Spectral Read Online Free PDF

placed my hand at the back of my neck.
    He gave his head a shake, shifting his hair and revealing both chocolate colored eyes. Along with his ultra-long mink lashes, the effect was hypnotic.
    “Are you all right?” he asked softly. “You look flushed.” He reached out as if to touch my cheek but pulled his hand back at the last moment, which actually made me hotter. I hated that I always blushed so easily.
    Get it together, Jewel. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little sleep deprived,” I said. “I’m new too,” I muttered a feeble excuse.
    “Something in common then. Sucks, huh?”
    “Yeah, you could say that. We better get back to class.” I started to head back down the hallway.
    “Hey, I’m playing at my cousin’s bar this Saturday afternoon if you wanna come check it out,” he said as he walked alongside me. “It’s down at the Phoenix on the corner of Front and Brewster—I mean since we have so much in common and all,” he said with a laugh. “I play guitar and my cousin sings.”
    “Thought you were new here? How do you know where everything is already?” I cocked my head to one side.
    “I’m new, but my cousin isn’t. He’s lived here awhile.”
    “Okay, that sounds cool,” I said, thinking how awesome it would be but how equally impossible it was to make happen. There was no way my parents would let me go out—let alone to a bar. And now with Aunt Eva on patrol it would be even worse… Still, I was beginning to think that since they had kept secrets from me my entire life, I could possibly return the favor.

Chapter Six
     
    I sat quietly on the drive home. I thought about the events of the past week and let Jayden talk about his day, how he was learning multiplication and something about some kid named Max who had brought in his pet frog.
    When we got home, I nonchalantly went to the computer desk in the family room and turned it on, thankful my father had gotten around to setting it up. I lay my books on the desk and casually looked up at my mom who was watching me from the front foyer.
    “Homework,” I pointed to my History book.
    “Well…”
    “Please, Mom. Just boring History,” I said, waving my book in the air.
    “All right. But don’t be long. The others are out for a bit and I’m gonna make dinner. I was hoping for a little help.”
    “Sure.”
    Jayden ran out to the backyard to play and Mom headed to the kitchen. My heart rate soared. This was my chance. I pulled up Google and found a nice boring page on Marie Antoinette, minimized it, and opened a new window. If someone came in, I could quickly pull Ms. Antoinette up on the screen. Back to Google, I keyed in the word “Spectral” and found the meaning under Mnemonic Dictionary. What I read disturbed me.
Spectral - of or relating to a spectrum; spectral colors, Spectral analysis.
Spectral - resembling or characteristic of a phantom; a ghostly face at the window; a phantasmal presence in the room; spectral emanation; spiritual tapping at a séance.
    Below it read, Supernatural - Not existing in nature or subject to explanation according to natural laws; not physical or material; supernatural forces and occurrences and beings.
    I think my eyes bugged out of their sockets. Resembling or characteristic of a phantom—séance? Ghost? I pondered as I looked at my hands. I’m no ghost. I knew everybody saw me, even when sometimes I wish they didn’t.
    “Spiritual tappings at a séance,” I mumbled under my breath. I didn’t know what to make of it. The words sounded fictional, like out of an ancient book.
    I groaned as I heard the car pull up out front. I clicked off the web page and quickly erased the computer’s web page history. All except for the Marie Antoinette page. It would look strange if Mom decided to check and I’d spent all that time on the computer with no registered history.
    I ran past the front door to the kitchen and grabbed a carrot from a pile Mom had laid out, and began peeling it, trying to steady