4 A WORD WITH “GHOST BOY”

CHAPTER 4 A WORD WITH "GHOST BOY" Kaz couldn't stop thinking about that wad of paper. It could be an important clue. But he couldn't pick it up. He couldn't unfold it. And as he floated above the trash can, Kaz wasn't even sure which wad of paper was the one he wanted anymore. What if he was letting an important clue slip away? Maybe Claire could help. She said she would be in room 125. All Kaz had to do was find room 125 and tell Claire about the wad of paper. Then she could find the right paper, open it up, and

decide whether it was important. Kaz read the numbers on the signs outside each classroom door: 108... 110... 112. Claire's classroom didn't appear to be down that hallway, so he tried a different one: 120... 122... 124... and across the hall he saw 125. Kaz swam over, but there weren't any solids in room 125. Just rows of empty desks. Where's Claire? Kaz wondered. He was sure she'd said she'd be in room 125. Was she lost? Did she leave the school without him? She wouldn't do that, would she? Kaz didn't know what to do. He hovered outside room 125, wondering if Claire would come back. He waited... and waited... and waited... Soon he heard voices at the end of the hall. He looked up and saw a line of solid children walking toward him. Claire was second in line, right behind a grown-up solid. "Claire!" Kaz said, swimming alongside her.

"You have to come with me. I think I found a clue in the library, but I can't open it. I can't even find it because it's in a trash can with all these other wads of paper. Come on!" "I can't," Claire mouthed at him. "I have to stay with my class." "What? Why?" Kaz asked. Claire didn't answer. It was so hard to communicate with Claire when other solids were around.

Kaz followed Claire into room 125 and over to a desk in the middle of the room. As soon as she sat down, Claire stuck her hand in the air. Kaz darted out of the way before Claire's hand passed through him. "Mrs. Galway?" Claire said. "Yes?" said the grown-up solid at the front of the room. "Can I go to the bathroom?" Claire asked. "Go quickly," Mrs. Galway said. "Everyone else, please take out your math books." Desks creaked open all around the room as Claire got up from her seat and hurried to the door. Kaz swam behind her. "Remember, I can't talk to you when other people are around," Claire whispered once they were out in the hallway. Kaz knew that. "And I can't go with you whenever I want to," Claire added. "I have to stay with my class unless I have permission to go someplace by myself."

"Oh," Kaz said. He didn't know that. "But we're alone now," Claire said. "So, tell me about this clue." Kaz told Claire all about the boy in the library and the wad of paper with the word ghost on it. "That sounds like Jonathan," Claire said as they turned a corner. They were outside the library now. "I heard people calling him Ghost Boy in the hall this morning." "We have to find out what he wrote on that paper. You have to come in here and find the paper he put in the trash can," Kaz said. Claire glanced up and down the hallway. "Okay," she said. "But we have to do it quick. If Mrs. Galway finds out I went to the library instead of the bathroom, I could get in trouble." There wasn't anyone in the library now. Kaz led Claire over to the trash can. "It's in there," he said. Claire reached into the trash can and pulled out several wads of paper.

"That's not it," Kaz said as she unfolded the first one. She tossed it back and opened another. "That's not it, either," Kaz said. Claire opened a third wad. "That's it!" Kaz exclaimed as he saw the word ghost. Claire smoothed the paper against her leg, then held it up so she could read it. She frowned. "It's a book report. Or the start of one. It's about a book called The Ghost at Mike's House." She dropped the paper back into the trash can.