“And really excited you’re here, Mr. York,” Aubrey adds.

“Call me Morty.” His eyes crinkle as he smiles. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it.” He steps down from the trailer’s door. “See you soon!”

After he’s gone, I shut the door and face my friends. “Okay. What do we think?”

Aubrey looks at me strangely. “What do you mean? This is incredible! I’ve always wanted to meet a ghost! Haven’t you?”

“Not really…” I mutter, nervously twisting the sapphire ring I always wear. Sapphire’s my birthstone, and Sadie’s. Last season, Sadie wore a sapphire necklace, but the necklace kept getting caught on things during my scenes. At the end of the season, the writers decided that Sadie lost the necklace in one of the final cliff-hanger moments. Sadie’s mom gives her the new ring as a replacement at the very end of the episode. Sapphires give Sadie the strength and courage to solve mysteries—and me too.

I’m not surprised Aubrey wants to meet a ghost. She’s always up for adventure. Aubrey’s one of those people who’s calm in the scariest of situations—like in the final moments of a major soccer tournament, or when she has to give a speech in front of a group of kids, or even when she has to get a filling at the dentist. In fact, the only thing that scares her is singing in front of people. Cody and I are the only people who’ve heard her great voice.

“You don’t want to meet a ghost because you don’t believe in ghosts, right, Hayley?” Cody asks. “There’s no scientific proof that ghosts exist.” Cody might have a wicked sense of humor, but he’s practical and doesn’t like taking risks…or believing in things like ghosts.

“I don’t know if I believe or not.” I look at Aubrey again. “You honestly think Betty is real?” It feels strange to call a ghost by her name.

“Totally!” Aubrey’s eyes shine. “Think about it. Betty’s probably trapped in Stage Five, bitter about her tragic death. What if we could help her? Maybe we could set her free! Let her live her best ghost life!”

Cody sighs in exasperation. “Aubrey, that is the silliest thing you’ve ever said.”

“What?” Aubrey’s hands fly to her hips. “Why?”

“Because you can’t talk with something that doesn’t exist.”

“But what about that whoosh we felt?” I ask him. “Those flickering lights?”

He shrugs. “Lights flicker. And the whoosh was probably just the air vent.”

“What about the rumor that Betty doesn’t want anyone to succeed? What if she wants that for our show? What if she’s trying to scare us away?”

“Nothing’s going to scare me away,” Cody says stubbornly, crossing his arms. “Not even a ghost.”