True felt a whoosh of relief go through her body like a welcome breeze on a hot day. “There you go. That’s probably it.” What had she beenthinking,allowing herself to be swayed, even temporarily? “Electrical issues.” She turned to Orion. “Okay, so we’ve checked mass hysteria off the list. I think that leaves Bradley and Wicked Wynona.” They had important business, which she’d forgotten due to a séance-gone-wrong. What would Marie Curie think?
Nodding seriously, Orion slipped the EMF meter back intohis pocket. “Yeah, sorry. We have to get to chasing a mannequin, guys. You were going to tell us where Bradley headed off to?”
Zombie Boy blew out a candle near him. “Yeah, I guess you earned that info. They were on their way to the movie-theater room, last we saw.”
Orion and True thanked him and then they left, closing the door behind them.
In the cool, quiet hallway, they looked at each other and, after a moment, burst out laughing.
“I can’t believe I actually let myself think for a minute that—”
“That was such clear evidence of activity!”
They’d both spoken at the same time and both stopped abruptly, True’s smile fading while Orion’s broadened.
“Wait, what?” True asked, blinking up at Orion. “You still think it was a spirit?”
“The EMF meter! The lights! The planchette practically impaling you!” Orion shook his head, still grinning. “You don’treallythink it was just an electrical malfunction, do you? Although I do think it’s hilarious that we’re on opposite sides of this… yet again.”
The way he said it, as if he and True had some history, made her heart thrill.No, stop it. Bad heart.Pushing the thought away, True threw her hands up. “Of course I think it was an electrical malfunction!”
Orion cocked an eyebrow. “I thought that was just something you said to keep them calm.”
“No!”
“I saw your face,” he continued, obviously not convinced.“There was a shadow of uncertainty there. You were thinking about it. After what you saw downstairs…”
“I didn’t see anything downstairs,” True countered quickly, wrapping her arms around herself. “Is it cold? It’s freezing, right?”
Orion gave her a smug smile. Rolling her eyes, True began to walk to the end of the hallway, where she was pretty sure the movie theater was located. “Let me guess: you think the temperature is caused by the spirit instead of the thermostat.”
“Oh, come on,” Orion teased, falling into step beside her. “You’re telling me there’snopart of you that’s wondering what else it could be? There’s absolutely nothing in you that senses there’s some magicalsomething afoot tonight?”
True hesitated just a second. “My mom’s an accountant’s assistant, and my dad’s an insurance agent, Orion. I was raised to believe in numbers. Hard facts.”
Orion chuckled. “You didn’t answer my questions, but I’ll let that go… for now. Besides, the EMF meterisbased on science. That should appeal to you.”
They were outside the theater now, and True was glad she didn’t have to respond. Putting a finger to her lips and pointing at the door, she reached for the handle and thrust it open quickly, hoping to take Bradley and crew by surprise.
Inside, two familiar faces looked up at her from cushy movie-theater-style recliners.
True’s mouth fell open. She stepped into the vast, dimly litroom. There was a fifteen-foot microLED display screen on one end and an actual concession stand on the other. On the walls were dozens of framed movie posters—everything fromDie HardtoMoana—and most of them were signed by the stars. But that’s not what had floored her.
“Mom? Dad?”
Her parents were sitting in the front row, closest to her, their feet propped up on the recliner footrests. Her mom had even kicked off her shoes. Her dad, six inches shorter than her mom, had a neck pillow and looked halfway asleep. True was vaguely aware of Orion stepping in behind her and closing the door, but her attention was riveted to her parents. “What are youdoing?”
Her mom’s face lit up in a cheery smile. “Hello, True! We’re just taking a break from the party.”
Her dad, still drowsy, gestured to the empty seat beside him. “These midnight galas take forever, don’t they? Come take a seat.”
Her mom sat up a little more, peering in the low light. “Do you have a friend with you?”
True glanced over at Orion, her pulse thrumming for reasons unknown. Or unexamined. Same thing, really. “Oh. Um, this is Orion.”
But he was already stepping forward, one hand outstretched, a pleasant smile on his face as he approached her parents. “Orion Parker, ma’am, sir. I go to North Pointe High.”
True’s mom and dad looked exceptionally pleased, probably by his manners (Bradley had been the type to honk fromthe driveway until she came out, which drove her parents nuts), and True felt she should do something to quickly correct the situation. “Yeah, we’re not exactly friends. I mean, we just met tonight.”
