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My mouth dried up, going numb. I shook my head. “I don’t drink.”

“You did last night.”

“I mean, I don’t normally drink. Not on a Saturday afternoon.”

Glancing at his phone, he replied, grim, “It’s six. On a Saturday night. If we keep talking about my best friend, I’m having a drink. You’re more than welcome to one as well?” Pouring a mixer into the glass, he put the bottle away, then picked up his drink and moved around me. He went back out into the hallway.

My feet followed him before I even knew what I was doing. The pull was there, just like when I first arrived and we touched. When I wanted to press against him, just to be near him. It yanked me after him, following all the way until he sank into a couch in the basement television room. There were three couches that were pushed together.

The hockey game was playing.

I sat on one of the side couches, thinking some space might not be a bad thing.

He lifted a remote and the game was muted, but still playing. His head rested against the back of his couch and as he took a drink from his glass, his head rolled to watch me. His face was cast in a shadow, and maybe it was the lighting from the basement, but suddenly he was dark and bleak.

Dangerous. Lee is dangerous.

A whisper went through me.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, but then I noticed movement in the corner. It was the ghost. Standing there. Smirking. He wasn’t smoking this time, but he had a lighter that he was playing with. Opening it. Closing it. And repeat. He didn’t care about me. His gaze was focused solely on Lee. The gleam from last night was back. It was more sinister.

He was angry.

The ghost rolled his eyes, finally flicking them to me. “Oh, little girl. You have no idea what is happening here.”

I shrank into the couch, fear scattering through me, but also frustration. I had to pretend he wasn’t there. Stare at the television. There was a hockey game playing. Focus on that. That’s what I needed to do and keep my mouth shut because this was a pivotal moment. Whatever was going on, why this ghost was here, why he could do what he did last night, it was directly linked to Lee. He was opening a window and showing me the guy who was kicked out of my current high school.

I needed to know more.

As if the ghost could read my thoughts, because Sabine said she could, he taunted, his gaze going back to Lee, “Yes, Lee. Let’s tell her everything.” Stepping more into the sitting room, he circled in front of the television to perch on the opposite couch. “Let’s tell her about the real fire. You know. The one where you killed me.”

9

Everything went still inside of me.

It was as if Lee could see him. He was staring right at him, until he stood, moving through the ghost to pull a picture off the wall. He brought it over, sinking down next to me. My mind was going a mile a minute, but I was able to focus on what I was seeing.

Or who I was seeing.

It was Lee and the ghost. In hockey uniforms, their arms were resting on each other’s shoulders. Their hockey sticks were in their other hands. Both were smiling at the camera.

Lee took another drink of his glass, his jaw clenching. “His name’s Noah. He was my best friend.”

The ghost added, in a low voice, “We were like brothers.”

Lee spoke, “I didn’t always live here. We moved here five years ago, but we didn’t live far before that. My dad—my family’s gotten into the habit of moving around. Noah was at this hockey camp and we just got tight. Super tight. Our fathers knew each other, had done business deals together, and it became natural. His family started hanging out with mine. Went on vacations together. Other hockey camps together. I joined his elementary school. That’s how long we’ve known each other, until my dad wanted to move so we moved. But again, not too far. Noah and I were still able to do summer hockey camps together. Then,” His voice broke again. He had to take another drink. “There was a fire two summers ago.”

I felt that Noah’s death was recent. Two summers ago was very recent.

I chanced a look toward where Noah was standing and was surprised to see a tear had fallen down his face. He ignored it, ignored me. He was focused on Lee. “You lit the fire. You killed me because you wanted my family to go away.” He looked at me, his eyes were so dead. “My mom and his dad were having an affair. It’d been happening for a while. Lee wanted it to stop. It’s why they moved all the time, because of the affairs. There were others. It wasn’t just my mom. His dad would cheat. He’d get caught. He’d agree to move to appease Lee’s mom. But it kept happening until, for a while, they didn’t move. Lee thought it was over. No more cheating. His dad didn’t need to meet someone in their new town. It was because he was sleeping with my mom. It’s why they’re gone now. His dad cheated again. His mom insisted they go to a marriage retreat. It won’t work. His dad’s a cheater. His mom needs to leave him or do whatever she needs to do to be okay with it.”

Lee, even though he couldn’t hear, his chest was heaving. He bit out, his hand curled so tightly around his glass, “We snuck out one night. Or I thought we were going to sneak out. I went ahead to the creek. We were going to swim a little, maybe drink some beer. Noah never came. It was the last night of camp and no one knew that we hadn’t left. We did that on purpose. There was…” His jaw was so rigid. “I didn’t want to go home. There was—my parents—my father. I wanted to stay one more night.”

A tear slid down his face.

Noah laughed. “He’s lying. Jesus. He’s putting on the whole wet works for you. He must really want to fuck you.” He shoved up to his feet and in an instant, he vanished.

The ghost was gone.