BooksBarbecue
Back Ghosted
Chapters (61)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. Books by Emily Barr
  4. DEDICATION
  5. Prologue
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. Epilogue
  58. Acknowledgements
  59. Read on for an extract from …
  60. 12 December
  61. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Knowing what I do of Troy, he’ll try to tell himself it’s madness for a day or so, but then he’ll crack and reply because it’ll play on his mind too much.

‘Wait,’ I say.

If Ariel sends this, then it will make things happen. I don’t know if I want things to happen.

She looks at me. She understands.

‘I don’t have to press send.’

My mind is full of clutter. I don’t know what I want.

This thing has momentum, though. I don’t think we can stop it now. I can’t live for eternity, wondering what would have happened if we’d done this.

‘Do it,’ I say, and she does.

We sit and look at each other in absolute silence until the door opens and someone – is it Troy? – walks in. Everything goes blank.

Penguin walking logo

43

By the time I woke up on Sunday morning there was a reply in the new Joe Simpson inbox, but it just said this:

Ariel, I presume. This is a disgusting thing that you’re doing. Stop this or I’ll contact the authorities. Never get in touch with me again. TL

I also had a WhatsApp message from Finn. Finn, who I’d met over the summer, was in my English class now. We had a lot of eye contact.

Hey, Ariel! I don’t have anything after English tomorrow – do you fancy grabbing a coffee?

I smiled at the phone. I wanted Joe, but Finn was real and I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t spend my life being in love with a boy who had been dead for twenty years. My summer had shown me that I needed to live my life, and Raffy wouldn’t want an aunt who was hopelessly in love with a ghost. I couldn’t turn my back on all the progress I’d made.

Sounds good, I wrote. Then, when I’d sent it, I worried that it was a stupid reply. I should have answered by emoji. Sounds good. That’s what an old person would have said. I should have sent a flame.

Nonetheless, the upshot was that I had agreed to go for coffee with Finn.

I turned my attention back to Troy.

Joe had predicted that he would shut me down at first, but that later he’d change his approach, so I did nothing. I tried to put it all from my mind and hung out all day with Sasha and Raff. On Monday I went to college and wished I’d spent a bit less time playing with the baby while dwelling on trophy-return scenarios, and a bit more time learning French vocabulary.

Troy wouldn’t have killed Joe on purpose. We both knew that. But he might have done it by mistake.