Jump When Ready by David Pandolfe Page B

it
mean?”
    “It means Martha is ready to move on herself but we have
to first,” Jamie said. “It’s some sort of deal she made. I guess she’s okay
with that, but it’s a well known fact that people our age have a hard time
moving on. On top of that, those of us who can actually affect people on the
other side supposedly take forever. That’s where the whole scary ghost thing
comes from. Poltergeists and all that. Kids who keep bugging people for
decades. I bet the last thing Martha needs is two idiot, teenage ghosts keeping
her here for some sort of eternity.”
    “What two idiot teenaged ghosts?”
    Jamie and Nikki stared at me.
    “Okay, got it.”
    “Wow, those donuts smell great,” Nikki said. “Must be a
new batch.”
    The weird thing was, while I hadn’t noticed before, now
all I could smell was donuts. But that’s how the food court worked. It made
whatever you wanted. Nikki must have wanted donuts so there they were.
Suddenly, I realized I was starving and couldn’t remember when I’d last eaten
anything.
    Nikki turned to me and raised her eyebrows. “Do you mind
grabbing some?”
    I looked back at her. “Did you like break your leg or
something?”
    “Just don’t feel like getting up right now. Never mind.”
    But all I could think about was the donuts so I went to
get some. Sure enough, fresh donuts were waiting on the counter—glazed,
chocolate, cream filled, you name it. When I got back to the table, Nikki and
Jamie were staring at each other.
     “Nothing at all, right?” Nikki said. “Honestly?”
    “Why would I lie?” Jamie said. “What about you? Are you
trying to tell me something?”
    “Not exactly. I’m just kind of wondering if maybe—” Nikki
stopped when she realized I was back.
    I waited to be sure they were done, then tried to get
them back on track, “So, the whole Manipulator, Speaker thing. What does it all
mean? Is there anything we can do with it?”
    Nikki glanced at Jamie again, then sighed. “That’s a
great question,” she said. “I just wish I knew.”
     

 
7
    Gone Too Long
     
    After talking to Jamie and Nikki, I kept trying to put
things together. First of all, I wasn’t sure if being a Speaker was that big of
a deal. As far as I could tell, the fact that I’d even managed to catch
Bethany’s attention was enough to earn me the title. But what good had it done?
It wasn’t like I’d been able to stop anything from happening.
    On the other hand, it seemed like being a Manipulator put
you in a different league altogether. After all, Curtis could inflict a serious
case of the willies upon the Tommy Balboas of the world armed only with a bar
of soap. Maybe I could get him to help. But would he? I didn’t really get the
best feeling about it. From what I’d seen, Curtis seemed committed entirely to
maintaining a bad attitude.
    Still, I had to try. So, I climbed to the third floor and
knocked on Curtis’s door. At first, the music kept blaring in there. I think he
was listening to Led Zeppelin. When I knocked again, the music stopped.
    “What’s up?” Curtis said from somewhere inside his room.
It didn’t sound like he was approaching the door.
    “Hey, it’s me.”
    “Who’s me?”
    I could easily imagine Curtis smirking.
    “Henry.”
    “Henry the dead kid? Or Henry the kid between lives?”
    It seemed like a test. I knew which answer would get the
best result. “Henry the dead kid. Got a minute?”
    Curtis laughed. “A minute? God, you’re hilarious. The way
things are going, I’m guessing I could spare a century.” The door whacked
itself open against the wall. “Enter,” Curtis said, from where he lounged
across the room on a black leather sofa.
    His place was dimly lit with black-light posters
featuring bands from the 60s and 70s. Lava lamps gurgled and glowed. If there
were windows, they must have been covered by dark curtains.
    I crossed the room and took a seat across from Curtis. He
listened while I told him about my