A Perfect Storm (Volume 10) (Saranormal, Band 10) - Softcover

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Phoebe Rivers had a brush with the paranormal when she was thirteen years old, and ever since then she has been fascinated by people who see spirits and can communicate with them. In addition to her intrigue with all things paranormal, Phoebe also loves cats, French cuisine, and wiling her afternoons away in coffee shops writing stories. She has written dozens of books for children of all ages and is thrilled to now be exploring Sara’s paranormal world.

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A Perfect Storm

Chapter 1

“It’s only week three of school and already I’m bored with all the guys at Stellamar Middle School,” my best friend, Lily, announced as she stirred the pool of butterscotch sauce at the bottom of her sundae glass.

“I know, right?” agreed Avery. She grimaced, her mouth revealing this month’s band color, which was bright green. The bands she used for her braces tended to change color from one orthodontist appointment to the next. “That’s the problem with living in a small town.”

“It’s true,” sighed Marlee. “All the guys do at lunchtime this year is sit around in big packs talking about sports. They don’t pay attention to any of us.”

“Except Sara, here,” said Avery, pointing at me with her spoon. “They notice you, because you give off that ‘I’m not interested’ vibe, which of course makes them interested. Can you teach me how to pull that off?”

“She pulls it off because she’s actually not interested in any of them,” Marlee joked, grinning at me. “Right, Sara? You’re not crushing on anyone at school so far this year, right?”

“Earth to Sara,” said Miranda, waving a hand back and forth in front of my face.

I jumped. Tried to focus on my friends. Tried to recover and act like I’d been paying attention, when really, I’d been staring out the window at the man standing on the sidewalk. He was dressed in strange clothing, unlike anything anyone else wore these days. Beneath his battered sailor hat I could see long, jet-black hair, loosely tied back in a ponytail. His pants were knee-length, his soiled blue coat fastened with big brass buttons, his thick-soled black shoes topped with large buckles.

Oh, and he shimmered slightly around the edges.

He was a spirit. A spirit I’d seen before, back at my house.

The question was, what was he doing here, outside Scoops Ice Cream Parlor? Had he come here to look for me?

Lily nudged me. “You okay?” she asked.

I smiled weakly. “I’m fine,” I said. “I guess it’s been a long week.” But I wasn’t that fine. I was having that familiar, unpleasant reaction, the one I thought I’d conquered. The tingling feeling that had started in my left foot was moving up my leg. The air around me had grown thick. The lights had grown dimmer, though I know it didn’t seem that way to anyone except me.

My eyes darted toward the window again. The spirit wasn’t paying any attention to me. I began to relax a little. Maybe he wasn’t here to talk to me. He seemed to be muttering to himself. Rather abruptly, he spun on his heel and marched away, his head down, his hands clasped behind his back. Before he’d gone more than a few paces, he grew transparent. He shimmered for a moment, like a barbecue grill on a hot summer day, and then vanished.

Perhaps I should explain.

You know how kids sometimes talk about how they feel different, that no one understands them, that they just don’t feel like they fit in sometimes?

Well, trust me. I win the prize. Because I really am different.

I can see spirits. Dead people.

I’ve seen spirits since I was little. Up until recently, I hadn’t told anyone about it, not even my dad. But now he knew. And he’d moved us to this shore town in New Jersey the year before, so we could live in a big, ramshackle Victorian house with Lady Azura, my great-grandmother. She had powers too, and she’d been helping me with my own powers. Which was handy, because her house was filled with spirits.

Only two other people know about my powers. One is a boy named Mason Meyer, the guy I have a crush on, though he doesn’t know that. Mason goes to a different school. I had barely seen him since the summer had ended, but we did text a lot.

The other person who knows my secret is Lily. Lily Randazzo, my best friend.

Now, back in the ice-cream shop, she saved me, by directing our friends’ attention away from my weird, distracted behavior.

“You guys!” she hissed. “Turn around! Act natural! I just spotted Mason Meyer outside, and he’s heading in here and he has a friend with him. A totally gorgeous friend.”

The rest of us settled down. We pretended we were engrossed in a deep conversation with one another as we heard the bell of the shop tinkle.

Lily and Avery and Miranda had squished in on one side of the booth and were sitting with their backs to the door, Lily nearest the window. Marlee and I were facing the door, so we had a good view as the two guys came in.

I forgot all about the spirit. My mouth went dry and my palms got wet—but this was what usually happened when I first saw Mason.

He noticed us right away and jerked his chin up in a quick hello gesture, grinning sideways a little. I saw him say something to his friend, and the two ambled toward our booth. I wasn’t going to pretend I hadn’t seen him. I looked up. Smiled. Felt that familiar sensation I’d been feeling whenever I was in Mason’s presence, like electricity crackling through my body. I could feel myself flushing. No doubt my fair skin was turning an embarrassing shade of pink, right up to the roots of my blond hair.

I could feel his green eyes gazing at me. I had to look away quickly. He had that effect on me. Like all my bones had turned to rubber. Instead I looked at Lily.

Lily was blushing. Lily, the world’s most extroverted, outgoing, never-at-a-loss-for-words person on earth, appeared to have lost the power to speak.

Still avoiding Mason’s gaze, I checked out his friend.

Oh. No wonder.

“This is Calvin,” Mason said to us, gesturing to his friend.

“Hey,” said Calvin with a shy grin. His voice was deep and smooth.

“Hey,” we all murmured back.

Calvin was tall—even a little taller than Mason, who was already taller than most boys our age. His dark-brown hair was short on the sides and a little longer on top, and his eyes were a light shade of hazel. I knew that Lily had a weakness for guys with dark hair and light eyes. Especially ones this cute.

I watched Lily pick up her glass of water and take a big, gasping gulp. I suppressed a smile. She’d already fallen for him.

I’d met Mason during the summer, through a series of weird coincidences. Lily and her family now owned Buddy, a sweet little dog who used to belong to Mason and his family. I sometimes wondered if Mason and I had been meant to meet each other, and if Buddy had brought us together.

Mason went to a school two towns over, in Harbor Isle. I had no idea what he and Calvin were doing at Scoops right now, since Harbor Isle had plenty of fun places to hang out. Maybe, just maybe, he’d come because he knew this was a place I liked to hang out with my friends? I dared to hope that was why. I also dared to hope he had half as big a crush on me as I did on him.

Avery glanced from me to Mason to Lily to Calvin. She giggled again. “So what brings you guys here?” she asked the boys.

“Just passing by.”

“No reason.”

Calvin and Mason had answered at the same time.

A movement out the window caught my eye. There was that spirit again. What was he doing here? I never...