Tonya Hurley_Ghostgirl_03 Read Online Free Page A

him over.

“Holy shiitake,” Gary called back.

Charlotte gave him a squeeze on his way over to Pam, and then noticed Paramour Polly, Lipo Lisa, Tanning Tilly, and the rest of them. She looked anxiously to see who would come in next. Her patience was rewarded.

The light that blazed through the doorway completely engulfed the last visitor, who stepped forward tentatively.

Charlotte watched as the light receded, little by little, exposing the petite, angelic figure passing through it.

“Virginia,” Charlotte sighed as they both ran toward each other, smacking into a big bear hug.

Pam joined the hug. Prue tried to resist, but quickly gave in, grabbing hold of the others as they rotated around and around like a supernatural ceiling fan.

“How nice to see you all,” Virginia greeted with total correctness, having internalized the formality that Petula had drilled into her during their short acquaintance.

She was quite the little lady now. Poised, polished, and pretty as ever. Maybe not older, but certainly wiser for her time with Petula and in Dead Ed. She was special.

“All right, people,” Markov belted out to the interns, interrupting the festivities. “Gather your stuff.”

“For?” Prue asked pointedly.

“A little trip,” Markov answered vaguely.

A little trip sounds good, Charlotte thought, and judging from the smiles on everyone else’s faces, they were thinking the same thing. CoCo began to plan her wardrobe immediately, and Call Me Kim, unable to restrain herself from spreading the good news, “dialed” her family.

“Vacation!” Pam yelled, hoping to kick things off spring break-style.

“Not exactly, Pam,” Markov continued. “It’s more like a business trip.”

“We’re going on the road,” Eric exclaimed, with Mike and DJ high-fiving each other behind him like some wannabe roadies.

“But,” Charlotte chimed in skeptically, “you said our work here was done?”

“That’s right,” Markov said, patronizing her just a little. “I said your work here was done.”

“Then where?” Charlotte asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

“Pack your mental baggage, people,” Markov announced. “You’re going back.”

Chapter 3 Kill Your Darlings

Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.

—Faith Baldwin

Keep the change.

Holding on to someone you know you have to let go of is not just a way to delay the inevitable for them, but for yourself, as well. It protects you from having to make the transition you are about to impose until you are good and ready. Like canceling on an out-of-town guest you’ve been longing to see, but never quite had the time to plan for, it is the convenient, easy way out—for you.

Don’t you need a car seat for her?” Wendy Anderson said, pointing to the inconvenient bundle on Petula’s lap.

“I don’t like the way the shoulder straps crease her clothes,” Petula replied, waiting until Wendy Anderson got situated in the backseat before speeding off.

“Where’s your kid?” Petula asked as if she were referring to an unwanted appendage.

“Day care,” Wendy Anderson snipped.

“Hey, put her socks on; they’re falling off. She needs that pop of pink or else her look won’t work,” Petula said to Wendy Thomas in the front seat.

Wendy pulled the baby’s socks up, but they weren’t straight or even an equal distance above each ankle.

“Do I have to do everything myself?” Petula asked in a huff as she carefully fixed them just so.

This baby doll assignment had become quite popular at Hawthorne as a way of teaching responsibility and counteracting at least a little of the rampant selfishness among students. Considering the battered and stained condition that most of the dolls were returned in, the jury was still out on the experiment.

“Did you write down in the log what your parasite ate last night?” Wendy Thomas asked Petula.

“No, because she didn’t eat. She barely fits into the clothes I just bought her, so