Free Small Medium at Large by Joanne Levy Page B

table.
    â€œWhat was that all about?” she asked as I put her iced cap in front of her.
    â€œDolly’s being a meanie, as usual.” I sat down, with my back deliberately to her and the counter soI could compose myself before Andrew came and sat with us. I was a bundle of nerves.
    â€œDon’t look now,” Alex said quietly. “But Dolly’s making a move on your dude.”
    I couldn’t help myself; I whipped my head around so fast, a muscle in my neck pulled. “Ow!”
    â€œI told you not to look!” Alex hissed.
    Here’s the thing—you can’t tell someone not to look and then drop a big bomb on them like Dolly Madison, older girl with boobs, is macking on your guy and then expect the other person to really not look. It’s basically impossible, like telling someone to keep their eyes open when they sneeze. Nope, can’t be done.
    But as I massaged the cramped-up muscle in my neck, I watched as Dolly stood too close to Andrew and made a point of laughing loudly at something he said. She was totally flirting with him and probably just to be mean to me.
    I turned back to Alex and exhaled loudly. “Maybe I should see if I can find someone who wouldn’t mind haunting her for a while.”
    â€œLilah,” my grandmother said with a big cluck of her tongue. “That’s not very nice.”
    Like Dolly was concerned about being nice to me? But no, of course I wouldn’t ask some ghost to haunt her. I wasn’t vengeful. That wasn’t my style.
    â€œCan you do that?” Alex asked. “Can you get someone to haunt her? Maybe undo her bra when she’s in front of the whole school doing her eighth-grade speech?”
    Of course, being vengeful
was
Alex’s style.
    I smiled. “No, I can’t do that. But it’s fun to think about, isn’t it?”
    â€œHi, Lilah. Hi, Alex,” Andrew said from just behind me.
    I almost fell out of my chair.
    â€œHi, Andrew,” Alex said, coming to my rescue. Then, she stood up and grabbed her drink. “I think I’ll leave you two alone so you can chat.”
    NO!
I thought.
This wasn’t part of the plan!
But as I stared at my friend, hoping she would sit back down, she winked at me and left to go sit by herself at a different table. As I watched her go, I also got to see Dolly and her friends sit in a booth with a perfect view of our table. She sneered at me, so I quickly turned away.
    â€œHave a seat,” I croaked, pointing at Alex’s recently vacated chair.
    â€œThanks.”
    I took a sip of my soda, buying a minute.
    â€œSo,” he said, stirring the straw in whatever coffee-colored concoction it was he was drinking. The ice cubes clattered around noisily.
    â€œSo,” I echoed.
    He looked up at me. “Your note said this had to do with my dad?”
    I looked down at my cup. “Yes. Um…”
    â€œYou know my dad died a few years ago, right?”
    I nodded and then looked up at him. “That’s why I needed to talk to you.”
    â€œI don’t understand. Is someone in your family sick or something?”
    â€œNo. It’s not like that…” I had to stop stalling and just get on with it.
    â€œTell him he looks good,” Mr. Finkel said suddenly.
    I took a breath. I couldn’t open with a message. I had to ease Andrew in.
    â€œDo you remember how I got hit by lightning?”
    Andrew nodded. “Yeah. Are you okay? I mean, you look okay.” Then he blushed, which was very cute.
    â€œYeah, I’m okay. I mean, more or less.”
    He opened his mouth to say something, but I put up my hand to stop him, needing to get my story out. “Well, since then, I have an ability… the ability to hear dead people.”
    His eyes went really wide and then he crossed his arms at his chest. “Come on, you do not.”
    â€œReally, I do. I can prove it.”
    He lifted his eyebrow—just the