Girl Meets Ghost by Lauren Barnholdt Page B

say. “But if I want to know what to see, I’ll just watch the preview online or something. The previews have always been kind of boring to me.”
    â€œThat’s because you’ve never watched them with me,” he says. “I have a whole system.” He explains that for every preview you have to give the preview itself—not the movie—either a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. Fun!
    For the most part we agree about the previews. We give two of them a thumbs-down, one a thumbs-up, and thenare split on the last two, a romantic comedy that I think looks really good but Brandon claims looks really silly, and an action movie that has way too many explosions for my taste, but which Brandon seems really excited about.
    I like that we don’t agree on every preview, because I think it would be boring to be with someone that agreed with you about everything.
    â€œYou want some popcorn?” I ask Brandon as the lights dim even further and the opening credits of the movie start. He reaches into the carton and my heart speeds up. I am sharing popcorn with Brandon Dunham! I’ve never shared popcorn with a boy before. It feels very scandalicious.
    About five minutes into the movie, Brandon takes my hand. His hand is nice, warm and soft and not at all sweaty. Pulses of electricity fly up my fingers and rush through my body, and I lean my head against his shoulder. When the movie’s finally over, I pretty much have no idea what it was about. I couldn’t keep my mind on it. I just keep thinking about Brandon’s closeness, and the fact that we were holding hands.
    When the lights go up, I look over to see Ellie and Kyle sitting ramrod straight in their seats. Ellie has this super-blank look on her face, and Kyle’s scowling at the floor. Uh-oh. I try to catch Ellie’s eye, but she’s staring straight ahead, not looking at me.
    We all traipse up the aisle and into the lobby.
    â€œI’m going to go call my mom,” Ellie says. “To tell her we’re ready to be picked up.”
    â€œWant me to go with you?” I ask.
    â€œNo,” she says, “I’ll be right back.” She heads over to the spot between the front doors so that she can get away from the noise in the lobby.
    â€œI’m going to play a video game,” Kyle mumbles, walking over to where the arcade games are.
    â€œWhat’s up with those two?” Brandon asks.
    â€œI don’t know,” I say.
    â€œWell, Kyle can be kind of difficult.”
    â€œYeah,” I say. And then I can’t take it anymore. I have to know, I have to ask him. “Hey,” I say, “can I ask you something?”
    â€œSure.”
    â€œWell . . . I don’t want to get Kyle in trouble or anything, but Kyle told Ellie that you said we just had an okay time when I was at your house yesterday.” He gets an uncomfortable look on his face, so I rush on, “And that’s fine. Really, I’m not mad. It’s just . . . Well, I had a really nice time, so I was kind of confused.”
    â€œI had a great time too,” Brandon says. “I really did. It’s just that I wasn’t sure you did because you seemed to get a little weird when I brought up the stuff about my mom.”
    Ohmigod. He noticed! He knew! And here I am, thinking I’m such a good actress, and it turns out it’s not eventrue. Jeez. “Oh,” I say dumbly, because I don’t know what else to say.
    â€œIt’s okay,” he says, and then squeezes my hand. “A lot of people get a little weird about it, but I don’t want you to have to feel uncomfortable, you know? It’s really sad, but we don’t have to avoid the topic or anything.”
    â€œYeah,” I say, “I guess I did get a little uncomfortable.” What a lie! If anyone is comfortable with the idea of people dying, it’s me. I mean, I have to be. Of course, it’s really sad