a ghost?
"Yeah," Kimi agreed. "I thought at least you had a sense of humor."
"Come on," said Lil. "Let's just drop this and tell Mr. Beaker we want to work on our project."
Tommy shook his head. "No way—this is more important."
"Might I remind you that if we don't finish the Science Club display soon we'll be stuck going to Open House?" Lil stepped towards him challengingly. "The same one Angelica will be singing in!"
"We'll finish it, I promise. But only after you and Kimi have seen my movie."
"Only on one condition," Kimi said. "If we agree to watch your movie again, you guys have to promise to leave Bean alone and let this whole thing go."
Tommy looked at Chuckie and Phil who nodded their approval. "Deal. Now let's get out of here."
Lil hesitated, craning her head to watch the different groups of students pouring out from the school building. She'd been hoping to find Bean and walk him home, utilizing the excuse of wanting to show him around, but there was no sign of him anywhere. She supposed that was for the best; it would have been impossible to get him to herself with everyone else here.
Kimi walked to Lil's side and nudged her. "Come on, might as well get this over with."
Lil nodded and the group began the walk to Tommy's house. She and Kimi hung back several feet away from the others, glaring or turning their heads away in anger whenever anyone dared to look back at them.
"Kimi…" Lil whispered once she was sure the others weren't listening. "We can't let Tommy show that movie."
"I know, once Chuckie and Phil see it they'll be even worse."
"Yeah, and I'm sure Bean's having a hard enough time adjusting to a new school without them harassing him all the time."
"But what can we do?"
"You come up with something to get everyone out of Tommy's room and I'll take care of the rest." Lil looked down, feeling overcome by shame for even suggesting such a thing. She shook her head, steeling herself. Betrayal or not, it had to be done. It was nearly impossible to describe, but nothing had ever made her feel like this before. She knew, just from their conversation at lunch, that there was something special about Bean. She had to look out for him, no matter what the cost.
Kimi remained silent, apparently lost in thought. When they approached Tommy's house she finally said, "All right, I'll do my best."
Lil forced herself to smile. She was glad she at least had Kimi on her side through all this craziness, even if the way she had been throwing herself at Bean earlier was annoying.
They walked into the house and headed up to Tommy's room room, quickly abandoning their strained attempts at conversation.
Tommy dashed to his closet and began digging through his video collection, leaving the rest of the group to stand around awkwardly. Lil pulled her backpack from her shoulders and pretended to be looking for something. She put it back on without zipping it up, smiling with relief that no one seemed to notice.
"Found it!" Tommy thrust the tape over his head triumphantly and carried it towards his VCR.
Lil turned to Kimi, her expression distorted with panic. Wasn't she going to do something?
"Wait!" Kimi yelled much louder than necessary as she pushed herself past the others to the center of the room.
Tommy stopped as he and everyone else regarded her with confusion. "Uh… what?"
Kimi blushed, hesitating a little. "I uh, just remembered that I promised Dad I'd stop by the Java Lava right after school."
"But I thought he said we could take this week off," Chuckie argued.
"He did, but this morning he told me there's some convention in town and that he might need some extra help." Kimi smiled, her acting becoming much more convincing as she got into it. "I know this movie is important to you guys, but I promised my dad I'd go straight over there. He probably doesn't even need me. If so we can grab some smoothies and come straight back here, OK?"
"Well…" Chuckie looked off uncertainly. "I wouldn't want to let Dad down."
Tommy sighed in defeat and set the tape on top of the VCR. "Fine. Let's just hurry and get over there."
Lil followed as the gang started to leave, purposely letting her open backpack slip onto the ground. Papers spilled free from her folders, scattering across the floor along with a few pens and a hairbrush.
Lil gasped in mock-frustration, reaching down to gather her things. Chuckie, who had been standing closest to her at the time, knelt down to help. He picked up a blank sheet of paper and offered it to her.
"I can do it myself!" Lil screamed, roughly yanking the paper out of his hands. She glared fiercely at Phil and Tommy, daring them to do the same.
Chuckie jerked his hand back as if bitten, muttering an apology.
"I'll catch up in a bit," Lil said, forcing as much sweetness into her voice as she could muster. Kimi winked at her as she and the others headed out in the hall.
Once they were out of sight, Lil quickly stuffed her belongings in her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She peered out into the hall, watching as the last of them disappeared from view down the stairs.
She had to act fast.
She grabbed a piece of tape from a dispenser on Tommy's desk and dashed over to where he had left the video. She placed the tape securely over the hole where the tab had once been, stuck it in the VCR, and pressed record. Stealing it would have been too obvious, but she had to make sure no one could ever see that movie again. Maybe this way Tommy would think it had been an accident.
Intense guilt immediately crashed through her; she knew how hurt Tommy would be by this, could she really go through with it? There was still time to stop the VCR before the whole movie was ruined…
She forced the thought from her mind. Tommy may have been one of her oldest friends, but nothing was more important than protecting Bean. There was no time to hesitate now; if she didn't hurry downstairs the others would start getting suspicious.
I'm doing him a favor really, she assured herself as she rushed to catch up with her friends. Once Tommy realizes what a cool guy Bean is, he'll thank me for this.