Midnight Games Read Online Free PDF Page B

emotional,” Jamie replied. “Ada is very high-strung. When she thinks about it, she’ll realize she made a mistake. She tripped, that’s all.”
    â€œI . . . I felt weird up there,” I confessed. “I was standing behind Ada at the top of the stairs. And the glasses on her tray suddenly started to shine in my eyes. I felt dizzy.”
    â€œDizzy?”
    â€œYes. I thought I might black out. But . . . you’ve got to believe me. I didn’t push her. I couldn’t.”
    â€œOf course not,” Jamie said in a soft, soothing voice. “Of course not.”
    So why was she staring at me so suspiciously?

10
    The next couple of days I kept to myself. I was eager to find out what kind of greeting I’d get from everyone my first day at Shadyside High. But the school was closed for two days because of a water-main break.
    Jamie hung out with Lewis and some of her other friends. And I heard her sneaking out after midnight to see her friends at the bar they all go to on Fear Street.
    But I didn’t feel like tagging along. Well, I guess I was a little tempted. I wanted to see Nate again. I kept thinking about him without even realizing it.
    I wondered if he believed I pushed Ada down the stairs. I wondered if he’d be glad to see me, or if he’d try to avoid me.
    But I didn’t leave the house. I e-mailedsome friends from my old school. And I called my dad. Told him everything was just great. (As if he cared.) And I tried to read ahead in some of the school assignments.
    The night before the high school was to open again, Jamie appeared in my room. “What’s up?”
    â€œNot much,” I said. “Reading this Shakespeare play for English.” I held up the book.
    Jamie straightened some papers on my desk. “You nervous about tomorrow?”
    â€œKinda,” I replied. “I’m sure your friends all think I’m some kind of monster because I’m a Fear and they think I pushed Ada down the stairs.”
    â€œNo way,” Jamie said, shaking her head. “No one is even talking about that anymore.”
    A lie. But a nice lie.
    I couldn’t get over the change in Jamie. How she was trying so hard to make me feel comfortable and everything.
    Then she mentioned our cousin Cindy.
    Cindy died in the hospital last August. She had been sick for a long time, but it was horrible and shocking. She was just a year older than Jamie and me.
    â€œI saw Cindy a week before she died,” Jamie said, settling on the edge of my bed. “Did you see her?”
    â€œNo. I was too far away,” I replied, putting down my book. “But I talked to her on the phone. She . . . she said she was getting stronger. I knew she was just being brave.”
    I sighed. “She died three days later. When I heard, I cried and cried. She was such a cool person.”
    Jamie’s eyes narrowed. She had a cold expression on her face, an expression I’d never seen before. “Life can really suck,” she whispered.
    We stared at each other for a long moment. My ears started to ring. I waited for Jamie to break the silence. When she didn’t, I said, “You know, Cindy was a Fear too.”
    A strange smile spread over Jamie’s lips. “I know.” She picked at the strings around the hole on the knee of her jeans. “Dana, did Cindy say anything to you about sending a signal?”
    I narrowed my eyes at her. “A signal? No.”
    Jamie tugged at the knee of her jeans. “Cindy promised me she’d send a signal,” she said, her voice just above a whisper.
    It took me a while to understand. “You mean a signal from the grave?”
    Jamie nodded. “She promised. She said she’d send me a sign from the other side. I’ve been watching for it ever since . . . ever since she died.”
    I leaned forward in my chair. “And?”
    â€œNothing yet. But I keep