Tamsyn Murray-My So-Called Haunting Read Online Free PDF Page A

people.’
    Panic clutched at my already churning stomach. ‘I didn’t. Isn’t it funny how sound gets distorted in these old buildings?’ My nervy giggle seemed squeaky and shrill over
the rushing noise in my ears. ‘Anyway, my medicine is kept in the nurse’s room.’ I waved a hand towards the offices behind me and edged backwards. ‘So . . . um . . .
I’d better . . . make like a tree.’
    Cheeks burning with excruciating embarrassment, I fled.
    ‘Wait!’ he called, but I pretended not to hear. As I scurried towards the relative safety of the head teacher’s office I could feel him watching me. I didn’t dare to look
back. Make like a tree? Had I really just said that? I hadn’t even delivered the punchline – and leave . In fact, I couldn’t have been more of a loser if I’d
had an enormous L tattooed on my forehead. But even more sickening than my Daisy Dork routine was the horrible feeling that Mystery Boy hadn’t believed a word I’d said. I couldn’t
decide which was worse; mental illness wasn’t exactly a turn-on in a girl, but neither was the truth. Either way, if Mystery Boy talked, I was sunk. The question was, how far?
    ‘No need to ask how your day went,’ Celestine said when I slouched through the door after school.
    ‘Don’t tell me,’ I said, pausing to sniff the flowers she was arranging on the hall table. ‘My aura is filthy black.’
    ‘Not quite, but it’s pretty close. I’d say cowpat brown. Want to tell me about it?’
    Charming , I thought, and considered her offer. Could I bear to go through what was officially the crappiest day of my life again? OK, I’d met the most gorgeous boy in the galaxy,
but he thought I was a complete fruit-loop. Would she have any idea how exhilarated and nauseous I felt inside? I watched her fuss over the angle of a disobedient lily and wondered if she’d
ever been through the same thing; maybe, but it still didn’t make me feel like baring my soul.
    ‘Not really,’ I said, puffing my fringe out of my eyes. ‘Although I should probably mention that the head teacher is going to call to discuss my “inappropriate sense of
humour”.’
    My mum would have flipped. Celestine merely lifted an eyebrow. It made me want to hug her. ‘Oh?’
    I didn’t elaborate. ‘And do you have any idea how I go about writing lines for a ghost?’
    Now both eyebrows were raised. ‘With paper and a pen, I imagine. Are you sure you don’t want to talk?’
    ‘Talk about what?’ Jeremy wandered in from the living room and looked questioningly from Celestine to me. ‘Problems at school?’
    If Celestine couldn’t help, I doubted Jeremy could. What I really needed was to get online so I could tap into the hive mind of MSN and work out what to do next. But I’d kept my
psychic ability a closely guarded secret back in Edinburgh and my mates wouldn’t know a thing about Mystery Boy. The person I needed to speak to was Megan. ‘It’s nothing,’ I
said, shaking my head in Jeremy’s direction. ‘Forget it.’
    Concern crinkled his forehead and he reached out to touch my arm. ‘You might think we’re practically OAPs, but we are here to help, you know.’
    I stared at his sympathetic expression, wondering what he thought he could do. He wasn’t fully psychic like my aunt and me so he couldn’t really understand what it was like to live
with the dead on a daily basis. And he definitely wasn’t any help in the coolness stakes; were those actual corduroy trousers he was wearing? Then I dragged my gaze upwards and saw the
glitter of compassion in his eyes. He meant well, and his crimes against fashion were nothing a trip to the shops wouldn’t fix; maybe I’d give up my lie-in one Saturday and educate him.
Dredging up a crooked smile, I said, ‘Thanks, but I think this is something I need to deal with on my own.’
    He took the hint and changed the subject. ‘How about a trip to the theatre with me tonight? We ’ve got a comedian doing a