روح همسایه فصل 18

The Ghost Next Door - Chapter 18

“Huh?” Danny glanced at her, then kicked the black-and-white soccer ball against the side of the garage. He was wearing a navy-blue T-shirt over denim shorts. He had a blue-and-red Cubs cap pulled down over his red hair.

Hannah ran full speed across the driveway and stopped a few feet from him. “Are you a ghost?” she repeated breathlessly.

He wrinkled his forehead, squinting at her. The ball bounced across the grass. He stepped forward and kicked it. “Yeah. Sure,” he said.

“No. Really,” Hannah insisted, her heart pounding.

The ball bounced high off the garage, and he caught it against his chest. “What did you say?” He scratched the back of a knee.

He’s staring at me as if I’m nuts, Hannah realized.

Maybe I am.

“Never mind,” she said, swallowing hard. “Can I play?”

“Yeah.” He dropped the ball to the grass. “How ya doing?” he asked. “You okay today?” Hannah nodded. “Yeah. I guess.”

“That was pretty wild last night,” Danny said, kicking the ball gently to her. “I mean, at Mr. Chesney’s.” The ball got by Hannah. She chased after it and kicked it back. Normally, she was a good athlete. But this morning she was wearing sandals, not the best for kicking a soccer ball.

“I really got scared,” Hannah admitted. “I thought that car that stopped was the police and—” “Yeah. It was kind of scary,” Danny said. He picked the ball up and hit it back to her with his head.

“Do Alan and Fred really go to Maple Avenue School?” Hannah asked. The ball hit her ankle and rolled toward the driveway.

“Yeah. They’re going to be in ninth grade,” Danny told her, waiting for her to kick the ball back.

“They’re not new kids? How come I’ve never seen them?” She kicked the ball hard.

Danny moved to his right to get behind it. He snickered. “How come they’ve never seen you?” He isn’t giving me any straight answers, Hannah realized. I think my questions are making him nervous. He knows I’m starting to suspect the truth about him.

“Alan and Fred want to go back to Chesney’s,” Danny told her.

“Huh? They what?” She missed the ball and kicked up a clod of grass. “Ow. I can’t play soccer in sandals!” “They want to go back tonight. You know. To pay Chesney back for scaring us. He really hurt my shoulder.” “I think Alan and Fred are really looking for trouble,” Hannah warned.

Danny shrugged. “Nothing else to do in this town,” he muttered.

The ball rolled between them.

“I’ve got it!” they both yelled in unison.

They both chased after the ball. Danny got to it first. He tried to kick it away from her. But his foot landed on top of the ball. He stumbled over it and went sprawling onto the grass.

Hannah laughed and jumped over him to get to the ball. She kicked it against the side of the garage, then turned back to him, smiling triumphantly. “One for me!” she declared.

He sat up slowly, grass stains smearing the chest of his T-shirt. “Help me up.” He reached up his hands to hers.

Hannah reached to pull Danny up—and her hands went right through him!