Free Ghost of a Chance by Lauren Barnholdt Page A

Someone telling him where I really was? Micah’s mom, maybe? But why would she do that?
    Could it have been Ellie on the phone? Calling my dad just so she could get me in trouble? I know she’s mad at me,but to go out of her way to do something so evil is definitely taking it a little too far.
    â€œI don’t know what you’re talking about,” I try feebly, but I already know it’s over. My dad knows I was at Micah’s. And now I’m going to be in a lot, lot, lot of trouble.
    Oh, well. At least he doesn’t know I went to see my mom.
    â€œWhat I’m talking about,” my dad says, “is that you took a bus to go see your mother.”

Chapter
5
    Well. Talk about your worst-case scenarios. I mean, lying to my dad about hanging out with a boy from school while his mom was right in the other room is one thing. Lying to my dad about taking a two-hour bus trip by myself and using the emergency credit card he gave me to purchase the ticket so that I could go see my mom, who abandoned me when I was a baby, is another thing altogether.
    Needless to say, my dad is mad enough that he’s decided I will not be getting a new TV, regardless of what Cindy thinks about me watching TV in the living room with them.
    Speaking of Cindy, she seems totally cool about my mom calling my dad. Which is weird. Cindy’s always been a little wary of my mom, since I’m pretty sure my dad thinksmy mom is the love of his life. Or was the love of his life. Whatever. But apparently my dad and Cindy have put all that behind them, because Cindy didn’t seem threatened at all. She just kissed my dad’s cheek, told him to call her later, and headed for her car.
    Anyway, how does my mom have my dad’s number? They’re supposed to be, like, estranged.
    I glance at my dad out of the corner of my eye. We’re in the car now, on the way back to our house. At least I think that’s where we’re going. For all I know he’s taking me to a detention center or something. Seriously, I’ve never seen him this mad before.
    Usually he doesn’t like to show much emotion. But now he’s gripping the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles are turning white. He’s actually driving a little fast, too, but something tells me this is definitely not the time to point that out.
    We don’t talk the whole car ride home.
    And when we pull into the driveway, my dad leaves the car running.
    I’m not sure if I’m supposed to get out or not, so I just sit there.
    A minute ticks by.
    Then two.
    I never realized how hot it was in this car.
    I want to take my coat off, but something about the vibe in here is making it, uh, hard to move.
    I cough, hoping to maybe break the tension.
    But my dad still doesn’t say anything. I glance at him again. He’s still holding on to the steering wheel, his knuckles still white.
    Finally, I can’t take it anymore.
    â€œSo should we go inside?” I ask. “Because I could make us hot cocoa or something. And maybe we could have some of that apple pie Cindy made. It’s low sugar, so it won’t hurt your cholesterol.”
    My dad stays quiet. I can practically see the steam coming out of his ears.
    â€œOkay,” I say, unbuckling my seat belt. “Well, I’m going to go inside. I’ll get the stuff ready for pie and cocoa, so if you want to come in—”
    â€œThis is completely unacceptable, Kendall,” my dad says. “You cannot be going off to see your mother and lying to me about it.”
    â€œI didn’t lie about it,” I say, shifting on the seat. “I just didn’t tell you where I was.”
    â€œYou lied,” my dad said. “You left me a note saying you were going to be having breakfast with Ellie.”
    Oh. Right. I forgot about that.
    â€œWell, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision,” I say. “I did go to Ellie’s, but