Sidekicks by Linda Palmer

Did she follow you to the bathroom?"
    "Yeah."
    Cooper leaned forward slightly to wrap both his arms around me. "That wasn't the woman from the hospital, was it?"
    "I don't think so, but she favored her a lot."
    "As in Asian."
    "Exactly. Or a mix. The eyes were exotic, but not really Asian."
    "Well, whoever she is, she definitely died a violent death."
    So he'd picked up on that, too. I shivered at the memory.
    We sat in silence for a minute, with Cooper rubbing my shoulders.
    "If the police have everything under control, why are these women coming to me?" I said, breaking the silence.
    "Have you seen more than just those two?"
    "No."
    "Then I think they're coming to us ."
    He had a point, and that made me feel a little better. "I don't know one thing about what happened to those poor ladies. Are you getting any details?"
    "Not yet."
    So he thought he might. Good. Another forward step towards a full sidekick reunion. "So all we can say for sure is that they're definitely dead. Even that little bit of information might help solve Detective Simms's cases if I told him."
    "It might for sure. Assuming they have something to do with him, and I think they do since he had those photos on his bulletin board and was at the hospital, too. But he may not thank you for the information. I mean, he seemed pretty adamant about keeping us out of it."
    "For sure." I thought about helping anyway, trying to picture myself at the police station passing along terrifying details about a murder. In my whole life, my sidekick had never once focused on anything so scary. The spirits I communicated with were happy ones. I feared letting bad stuff inside my head would change me and what I normally did. "Even if Detective Simms would agree to let us help, I'm not sure I want to or can do it. What about you?"
    He didn't hesitate. "Honestly? I'd rather not. I'm afraid I might open a door I could never close again."
    "So how do we handle this?"
    "We were told to stay out of it, so that's what we should do...at least for now."
    That sounded good to me.
    We went inside a few minutes later since I'd started to shiver. Mom and Dad were both in the living room. Preferring privacy to their favorite sitcoms, we headed upstairs to my room. I didn't really have a comfortable chair, the perfect excuse for us to stretch out on the bed and begin some channel surfing of our own. I loved the way Cooper slid his arm under my neck, which gave me freedom to cuddle up to him. I didn't even mind when he found a football game on TV.
    But he didn't really watch it. Instead, he began kissing me. Though I'd left the door open, I didn't hold back. Kissing Cooper was pure heaven. I loved the way his heart beat so steadily beneath my hand; I loved the scratchy feel of his chin against my face; I loved his lips, always gentle but firmly pressed to mine.
    Sensing we had company--the spirit kind--I waved Nick away. "Not now. I'm busy."
    Cooper turned on his side to face me. "You need to set limits, as in when you're making out with your handsome, brilliant, totally awesome boyfriend, no dead people can come in."
    I snickered just a little. "Doesn't work."
    "Then I'll do it for you. Dude--"
    "His name is Nick."
    "Nick, we have a new rule. When Mia is entertaining someone up here-- Let me rephrase that. When Mia is entertaining me, you can't come in. You're also not welcome when she's in the bathroom, dressing, or naked. If, however, she's got another guy in here, feel free to barge right in." He caught my eye. "Have I missed anything?"
    I could barely answer for laughing. "Don't think so."
    The room instantly felt lighter.
    I slapped my hand over my mouth. "Oh my God. It worked. Don't be mad, Nick. We really aren't trying to hurt your feelings."
    "Hey now! Do not undo what I've just done, please."
    "Sorry." I spoke to the ceiling. "The new rules still apply."
    "That's better." Cooper sat up. "I need to go. Marty's parents sometimes go to bed really early during the week, and I don't want