I set my book on the counter and drop down to my knees, helping her scoop up the crystals.
“It’s okay. You probably couldn’t see over the box anyway.”
“Thanks for being understanding, and no, it was hard to.”
“You have a lot of crystals,” I muse, dropping a handful of oval-cut rose quartz pieces back into the box.
“I went through a phase,” she says, and laughs at herself. “I’m selling them. Lyra will take them back at half price, but it’s better than nothing, right?”
“Right.” I reach forward and pull an amethyst out from under a display of herbs.
“You look really familiar,” the girl says, straightening up. Her eyes drill right into mine and then she slowly looks me over, almost as if she’s checking me out. “Have I seen you in here before or something?”
“Nope. It’s my first time in here.”
She bites her lip and smiles, a blush coming to her cheeks. “Well, perfect timing for me, then, right?” Dropping another few stones into the box, she extends her hand. “I’m Gemma.”
“Ace,” I say, and shake her hand and then stand. Gemma grabs her box and gets to her feet.
“Are you going to summon a spirit?” Her eyes go to the book. Then she quickly shakes her head. “Sorry, my aunt says I’m too nosey. But ghosts fascinate me. I’ve seen a few before, you know.”
My first instinct is to call bullshit on her. After all, she just came into a New Age store to sell well over a hundred crystals that obviously didn’t work. Surprise, surprise, I know.
“You have?” I ask before I can stop myself. My curiosity is getting the better of me, and I know what I saw.
“Yeah. After my parents died, I kind of went looking for them. Ghosts, I mean. I really wanted to talk to my mom one more time.” She looks away, color coming back to her cheeks. “I was young then. I know how silly it sounds.”
“It’s not.” Gemma looks to be around my age. No matter how many years have passed since the death of my own parents, the wound still hurts. Not knowing who killed them has haunted me more than any ghost ever will.
“Have you ever tried it before?” she asks, looking over her shoulder as she walks to the counter. She sets the box of crystals on the counter. Lyra tells her she’ll go through them and will get her a price later in the day.
“Tried what?” I look at the door, wanting to just leave.
“Summoning a spirit.”
Lyra eyes me with fake concern. Bitch, we both know you just want my money.
“No.”
Gemma hikes her oversized purse up over her shoulder and walks over to me. “Be careful. The first time I tried contacting my mom, someone else answered.”
I just nod, remembering the saying “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” I think she’s a crock of shit, but that’s her belief and I respect it.
“You don’t believe in this stuff, do you?” She grabs the door and pulls it open, standing aside to let me through first.
“Some of it,” I say, being honest. “But most…no.”
“Then why’d you get the ghost book? Sorry, being nosey again.”
I laugh. “It’s all right.” I start in the opposite direction of her, holding the book under my arm. I make it a few yards away when I hear Gemma yelling. I turn around and see a large man in a hooded sweatshirt grabbing onto her purse.
“Hey!” I yell, and take off after him. He sees me, shoves Gemma back, and starts running. Gemma stumbles, the heel of one of her shoes catching on the other. She did say she was clumsy, and heels are the devil. She stumbles back and hits the exterior wall of the building, catching herself before she falls to the ground.
Letting the ghost book drop to the sidewalk beneath my feet, I run after the guy. He’s fast, but I’m faster. He’s a good fifty feet ahead of me, weaving around the busy sidewalk without caution.
He bumps right into a mom carrying a baby, who almost falls off the sidewalk into oncoming traffic.
Asshole.
