Free Crossing Over by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel Page B

me. “You could both be suspended if your
teacher finds out about this.”
    What? First of all we weren’t in the back of the bus, we were just beyond the middle of the bus. And Mrs. Gray was going to
snitch on us? It was pretty clear we weren’t doing anything. The Motor Coach Operator was right there the whole time.
    “Let me find out exactly what’s going on first,” my mother said. “Give me a moment.”
    She walked toward me, clearly confused. When she got to the place where I was standing, she glanced over to the seat where
Britches and Beige Girl were sitting. Her eyes widened just a tiny bit, then she took my elbow.
    “Come sit in the back with me for a sec. Will you excuse us?” she asked Ben. He nodded, his face flushed scarlet. We moved
past him to the very last row—the heart ofShoshanna-land. She made a gesture, and I sat down next to her.
    “Kit Kat. I think I understand, sweetie. I think I know exactly what’s happening.”
    I felt an odd surge of relief. My mother knew me better than any person in the world other than Jac, and Jac had known from
the outset that I really liked Ben. Why wouldn’t my mother have noticed, too? We could have normal mother-daughter stuff after
all, about boys for once instead of ghosts.
    She would understand. I liked a boy and I had gone somewhere with him I technically wasn’t supposed to go for totally innocent
reasons. We’d talk it out. Just like a normal mother and daughter. Normal.
    “You’ve attracted several apparitions that seem to be drawn to you and are currently haunting this bus,” she said very quietly.
    Welp. Forget normal.
    “True,” I said, looking at my shoes.
Please don’t let Ben be able to overhear this conversation
, I thought.
I’d like to be the only clairvoyant he knows, even if it’s just for the day
.
    “And Ben, he’s picking up something, too, isn’t he? They both seem to gravitate to him,” she said, running a hand through
her damp hair. Her hands were thin, I noticed. All of her was very thin. Another way in which we were not alike.
    Fine. The conversation would be about the supernatural side of the situation, not the way I felt about Ben. Phantoms before
feelings and all that.
    “Yes,” I replied. “We were trying to figure out if there were any conditions under which he could see them, too. We had just
walked out here. Then Mrs. Gray showed up.”
    Like the Secret Police, I added as a silent afterthought.
    My mother nodded thoughtfully.
    “I think I can smooth this out,” she said. “Let me talk to Jac’s mom.”
    “What were you guys doing, anyway?” I asked.
    “Getting coffee.”
    “You. And Jac’s mom. Just shooting the breeze?” I asked. It came out more sarcastic than I meant it to. My mom was wearing
faded jeans and an ancient oversized cashmere sweater with a hole in the elbow that I think once belonged to my grandfather.
Jac’s mom was wearing pleated khaki pants, a white and pink pinstriped oxford shirt, and a belt with a gold shell as a buckle.
    “She just needed somebody to talk to,” my mother said.
    I gave her a curious look. If the subject had been medium-related my mother would not have mentioned it at all. I actually
suspectedthat Shoshanna Longbarrow herself had contacted my mother last year when her grandmother died. But Mom refused to
talk about it, even to simply confirm that some kind of communication with the grandmother had taken place.
    That was the main reason I thought it had. Well, that plus the fact that Shoshanna had been much… well, I’m not sure I’d use
the word
nicer
. But she’d sort of seen to it ever since that the Satellite Girls not torment me.
    “Let me have a word with Jac’s mom, okay? Why don’t you and Ben go back to the lobby? It’s just about time for the
rendez-vous
now.”
    “Okay,” I mumbled. I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable and couldn’t get off the bus fast enough.
    My mother walked up the aisle to where Mrs. Gray was standing.
    “I think I