We watch as the planchette slowly drifts toward Yes. Then, Cody leaps forward and grabs Aubrey’s fingers away. “You’re making it move.”

“No, I’m not!” Aubrey cries. “I’m communicating with her!”

“Aubrey, put it away.” Cody’s voice wobbles. “Please?”

We go still. Cody is usually so levelheaded. It takes a lot for him to get worked up about something, but when he does, it’s usually important.

“Okay, okay.” Aubrey packs up the board and replaces the lid. “Sorry.”

I clear my throat. “Why don’t you want her to do the board, Cody?”

Cody looks away. “I, um, have some good news and bad news.” He shifts his weight. “The good news is… Well, my moms are really considering moving here. Full-time.”

Aubrey and I gasp. “To LA? For real?” I cry. “That’s amazing!”

Cody holds up his finger. “I also said there’s bad news. They’ll only do it if things keep going well on the show. They don’t want to be here if I’m just running around, out on auditions. So if Sadie Solves It gets shut down like Motor Clowns…” He takes a big breath. “Then they want me back in Texas. Permanently.”

“What?” I jump to my feet. “How could they do that?”

“My moms say that once I graduate from high school, I can come back to LA. Pursue acting again. But they miss me. They want us to be together as a family.”

“High school graduation is years away!” Aubrey exclaims. Then she looks down at the spirit board box. “I get it. You don’t want to talk to Betty, because you don’t want Betty to be real. Right?”

Cody shrugs. “I want it all to go away.” He keeps his head down, trying to hide his almost-tears—which he totally doesn’t have to do around us. “This show… It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And you guys are the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“Same here,” I agree. Aubrey nods too.

I think about our very first day of shooting, when we all met. I’d been so nervous that I wouldn’t like my costars. But then, Aubrey walked in wearing one of those ridiculous hats that have two soda cans on either side and two looping straws that lead straight into her mouth. I started laughing. Cody came in next. He took one look at the soda-can hat and pulled out a pack of Mentos from his pocket. He asked us if any of us had ever done the Mentos-cola trick.