Kindred Spirits Read Online Free Page A

She knew every piece of clothing in my closet without having to open the door.
    I leaned my elbows on the counter and listened to her rank my tops from cute to not so much. My gaze settled on the big five-pound bag of sugar and its blue and yellow design.
    Blue looks nice with bright yellow, I thought, staring at the bag. I wished I owned a yellow top. Yellow says sunny, happy, and fun. Mason would like a sunny girl.
    All of a sudden, the heavy bag of sugar flopped onto its side. Sugar crystals cascaded onto the floor.
    â€œWhoa!” Lily cried. She grabbed for the bag at the same time as I did. We flipped it upright. “How’d that happen?”
    I glanced nervously around the room. No Eleanor. No Dwight. “No idea. It’s weird.”
    â€œBuddy, no!” Lily pulled the panting dog away from the mound of sugar. Quickly I knelt down to scoop up the mess. Lily helped.
    â€œRemind me not to have you bake my birthdaycake,” Lily kidded. “You’re kind of a disaster in the kitchen.”
    â€œHave you finally decided what you’re doing for your birthday?” I asked. For weeks, Lily had been coming up with party ideas, loving them, then rejecting them. Indoor rock climbing. A beading workshop. A spa party. A 3-D movie.
    â€œNot yet. What do you think about the frozen yogurt place by the lighthouse?”
    â€œI like it, but after we eat yogurt, then what? I mean, yogurt eating doesn’t take all that long.” I went to the sink to get a sponge. “How about the mall?”
    Lily joined me and poured water into a bowl for Buddy. “I want boys at my party too. They won’t shop. All they’ll do is hang at the food court.”
    â€œTick-tock, tick-tock,” I sang.
    â€œWhat’s that mean?”
    â€œYour birthday is next week,” I reminded Lily. “You’re running out of time.”
    â€œI don’t want just any party.” Lily twirled a strand of her hair. It fell in waves way past the middle of her back.
    â€œMaybe I should send out an e-mail invite today.”
    â€œAn invite to what?”
    â€œTo my party at a surprise location.” Lily grinned. “I like it. Kind of reverse surprise party!”
    â€œExcept even you don’t know what the surprise is.”
    â€œI will. Soon—” Lily gasped. “Sara, quick, the milk!”
    I whirled around. The carton of milk had fallen over. Milk spilled across the counter, waterfalling onto the floor. Buddy’s nails clacked against the linoleum in his dash to lap up the white pool. Lunging forward, I grabbed the carton, stopping the flow of milk.
    â€œHow’d that spill?” Lily asked. Her brows knit together in confusion. “You and I weren’t anywhere near it.”
    My heart thumped loudly in my chest. I searched the kitchen. Where were Eleanor and Dwight? Why couldn’t I see them?
    â€œWho are you looking for?” Lily demanded. She’d brought over a dish towel.
    â€œNo one.” What could I say? “A ghost?” I offered, trying to make it sound like a joke.
    â€œYou think?” Lily’s voice turned hopeful. “That would be so cool if Lady Azura called in a ghost.”
    â€œYeah, it would.” No, it wouldn’t, I thought.
    â€œMaybe this house is haunted. Did you ever think of that?” Lily asked.
    â€œAll the time,” I admitted.
    Should I tell her? Was now the time to tell her? I didn’t know.
    I hurried to the sink to get the sponge again. Buddy slurped the milk on the floor, but the counter was a swimming pool.
    Lily’s eyes shone with excitement. “It could be a ghost, or it could be some sort of other paranormal phenomena. Maybe there’s some weird energy in the room that made the milk carton spill over. Stuff like that definitely happens.”
    I knew all about weird energy—I’d had to deal with that, too—but I was sure that the chaos in my kitchen was