LITMIR.BIZ

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English teachers talking about how fit and well-dressed their principal is. One of them said she planned on baking her special cheesecake for their next meeting because she knows how much he likes it.

      It began last week while Mason was bemused watching Bella read from her chemistry book. Out of nowhere, Trent Stellar came up from behind her, rubbed her back, and planted an unwanted kiss on her cheek. Mason saw the embarrassment in Bella’s face. If he were braver, he would have said something to Trent right at that moment. Something like “Leave her alone, scumbag.” He wanted to stand up to that bully, but he didn’t. Instead, he lowered his head into his own book and pretended not to have seen anything. His shame and embarrassment for being such a coward stung.

      Later that same day, Trent approached Mason by bumping shoulders with him in the hall and said, “Talk to any ghosts lately?”

      That brought Mason to his breaking point, and he wanted so bad to hit him. Mason clenched his fists and rushed over to Trent. But when they stood face-to-face, he froze. Mason managed to open his mouth, but no words came out. Standing there, with his mouth open, face-to-face with Trent, Trent pushed him away. Mason fell backward just as a rush of students came out of a nearby classroom. One of them bumped into Trent, causing him to trip over Mason’s backpack and fall on top of him. Mason pushed Trent off, and in the process, Trent hit the back of his head against the wall behind them. Principal Taylor only saw that last part and grabbed both boys under their arms and demanded they follow him to his office. Trent claimed that Mason pushed him first. Mason tried to deny it, but Principal Taylor said it didn’t matter.

      “Absolutely no violence is tolerated regardless of who started it. Mason, if not for your outstanding academic record and series of chess trophies for Port High School, you’d be expelled. Trent, you are lucky, and I mean lucky that I don’t kick you off the lacrosse team for the rest of the year.” Hence, both students were placed in detention as punishment.

      His torment from Trent began back in the seventh grade. Many of the kids picked up from their parents that Hannah Mason worked as a medium. One warm September day that year, Trent and some other kids from school were at their local ice cream shop when Mason and Hannah walked in. The lady serving ice cream was always a source of wicked comedic relief for Trent and his friends due to her lazy eye, stuttering speech, and colorful hair accessories. When Mason and his mother approached the counter, she exclaimed, “Hannah!”

      “Hi, Mary,” Hannah replied, and Mason could quickly see his classmates coming closer to hear Mary stutter.

      “I… I want to thank you for he-helping me visit with my d-d-d-dad.”

      The kids laughed, and Hannah gave them a stern look before replying, “I am happy to help, Mary.”

      Mason was mortified. Standing there before his peers, he knew for certain that he never wants to work as a medium. Mason stormed out of the ice cream store and in the process slipped on some melted ice cream on the floor. His humiliation was complete as Trent stood up laughing, bent over, and clutched his belly, and the rest of his crew joined in.

      Now seventeen years old, Mason looks at himself in the mirror and is aware that he actually has become quite handsome despite the bullying he experiences. His face is oval with a well-defined jaw. He thinks about Brad Pitt and tries to draw comparisons. He examines his nose from the front and side, noting that it is long, straight, and slightly hawklike, giving him an intriguing fierceness. His hair is wavy, dark blond, and perfect for the popular undercut style he usually wears, but now it has grown long enough for him to tuck behind his ears. His almond-shaped dark-brown eyes are intense and gleam with the brilliance that lie behind them. The bullying at school would have been unbearable, but Mason has always found solace in his outstanding academic record and the ease with which he has always been able to grasp most school subjects.

      Mason’s greatest source of relief comes from James Villas, his childhood friend. James attends a private school, but the two met learning to play hockey in kindergarten. They continue to play on a house league. Occasionally, James invites Mason to hang out with some of his private school friends, who would be considered “nerdy” at Mason’s school, but Mason finds them interesting and funny.

      “Mason, that guy Trent is a complete jerk. I would just stay away. I mean high school will be over before we know it, anyway. We’ll all be far away from here,” James says as he tries to console Mason.

      Mason nods and imagines a life somewhere far from Peaks Island where people didn’t know Hannah is a medium. Somewhere where new friends wouldn’t quietly disappear from Mason’s life after receiving whispers about how weird Mason and his family are. Sometimes, an entire day at school would end with Mason not having said a single word to anyone. His day-to-day life is a quiet, internal experience of the books he reads and the occasional ghosts he is accustomed to seeing walking about. Hannah occasionally tries to get Mason to open up to her about his experiences with ghosts or life in general but to no avail. After all, Hannah is the cause of so much of the grief in his life.

      “Mason, you have to understand that these people hurt each day and ache for the ones they lost. By reaching out to the other side, we can help all of them find peace. In turn, we increase the positive energy in our universe, enabling all beings to move freely into their destinies. We can help clear the way for new life.”

      Mason snickers and rolls his eyes again. Slowly, a ghostly figure floats up behind him. The ghost was a man in his forties. Hannah smiles at the man, but he looks at Mason. “I know you are there. Just go away before I turn the fan on, and you’re blown away.” He laughs.

      “Mason!” Hannah yells. “Frank lost his family. They are in mourning and came today to say goodbye. How can you not feel for them!”

      “So didn’t they say goodbye already? Wasn’t that the point of your little séance today? Please, go away, Frank. You don’t belong in this house. Not now, not ever!” And as the anger rises within Mason, energy exudes from him that pushes the ghostly figure back into oblivion.

      CHAPTER 2

      WESLEY

      There is a supernatural force within the workings of love that none of us, not even scientists, can deny.

      —Ken Poirot

      Up the wooden staircase and down a short narrow hallway, Mason’s bedroom door opens to dark-gray tones and contemporary decor apart from an old desk Hannah said was passed down for generations of Hunters. Mason always loved the desk with its thick legs resembling tree trunks and asked to keep it in his room. The desk was carved to look like the bark of a tree, and the desktop’s grain was detailed and rich in color. The best part is the chessboard inlaid on the desktop. Mason’s admiration for it gave him a strong desire to have it close to him.

      Mason lay on the striped navy-blue-and-gray comforter on his bed. He opens his laptop and searches YouTube. Lately, he is enamored with Cage the Elephant’s “Cold Cold Cold.” While listening to singer Matt Shultz plead out the lyrics, Mason scans each book on his shelf with his eyes, including, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Farewell to Arms, The Things They Carried, and his current book, Fahrenheit 451. He contemplates picking it up but feels distracted. Mason can’t seem to focus enough to read or do his endless homework.

      Looking around his room, he sees his hockey jersey hanging out of the hamper and makes a mental note to throw it in the wash before his next game on Saturday. Hockey is Mason’s best outlet from the ghosts in his home and the daily torment he feels at school. There is no replacement for the adrenaline rush he feels as he races to get to the flying puck before his opponent. He lets his mind drift into a daydream of winning the Stanley Cup and imagines the fame and fortune that would naturally follow even though he plays on a house league and never even made it to a competitive travel team.

      Revved up by his daydream, Mason gets down on the ground and begins doing push-ups. His routine is ten push-ups, hold plank position for thirty seconds, and then mountain climbers for thirty seconds. He repeats this as many times as he could. Standing up, he looks at his arms in the mirror, noting some increased definition in the past few months.

      Suddenly,

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