The Spirit Seer

Chapter 16

Early the next day I stand in the quad staring at Jayne’s friends sitting together at a table. They’re in their own bubble chatting away. There seems to be an air of sadness around them. That’s probably because they recently lost one of their close friends in such a tragic way.

I don't know if I can do this. I don’t know if it's clear yet, but I'm not really very brave. If I've learned one thing over the last couple of weeks since these two ghosts came into my life, it's that I haven't gotten to know most of the other students around me. I've lived in my own little world, and even though I want to spread my wings a little more, I'm also terrified to let other people in and step outside my comfort zone. I have spent so much time building my protective walls, am I really ready to let them drop now?

Letting Heath in has been nice for the most part. And now here's my chance to help Jayne, and I want to. But I'm nervous about how it's going to go.

I can only put it off for so long. We aren't going to get any answers if somebody doesn't start asking some questions. And unfortunately, I'm the only one of us who can talk to alive people.

I stop at the table that ghost Jayne is standing next to. We didn't talk too much about her friends because I want to have an open mind about who they are, and make my own judgments and assumptions. But she is here for moral support. I just hope she doesn't interrupt as much as Spencer tends to. It gets really hard to focus on conversations with “alive” people when ghosts are commenting from the sidelines.

The two girls look up. They are both pretty but also kind of plain. The one on the right has bright red frizzy hair and freckles. The other one has mousy brown hair and clunky glasses. They could use a bit of a fashion intervention but other than that they seem perfectly fine. I don't get an "I killed my best friend vibe" from them. That's a relief, but they haven't even said anything yet.

I swallow because my mouth is suddenly very dry. This isn't exactly the easiest conversation to start. "Hi, um...I'm Bailey, and wondering if I can speak to you about Jayne."

They smile at me, and I start to relax a little.

"We totally know who you are." The girl with glasses says.

Right, the whole popular everybody knows of me thing. I still can’t get used to that. It’s totally weirding me out.

"That's Lydia," Jayne tells me quietly from behind. She is a lot quieter and unassuming than Spencer is. It’s kind of refreshing honestly.

"But what we don't know, is why you are asking about Jayne." The other one says pointedly.

I don’t get the most welcoming feeling from this one. I kind of think she could kick my butt. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.

"That's Monica she's a little rougher around the edges. She's our protector... “The last part is said sadly.

I feel bad for Jayne. She suddenly became a ghost out of nowhere and she doesn't even remember how or why she was killed. And now she has to stand by invisible to everybody she knows and loves while I talk to her best friends. I wish there was something I could do, and maybe I can try to help make her feel better soon. But right now, I have to focus on trying to figure out more clues about what could have happened to her.

"Jayne and I used to be close when we were younger. We grew apart as we got older, and I guess I'm feeling a little sad that I haven't known her in the last few years." That was the story that Jayne and I had worked out to explain why I was asking about her out of nowhere.

Ordinarily, I would be more nervous about trying to fool two people who had to know her so well, but Jayne is here to help guide me if I mess up. Nobody knows her better than her. I hope.

They look at each other and it's almost like they have a silent conversation. I hold my breath and wait to see if they will accept me, or turn me away.

Maybe they aren't buying it. I really haven't ever been friends with Jayne maybe as her best friends they can tell. I really hope not.

According to the ghost herself if she had told anyone anything that night it would be these two girls. How am I going to solve this if they don't believe me?

"Ok, come on, and sit down. Any friend of Jayne’s is a friend of ours."

I nearly faint in relief. I am so thankful that they are accepting me and my "small" fib. I sit down.

I should probably start, but I don't want to just jump into interrogation mode. I think that’s something that needs to be led up to. But I'm not really sure how to start it off.

"What was Jayne like as a little girl?" Lydia asks

I guess I don’t have to start afte all.

"Um...well..." help? I plead silently to, I’m not sure who.

"Tell them that I was a total tomboy and that I used to play in the dirt all the time. I used to have scraped knees a lot." Jayne tells me.

I repeat word for word what she told me to and hope it's enough.

Lydia smiles…"She once showed me some scars on her knees and talked about how she always had scabs on them as a kid."

"That was Jayne for you. What was she like now? Ever since..." I pause. "Anyway, I've been wondering who she became after we stopped being close."

It's harder to "fib" to these people than I ever thought it would be. They are caring people who recently lost a friend. I feel like I'm taking advantage in their time of grief. I don't know how I'd feel in their position.

"She was super smart. She used to read a lot. She loved books of all kinds. I always told her to get her face out of the books, but she just loved them so much."

I smile; she kind of seems like someone I would like to be friends with. It sucks that I never really knew her while she was alive. "It sounds like she grew up to be a great person. Was she seeing anyone? I just hope she was happy in her last few days."

They look at each other in question. Did I go too far? I'm just trying to find out as much information as I can and talk about other things before I ask the really big questions.

Finally, Monica answers me. "She had been seeing someone, but they didn't really work out. He wasn't really what he seemed."

I make a mental note to ask Jayne about him later. If things ended on bad terms, he could have a motive...maybe I've been watching too many cop shows. But maybe that knowledge might help in this assignment. Only time will tell.

"I can't believe she's really gone. I just keep trying to figure out who would want to hurt her. I can't think of any reason. She seemed so sweet." I ask searching.

This is me trying to rationalize my lies. I am aware of it, but it's only kind of a lie...we are friends now. I didn't know her when she was alive, but what I've gotten to know of her now, she does seem nice, and I genuinely can’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt her.

"I'm sorry if that sounds kind of abrupt, I just don't understand," I add in case they didn’t like the way I’d phrased it. It’s hard to know the right way to question someone without it sounding like questioning.

"No, we understand. We have been racking our brains as well. We really loved her and maybe we're biased but we can't think of anyone who had a problem with her. I mean, she wasn't perfect she had arguments with her share of people, but nothing bad enough to kill her over. I just don't understand."

"Me either, if any one of us was likely to get killed, you would think it would be me. I'm abrasive and sometimes outright mean. But Jayne was different. She usually ended up holding me back most of the time." Monica added sadly.

I give them a small smile. "I just wish I knew what she was doing that night. Maybe that would explain who it was that had it out for her."

"Me too, she was always busy on Wednesday nights. She never really talked about what she was doing, but she never had time to hang out."

Well that was no help. I was hoping they would have more of an idea about what she could have been doing. This might be harder than I first thought. I really don't know what else to ask. Luckily that's when the bell rings. "Thank you so much for talking to me. It really helped a lot."

"Thanks to you too. I think it helped us as well. It was nice to talk about her. It's been pretty hard."

"I'm glad it helped."

We say our goodbyes and they make their exit. I want to talk to Jayne about her friends and some other things, but if I do it now, I’ll be late for class. Guess it will have to wait until after school.