Free Tamsyn Murray-My So-Called Haunting by Tamsyn Murray Page A

tell him that now. ‘Yeah.’ I glanced up to see that we’d made it to the door of the nurse’s office.
‘Thanks for the, er, lift.’
    ‘No problem.’ He hesitated and studied me for a few seconds. ‘Listen, I’ve got a spare ticket for The Droids gig at the Roundhouse in Camden next Saturday. I was going to
ask if you wanted to come. If your ankle is better, that is.’
    I swallowed hard and resisted the temptation to pinch myself. Had I heard him right? In spite of the fact that I was as graceful as an elephant on roller skates, and in spite of hearing me
talking to myself on two separate occasions, Nico was asking me out. I couldn’t believe it; Nico was asking me out! And we were going to see one of my favourite bands ever, on a date,
like normal people. My heart tapped out a happy little dance. And then I caught a glimpse of Dontay through the glass door and reality came crashing in. My life was about as far away from normal as
it was possible to get. Could I risk getting close to Nico? How would he react if he learned how deep the weirdness went?
    I reached down and massaged my leg to buy myself time. ‘Saturday?’
    He nodded. To anyone watching, Nico looked relaxed, but his stillness told me he was anything but as he waited for me to answer. Every part of me wanted to say yes – every part except my
brain. ‘I can’t,’ I said. ‘Sorry.’
    A flash of disappointment crossed his face and he glanced away. ‘No problem. I’ve got a mate who’ll take the ticket.’
    My throat closed in misery. I couldn’t believe I’d just turned down a date with the hottest boy in school. I swallowed. ‘Have a good time.’
    He looked at me and I wondered if he was going to ask me why I’d said no. But he must have seen something in my face, or maybe he had too much pride. Whatever the reason, he glanced
instead at the nurse’s office door. ‘Will you be all right on your own?’
    Somehow, I managed to tilt my head yes. I didn’t dare try to speak; tears were too close.
    He smiled briefly. ‘See you around, then.’
    Watching him cross the hall, I willed him to glance back. If he did, it meant he was still interested. When the double doors swung shut after him, I knew I’d lost my chance, and the fact
that I’d done the right thing was no consolation. Dontay fired an ungrateful scowl in my direction, then turned away. I raised my hand to rap on the wooden door and choked down a silent sob.
It was the first time I’d had to choose the dead over the living. I hoped it would be the last.
    ‘Whose idea was this again?’
    I rubbed my icy fingers together and glared first at Jeremy and then at Dontay. It was the next day, Saturday, and for reasons which had seemed perfectly sane in the comfort of Celestine’s
living room the night before, we were freezing our noses off on the touchline of one of the football pitches at Hackney Marshes, watching Dontay’s brother play. Although Dontay had got over
his tantrum at the school and understood why I’d ignored him, I still felt like I needed to make it up to him. After my initial misery had faded, I found I couldn’t blame him for what
had happened with Nico. I’d always known being psychic meant I’d have to be careful who I got close to. Besides, Dontay wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with things to do during the
day; I’d be crawling the walls with boredom if I was him, so I’d agreed to hang out with him more and going along to the football was part of the deal. There were teams playing as far
as the eye could see and it felt like half the teenage boys in London were there with us. Girls were in short supply; I reckoned I was outnumbered by about fifty to one. And I was grateful Jeremy
had decided to come along. To the casual observer it looked like I was talking to him. And he’d brought a flask of hot Ribena.
    ‘Shut up moaning, yeah?’ Dontay said absently as he watched Nelson weave past a defender and head towards the goal. ‘It’s not