Ghost Betweens Read Online Free PDF Page B

towards his face, but stopped before getting to close. She blushed again, said she'd see him tomorrow, and ran to her front door. She waved, then disappeared into the house.
    Wow, had that all really just happened? Both the weirdness at the farm and the heavy flirting in the car? He always clammed up or said stupid stuff when he was with a pretty girl. Looking back on the conversation, he had to admit he did a good job. And she really seemed to like him. Would she go out with him, or was she just looking for a friend?
    Why did girls and dating have to be so complicated?

Chapter 8
     
    As Josh walked up to the front door, he saw right away his mom was home. He pushed the door open and yelled, "Hi, Mom, I'm home."
    She stuck her head out of the kitchen. "About time. I wanted you to do the damn grocery shopping today, but you're nowhere to be found. I've got too much going on to do it myself."
    "Sorry. I joined a . . ."
    "I don't care what you did. If you have time for foolishness, you have time to get a job and help out around here. I do too much as it is."
    "I can't get a job. I have a ton of homework, and come summer and fall, I have football practice."
    "Tough, Mister. It's time you start pulling your weight. Starting tomorrow after school, I want you out looking for a job."
    "Pulling my weight? How often do I ask you for any money? How often do I clean the house, top to bottom, without you even prompting me?"
    "And I have two jobs, so boo-hoo for you. Tomorrow. You hear me?"
    Josh started to say something, but kept his mouth shut. No need to make this worse. She just had a bad day. By tomorrow this'll all have blown over and she wouldn't even mention it. He stalked up the stairs.
    Halfway up, she yelled, "Do you hear me?"
    "Yes, fine, I hear you," he called over his shoulder and continued up. At the top of the landing, something shot past him and down the hall. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. What the heck was that? He looked down to see if Mom saw it, too, but she'd already headed into the kitchen. It reminded him of the ghosts at the farm, the ones that he only saw out of the corner of his eye. This one had been right in front of him, though. It had gone towards his room, but he was pretty sure it moved past the door, so he should be safe.
    He shook his head. He hadn't really seen it anyway, right? It was just his nerves from the argument with Mom and the frights at the farm. Yeah, that's all it had been. He headed into his room and threw himself down on his bed. Homework could wait a few minutes.
    *****
    Josh popped the last of his peanut butter sandwich into his mouth and shook his head. "Why can't she listen to me? I don't have time to get a job. When football season is over next year, I'll be happy to, but not now."
    "We'll find something that'll work around football, dude. Weekends will be shot, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?"
    "What do you mean we?"
    Zach punched him lightly in the arm. "Like I'm going to let you go get all the money. When Kendra sees how you're spoiling Whisper, she's going to insist I get a job, too."
    Josh choked on his soda, and had to spit some out. People around them laughed and asked him if he had a drinking problem. He ignored them and said, "What do you mean by spoiling Whisper? Did she say something to you and Kendra?"
    "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend. Dude, she was practically asking you out yesterday. You didn't pick up on any of that?"
    Josh frowned. "I guess. I don't know. We talked pretty easily in the car. Usually I get all flustered with pretty girls."
    "See? Perfect girlfriend. Believe it or not, when you go out with a girl, you need stuff in common so you can talk. You can't just make out all the time." He paused, a wistful look on his face. "Though that'd be pretty cool."
    "Yeah, but what do you and Kendra talk about? You guys don't have anything in common."
    "That's not true."
    Josh raised his eyebrows. "What do you talk about?"
    "Uh, we talk about