Scary Mary (16 page)

How Kyle had ended up with the locket still
troubled her. She felt culpable, and she didn’t like that. She’d
been trying to help, but maybe she’d made things worse.

“
Gran, I went to Cy's house one time that
you don’t know about.”

Gran turned and looked at her inquisitively.
Mary squirmed in her seat. “I went over when no one was home to get
rid of Ricky, but I couldn’t get into the basement safely. Kyle
showed up while I was trying and instead of just running, I riled
up Ricky to cause a distraction and make Kyle go to the
basement.”

“
Why did you send Kyle to the
basement?”

“
I wanted him in there so he wouldn’t see
me leave that’s when Ricky put the locket on Kyle.”

“
Oh.” Gran took a deep breath through her
nose and looked out the windshield in thought.

“
It’s my fault Kyle got possessed. Isn’t
it?” Mary scrunched down in her seat unhappily.

Gran didn’t answer immediately. When she did, it
wasn’t with denial. “It was wrong of you to knowingly send a person
into a place with a malevolent spirit. You put him at risk. You
couldn’t have known Ricky would give Kyle his anchor, but he could
have hurt him. You have a very special gift that you must be
responsible with. You know that there is more than just the living
plane, and while others may not know or believe, you have to be
conscientious of their safety.”

Mary nodded. She must have looked miserable
because Gran reached across and stroked her head. “I’m glad you
told me about this and proud that you could discern that you may
have done something bad, but in the end, you also did a great deal
of good. You not only expelled Ricky but also released the spirit
of his wife. You gave the Ashers a house that they can now truly
make their home. Learn from this experience, and you’ll be able to
do more good the next time you help someone.”

Mary gave her grandma a startled look and said
nervously, “I don’t want to make this a regular thing. I want to
live as close to a normal life as I can.”

“
I know, but someone may come across your
path like Cy did, that you’ll want to help.” She nodded and gave
her grandmother an easy smile. Once again, the fortuneteller had
cemented her claim to coolest Grandmother ever.

She waved goodbye with a crutch as Gran pulled
away from the school. She was struggling with a side door into the
school to avoid most of the early morning crowds when a nice person
pushed the door open and held it for her.

“
Thanks,” she said. She was too
preoccupied with her crutches to look up at the person.

“
Mary, what happened to you?” She raised
her head in surprise. Cy stood holding the door for her.

“
Um, I sprained my ankle. It’s no big
deal.”

“
No big deal? Anything involving crutches
is a big deal. Are you okay? How’d you sprain it?”

She stared at him in surprise at his interest.
She briefly thought about telling him the truth. ‘Well, it happened
while I was saving your house from a homicidal ghost. Sorry about
the microwave,’ but she decided against it. It would be her little
secret, along with Kyle’s and Rachel’s and Gran’s. Okay, maybe it
wasn’t such a little secret, but none of them would tell what
happened. It was too weird, and Cy had already proven that he
couldn’t handle weird.

Mary wished that she didn’t have to lie to him,
but this would have to be like her secret identity. She’d be
regular old Scary Mary at school, and Super Scary Mary, at other
times, able to vanquish ghosts with common household appliances,
but she was not going to run around in a cape and change clothes in
phone booths. Some things were just silly. Rachel would probably do
it.

Seeing that Cy was still waiting for an answer,
she ruefully grinned and said, “I tripped down the stairs
yesterday. I know it’s really stupid. Would you mind not telling
anyone? I’d rather they think it was due to a motorcycle accident
or something.”

He smiled. “Your secret’s safe with me. Do you
need help with your books?”

She blinked for a moment. She couldn’t believe
he was being so nice to her. What had changed? “Aren’t you still
mad at me or something?”

He looked down for a second. He squared his
shoulders and looked back up at her. “I know that I’ve been a jerk,
and I hate being a jerk. Let’s just let bygones be bygones and be
okay. Okay?”

Mary didn’t know how to answer. She heard what
he didn’t say. He didn’t say let’s be friends again. It made her
feel empty. She had to swallow painfully before she could answer.
“Okay.”

“
Okay,” he repeated with a grin. He took
her backpack and walked with her to her locker. She was quiet on
the trip. She feared that the only reason he was walking with her
was because of the crutches. As soon as they were gone, he’d be
gone. He was just being nice, but he didn’t have to help her. Did
this mean there was hope? Could they become friends again
eventually? She stole a look at him. He was looking down the hall.
He didn’t seem tense or nervous to be with her. He looked relaxed
and maybe even a little happy if the upward turns at the corners of
his mouth were any indication.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He
caught her looking. He turned and gave her a full grin. She tilted
her head down. How did he always catch her looking? She knew that
she was probably blushing a little, but she was smiling too.

“
Mary, did something happen between you
and Kyle since you came by my house that second time?”

She quickly glanced at him. “Why?” Kyle
should’ve returned to normal now that Ricky’s influence had been
removed.

“
He’s been acting weird.”

“
How?”

“
Like nicer and stuff. It’s really
weird.”

She smiled to herself. “I wouldn’t worry about
him. I’m sure he’ll grow out of it.” He grinned and escorted her to
her first period class.

She sat at her desk in contentment as the room
filled with her classmates. Her life was going really well. She’d
patched things up with Cy, she’d taken care of a nasty ghost, and
she wouldn’t have to participate in gym for the next three weeks.
Yes, life was looking good.

The intercom system clicked on. “Mary Hellick,
please report to the guidance office.” Her smile turned into a
scowl. Scratch that. Life had been looking good.

~~ ~~ ~~

“
It hasn’t been two full weeks of school,
yet you’ve already run afoul.”

Mary leaned her crutches against the wall and
hopped over to the chair. She shot Mr. Landa a frown. If only he
knew what could happen in two weeks.

“
Eastern Snyder frowns heavily on skipping
classes.”

“
I’m sorry. I would have gone to class if
I hadn’t been in the ER.”

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at her
bandaged ankle. “Yes, and how exactly did you sprain it?”

She smiled. “Well, you see there were these
ninjas…”

# The End #

How to Contact the Author:

I have a blog at
www.sahunter.net
which
you’re more than welcome to check out. You can find other works by
me listed there. Scary Mary is posted at
http://scarymary.sahunter.net