Call Spirits in Your Past **Book Two**

Chapter 42 (Saturday)

Ripple crumpled the rubric sheet between her fists. A "C?" They'd gotten a "C?"

"It was a talent show!" she exclaimed, then immediately glanced up. The one girl on the empty sidewalk before her turned to stare, eyebrows knit together. "Sorry," Ripple called. "I wasn't talking to you."

The girl shook her head and turned, walking slightly faster.

Ripple smoothed out her paper. Miss Trevalene had highlighted sections of the rubric in a cutesy pink marker, adding little smiley faces beneath her comments. "Creative ideas!" she'd written--right beneath the two out of five points for cohesiveness of presentation. Ripple glared daggers at the smiley face. It obliviously kept smiling back.

She sighed, crumpling the paper again. Addie had put together a solid representation of Ripple's inner world. It featured a white background, a small wooden cottage that looked like it belonged on a mountain, and even the edge of a canyon. The problem was that after planning so much of what it should look like, none of them had any idea what they were actually supposed to do.

So Ripple and Vizz staged a mock battle, throwing foam cubes at each other and making them whiz around the stage. However, after only a few tosses, most of them ended up smooshed to the ground by Vizz's gravity powers. Then Addie vomited because she pushed herself too hard, and Ripple started dissociating from stage fright and didn't remember what happened after that.

She frowned at the paper. Maybe she should be glad they'd even gotten a C.

***

Ripple trudged into the building of dorms, creeping through the silent hallway to her and Addie's room. Thud. She stopped. Who was thudding? Thud. She twisted around, puzzled.

An incessant, high pitched wailing buzzed the air.

"Ripple?" she spun around, but it was only Addie, peering from their opened door. "What was that?"

Ripple pointed towards the sound. "I don't know," she tiptoed back down the hall, and Addie closed the door, following.

"Is that Maro's bedroom?" Addie whispered.

Ripple shrugged. Was it? She didn't keep track of who slept where.

"Oh my goodness that's Maro's room," Addie dashed forward, fist raised to knock on the door but it exploded outwards.

Ripple screamed, hands stretched out, trying to stop the shattering door. She wasn't fast enough. The door flung Addie into the opposite wall, and she slumped to the ground. Blood trickled into her bright yellow cardigan.

"Well. I guess Maro can call for help."

Ripple's gaze shot up. Mr. Clipboard. From...her brain fuzzed out. She knew this man. His dark eyes and strangely young face. Right?

"Rimira!" he said brightly. "How good to see you. If you'll excuse us, we need to be going."

Ripple blinked at two hulking figures behind his head. One held a limp body over one shoulder and she stared. "What are you doing with Maro?"

"Maro has been...disturbing the peace. Snooping where he shouldn't," Mr. Clipboard stepped through the destroyed doorway, motioning for his followers to...follow. "Sorry about the door."

Ripple glared at him. "Maro didn't do anything wrong," she growled.

Mr. Clipboard raised an eyebrow. "That's not for you to decide," he motioned to the woman who wasn't carrying Maro. "Don't let her follow us, please," he strolled calmly toward the exit.

"You get back here, creep!" Ripple started in surprise at her own voice. "You can't just abduct people from their bedrooms!"

Mr. Clipboard glanced back. "Rimira, I can do whatever I want," he smiled, eyes totally blank.