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Jane sat up, worried for her younger sister. "You'll get in trouble."
"No, I won't." Ha
"What about you?"
"I'm not hungry. Here."
"Thanks, Han." Jane took the basket as Ha
"So what didja do?"
Jane shook her head and bit into the roast beef sandwich. "I got upset with Mom."
" 'Cuz you couldn't have your party?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well… I gots something to cheer you up." Ha
Jane looked at the card and blinked fast a couple of times. "Thanks… Han."
"Don't be sad, I'm here. Look at your card! I made it for you."
On the front, drawn in her sister's messy hand, were two stick figures. One had straight blond hair and the word Jane written under it. The other had curly red hair and the name Ha
Just as Jane went to open the card, a pair of headlights swept the front of the house and started coming up the driveway.
"Papa's home," Jane hissed. "You better get out of here."
Ha
"Go, Han, seriously."
"Okay. But I'm really sorry that your party got quitted." Ha
"Hey, Han? I like my card."
"You didn't look inside."
"Don't have to. I like it because you made it for me."
Ha
As the door shut, Jane heard her parents' voices drift up from the foyer. In a rush she ate Ha
Her parents came upstairs an hour later and she tensed, expecting her father to knock. He didn't.
Which was weird. He was, in his controlling way, as reliable as a clock, and there was a strange comfort in his predictability, even though she didn't like dealing with him.
She put Pickwick aside, turned the light out, and tucked her legs under her frilly duvet. Beneath the canopy of her bed she couldn't sleep, and eventually she heard the grandfather clock at the head of the stairs chime twelve times.
Midnight.
Slipping from bed, she went to the closet, got out the rogue knapsack, and unzipped it. The Ouija board fell out, flipping open and landing faceup on the floor. She grabbed it with a wince, as if it might have broken or something, then got the pointer thingy.
She and her friends had been looking forward to playing the game because they all wanted to know who they were going to marry. Jane liked a boy named Victor Browne, who was in her math class. The two of them had been talking a little lately, and she really thought they could be a couple. Trouble was, she wasn't sure what he felt for her. Maybe he just liked her because she gave him answers.
Jane laid out the board on her bed, rested her hands on the pointer, and took a deep breath. "What is the name of the boy I'm going to marry?"
She didn't expect the thing to move. And it didn't.
A couple more tries and she leaned back in frustration. After a minute she rapped on the wall behind her headboard. Her sister knocked back, and a little later Ha
"How do you play!"
"Shh!" God, if they got caught like this, they were totally grounded. Forever.
"Sorry." Ha
"You ask it questions and it tells you the answers."
"What can we ask?"
"Who we're going to marry." Okay, now Jane was nervous. What if the answer wasn't Victor? "Let's start with you. Put your fingertips on the pointer, but don't push down or anything. Just-like that, yup. Okay… Who is Ha
The pointer didn't move. Even after Jane repeated the question.
"It's broken," Ha
"Let me try another question. Put your hands back up." Jane took a deep breath. "Who am I going to marry?"
A squeaky little noise rose up from the board as the pointer began to move. When it came to rest on the letter V, Jane trembled. Heart in her throat, she watched it move to the letter I.
"It's Victor!" Ha
Jane didn't bother shushing her sister. This was too good to be-
The pointer landed on the letter S. S?
"This is wrong," Jane said. "This has to be wrong-"
"Don't stop. Let's find out who it is."
But if it wasn't Victor, she didn't know. And what kind of boy had a name like Vis-
Jane fought to redirect the pointer, but it insisted on going to the letter H. Then O, U, and once more to S.
VISHOUS.
Dread coated the inside of Jane's rib cage.
"I told you it was broken," Ha
Jane looked away from the board, then let herself fall back onto her pillows. This was the worst birthday she'd ever had.
"Maybe we should try again," Ha
They put their fingers back on the pointer.
"What will I get for Christmas?" Ha
The pointer didn't move.
"Try a yes or no to get it started," Jane said, still freaked out over the word she'd been given. Maybe the board couldn't spell?
"Will I get anything for Christmas?" Ha
The pointer started to squeak.
"I hope it's a horse," Ha
The pointed stopped on no.
They both stared at the thing.
Ha
"It's just a game," Jane said, closing the board up. "Besides, the thing really is broken. I dropped it."
"I want presents."
Jane reached out and hugged her sister. "Don't worry about the stupid board, Han. I'll always get you something for Christmas."
When Ha
Stupid board. Stupid birthday. Stupid everything.
As she closed her eyes, she realized she'd never looked at her sister's card. She turned the light back on and picked it up off the bedside table. Inside it said, We will always hold hands! I love you! Ha
That answer they'd been given about Christmas was so wrong. Everyone loved Ha
Stupid board…
After a while Jane fell asleep. She must have, because Ha
"You okay?" Jane said, sitting up. Her sister was standing by the bed in her fla
"I gotta go." Ha
"To the bathroom? You go
"You can't." Ha
"Well, when you're finished doing whatever, you can come back here and sleep if you wa
Ha