Chapter Four

Lunchtime, as Chuckie had once observed, was generally regarded as the least boring activity of the school day. It was a chance for everyone to gather together with their friends, momentarily free of the stress of classes and teachers. It was a time to laugh and discuss the day's activities; the one real opportunity they had to relax and simply enjoy being kids before the final bell rang to set them free.

Today, it was a council of war.

Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Dil sat gathered around one of the circular tables, the lunch trays in front of them all but forgotten. Thus far all of their plans for confronting Bean had been met with nothing but disappointment. He'd been successfully avoiding them all day, meeting their accusations with feigned innocence and silence. Lil and Kimi were never far away, and he was too aware that their presence left the boys with no choice but to back off. Both because they didn't want to risk alienating their friends and out of fear of somehow falling under the same spell the girls had. Even Dil's attempts at getting close to Bean had failed, and he was obviously hurt at being rebuffed by someone he'd once considered to be his best friend.

"So what now?" Phil asked, finally breaking the silence that had reigned over the table since lunch began.

"Well," Tommy said. "Sending Lil to check him out was obviously a bad idea."

"Duh." Phil crossed his arms and glared at him from across the table.

Tommy shot him an annoyed look but otherwise paid no attention to the comment. Sending Lil to investigate Bean might have ended in disaster, but that didn't mean there was anything wrong with the idea itself. It was now apparent that they weren't going to be able to confront him without turning Lil and Kimi completely against them. What they needed was someone on the inside.

"But we could still use someone on his side to find out what he's up to."

"Like who?" Chuckie fidgeted and looked around the room nervously.

"Don't look at me," said Dil as he crumbled a brownie into his mashed potatoes with a disturbing amount of expertise. "I'm still reeling from the abandonment!"

Ignoring them, Tommy scanned the cafeteria. The outfit threw him off at first, but after a few moments his eyes locked onto his target. Sitting next to Chetwyn, he had a green vest pulled over his white tee-shirt. His hair was neatly combed and parted, and a pair of glasses with no lenses rested on his nose. An open physics book lay in front of him, a bored expression on his face as he pretended to be interested in reading it.

Trevor.

With a mischievous grin his friends knew could only mean trouble, Tommy stood up. "Come on, Phil. I think I've got a plan."

Phil hesitated before following but soon gave in and the two of them made their way across the lunchroom, casually coming to a stop a few feet from where Chetwyn and Trevor were sitting.

Phil traced Tommy's gaze and regarded him with a slightly confused expression. "What—?"

Tommy waved him off and dramatically pointed towards Bean, Lil, and Kimi's table. "Look at that, Phil! He's only been here two days and he's already so popular." Tommy's tone increased in volume as he emphasized the last word.

Phil's eyes lit up as he caught on to Tommy's idea and he gestured enthusiastically "Yeah! Look how many friends he has already!" His booming voice was so melodramatic that it almost made Tommy's flat acting look good in comparison. "If I were gonna follow someone around and completely steal their personality, it'd be that guy!"

With an irritated hiss, Tommy grabbed Phil by the arm and began to drag him back to their table. "Real smooth, Phil!"

"Me? Tommy, for our collective sanity, it's best that you stay behind the camera!"

"Whatever," Tommy muttered as they reclaimed their seats. "Let's just hope he takes the bait."

The group watched as Trevor stole several surreptitious glances in Bean's direction. There were no guarantees he'd go through with it, but at least they had managed to pique his interest.

"So what if he does?" Chuckie sighed, apparently unimpressed with their new strategy. "How does him following Bean around help us?"

"Unless you want to take on Lil and Kimi ourselves, there's no way we're getting anywhere near that guy," said Tommy. "So we'll let Trevor hang around him for a while and then make him tell us what's going on."

"The kid's a human leech." Phil grabbed the soggy pizza from his lunch tray and took a large bite, making up for the lost time of setting up their attack. "If anyone can do it, it's him."

"I guess it's better than rushing in without a plan…" Chuckie sighed.

"It's all we've got," said Tommy. Best of all, the girls wouldn't be able to trace Trevor back to them. They could gather information without the threat of drawing their anger.

Chuckie looked less than convinced, but the lack of alternatives kept him quiet. The bell soon rang to dismiss them and the boys mumbled their goodbyes and hopes for good luck to each other before heading off in separate directions.

Tommy and Phil walked back to their fifth grade English class in an apprehensive silence—it wouldn't be long until they discovered the results of their plot. Taking their seats at the usual adjacent tables they watched as the other students trickled back in from lunch. Normally the grudging trek back to the confines of the classroom was one of the most depressing times of the day. Now they could only look on nervously, hoping as hard as they could they could for success.

Lil was one of the last ones to enter, a dreamy, blissful grin plastered across her face. The cheerful calls of her friends went unnoticed as she sat down in the back and immediately began staring out the window.

Tommy clenched his fists in frustration, more convinced than ever that there was something very unnatural about her recent behavior. What reason could she possibly have for ignoring her friends from the soccer team? They certainly had nothing to do with the gang's attempts at defaming Bean.

Miss O'Keats greeted the class as she walked in, standing by her desk and shuffling through her lesson plans. Trevor was still nowhere to be seen, which Tommy chose to interpret as a good sign. With any luck, he was currently on his way to becoming their new secret weapon.

They didn't have long to wait. Trevor stepped into the room just as the last lunch bell rang; though he now bore little resemblance to the boy they'd seen earlier. His hair had been mussed from his its former position to fall down loosely around his face and the fake glasses had been completely abandoned. The vest was now missing too, the white tee-shirt underneath untucked to hang in a casual manner. He must have noticed the way that Phil and Tommy were staring at him, for he tipped his head in their direction and said, "Howdy."

Somehow the boys managed to keep their expressions neutral until he sat down. As soon as his eyes were no longer on them, they leaned across the space that separated their tables and grinned wickedly, bumping their fists together in their usual handshake.

"Looks like Casper just got a new sidekick."

"Time for Phase Two."

x x x

By some miracle, Chuckie and the others had managed to convince Lil and Kimi to stay after school to work on the Science Club display. Despite being so eager to get it finished on Monday, today it had taken hours of pleading and bargaining before they had agreed. But even under mind control it seemed that the horrors of Open House were more than anyone wanted to face.

Though Dil was not a member of Science Club, he'd opted to stay behind and help them out. He was currently leaning back in a chair, juggling a pudding cup he'd swiped from the cafeteria during break. He'd given his word to keep an eye on Lil and Kimi while the others were busy, even if he did seem more interested in trying to get in contact with other ghosts.

Once they were certain that the girls were hard at work inside Mr. Beaker's classroom and that Bean was nowhere in sight, they could finally do what they'd been waiting to do since lunch. Even Chuckie had to admit things with Trevor could not have worked out more perfectly; he'd been a constant fixture in Bean's group, never giving the ghost a moment of free time with their sisters.

Trevor's mother picked him up after school every day, giving them a window of opportunity to question him while the buses moved out. Leaving the girls under Dil's watch, they wasted no time in rushing outside to find him.

They quickly spotted him in front of the school, leaning back against the chain link fence and watching the road for any sign of his ride. With Tommy in the lead, Chuckie and Phil followed along behind at either side in what they hoped was an intimidating formation.

"Hey, Trevor," Tommy said, stopping in front of the other boy and crossing his arms. Chuckie and Phil followed suit. "We've got a few questions about your new friend."

Trevor said nothing, refusing to spare even a glance in their direction.

"Hey!" Phil stepped forward, his tone angry. "We're talkin' to you, here!"

Again they were met with only silence.

"Trevor?" Tommy's tone was softer now as he laid one hand on Trevor's shoulder and waved the other in front of his face, but even the physical contact did nothing to snap him out of his trance.

Trevor seemed as if he was completely unaware of their presence, simply staring forward with an abnormally blank expression. His eyes were dull and far too still, making him look almost lifeless. Only then did they realize there was something far more sinister at play here than simply being ignored.

"We killed him, Tommy, we killed him!" Chuckie shook Tommy's shoulders as panic overcame him.

"Calm down, Chuckie!" Tommy shoved him back. "We didn't kill anyone! He's fine, he's just…" Tommy watched Trevor, apparently too distracted and disturbed by the vacant look in his eyes to finish his sentence.

"Looks the same as always to me," Phil mumbled.

"Hi, boys!" Chuckie yelped with fright as a woman's voice suddenly cut into his thoughts.

He turned to find Trevor's mother waving at them from inside her car. Wincing, he forced himself to wave back and mumble something that might have resembled a greeting.

To his amazement, Trevor suddenly stirred from his position and headed for the car in stiff, robotic movements. Chuckie watched Trevor's complete lack of response to his mother through the windows until they drove out of sight.

"Come on…" Tommy's voice was quiet and defeated. "We'd better get back…"

Wordlessly they began the slow journey back inside the school. Chuckie found that he couldn't stop shaking, the warnings about zombies from Camp Everwood mingling in his thoughts with the Hollywood interpretations.

Something was very wrong with Trevor and there could be no denying it was largely their fault. Bean was obviously a lot more dangerous than they had wanted to believe. What was stopping him from doing the same—or worse—to Kimi and Lil? The guilt and hopelessness weighed down on Chuckie like a tangible force, making him feel as if he would simply collapse onto the floor at any moment.

"First Lil, now Trevor! Got anymore great ideas, Tommy?" Phil balled his hands up into raised fists, choosing anger to deal with his fears. "Why don't you just send me next time, huh? Since we're expendable and all!"

"How was I supposed to know that was going to happen? Besides, you helped me! If it was such a bad idea, why didn't you say anything?" Tommy didn't sound anymore calm than Phil did.

Chuckie groaned, this was not a good time for them to be fighting amongst themselves. He did his best to drown out the sounds of their angry voices as he peered back into the classroom to look at Kimi and Lil. They were smiling and discussing something as Kimi used a marker to grace one of the posters with her flawless handwriting. Kimi had always been so sweet, so outgoing, so full of life. He tried to picture her looking back at him with the same cold, dead eyes Trevor had and shuddered. The thought of his sister and lifelong friend in that condition was too horrifying to imagine. One plan might have failed, but that didn't mean they could give up.

"This is no time to fight!" Chuckie stepped between Tommy and Phil and gestured to the girls. "Kimi and Lil are still okay, aren't they?"

"Yeah, but—" Phil started to protest.

"But nothing. That's all that matters, so let's make sure they stay that way."

They watched their friends for a few moments, surprised to see them look so happy and carefree. The sight was almost enough to erase what had just happened from their minds. Phil bit his lip, his eyes flickering with more emotion than he usually cared to show.

"You're right, Chuckie." Tommy gave him a small smile. "There's no way we can give up now."

Phil nodded resolutely. "We'll find another way. We have to."

Chuckie's despair eased somewhat as the tension around them dissipated. What they lacked in forethought they made up for in sheer determination. He was certain they would somehow find a way to make sure Kimi, Lil, and Trevor all returned to normal.

"But there's still one thing I don't understand," said Chuckie as an unanswered question suddenly crept into his mind. "Dil was hanging around Bean yesterday too, why didn't he end up like that?"

Curious, they looked to where Dil sat on the floor, currently smearing chocolate pudding along the wall with a paintbrush in an effort to "communicate with the spirits."

"…Never mind."