Hailey looked at me and smiled. "Maybe later. Your eyes look like two slits. I doubt you'd make it through the first scene." She reached over and took the melting Popsicle from my fingers and wiped my hand with a tissue.

I fell into a restless sleep. All sorts of weird dreams played through my mind. I was on the podium at the conference, and Hailey was in the audience watching me as Zoe shaved her head.

I tried to yell but couldn't make a sound. I couldn't move, either.

My feet were stuck to the floor. It switched to me and Hailey being in the backseat of my car while someone drove us around.

The car started to go faster, and as we began to complain, we realized that Fuzzy was at the wheel.

I awoke to find Fuzzy draped over my legs and Hailey curled up in a ball next to me. They were sound asleep. Both of Hailey's hands were tucked beneath her chin. She was off deep in dreamland as her eyes moved beneath closed lids. I wondered if Fuzzy was chauffeuring her, as well.

It felt good to have her there. I could see us on Sunday mornings with the newspaper spread out across the bed. Both of us nibbling on something and drinking coffee as Fuzzy dozed at our feet. Playfully arguing over whom would cook dinner, me winning, her cooking, and choosing what movie we'd see that afternoon. Okay, maybe I'd cook, I thought as I drifted off with the blissful image imprinted on my brain.

"A shower?" Hailey shook her head. "I don't know. You were staggering all over the place last night."

I'd just polished off a bowl of soup and was feeling stronger.

"I stink. I've been sweating, and my hair feels awful. It'll make me feel better."

Hailey pursed her lips. "If you can make it to the bathroom

11.

*without stumbling, it's a deal, but I'm going to sit outside the door.

If I hear anything that scares me, I'm coming in."

I made the short trip without incident and closed the door in Hailey's and Fuzzy's faces. The warmth of the shower and the feeling of being clean made me feel better. When I dropped a bottle of lotion, the door opened a crack. I saw one green eye and a snout much lower that sniffed and backed away.

"I'm dressed. You can open the door if it'll make you feel better."

Hailey put the lid down on the toilet as I brushed my teeth.

"You can sit here and I'll blow dry your hair."

Her nails against my scalp felt like heaven. My hair didn't look like it did when Marvin got a hold of it, but I have to say I enjoyed Hailey's technique much better. Hailey switched off the dryer. "I've changed your sheets, so everything is all fresh. Time for you to go back to bed."

"That is so sweet." I looked forward to snuggling in. "How am I ever going to make this up to you?"

She ignored my question and smiled. "They were easy to find since you had them filed in the cabinet marked 'sheets.'"

"You're just jealous," I said as I climbed into bed. "Not everyone is as organized as I am."

Hailey looked kind of awkward as she watched me get settled.

"Climb in." I tossed the covers back on what I considered her side of the bed. She smiled and crawled in. Fuzzy took that as an invitation for her, as well, and hopped up on my side.

"I'm sorry." Hailey sat up and opened her mouth to say something to Fuzzy before I stopped her.

"She's fine. She keeps my feet warm. Let her stay."

We decided that a scary flick was perfect for the overcast gray day. A Haunting in Connecticut scared the s.h.i.t out of us.

After it was over, we lay a bit closer while we told scary stories of our own.

"I was terrified of the house we lived in when I was a little girl," Hailey confessed. "It was old and it creaked all the time.

When Dad was away, which was often, I used to crawl into bed with my mom."

12.

*I couldn't help but smile at the mental image I had of Hailey as a child. All curls with big green eyes beaming out beneath them."I don't know why, but my mother's closet always gave me the jitters." Hailey turned on her side like she had done when she was sleeping. She toyed with a lock of my hair as her eyes took on a faraway look. "One night, she was taking a bath, and I was lying in her bed staring at the closet door that was open. I was too chicken to get up and close it." Hailey laughed. "I kept asking my mom when she was going to be done, and I think she got irritated with me for bugging her while she was trying to relax. Anyway, I worked up the nerve to go and close the door, but when I got out of bed, the door swung open wide like someone pulled it."

"Did you scream?" I asked as chills ran down my spine.

"Did I? Mom had to drag me in there to show me there was nothing to be afraid of. I remember how the s.h.a.g carpeting felt like it bunched under my feet as she pulled me."

"What was in the closet?" I looped my pinky around hers.

"Clothes, boxes, shoes, but nothing out of the ordinary."

Hailey shivered. "It just gave me the creeps to go in there. Now tell me your story. Everybody's got one."

"Mine actually happened as an adult." I shivered this time.

Hailey tightened her finger around mine as if the connection would protect us from the stories we shared. "Kalen and Todd had just gotten married, so I moved into a place of my own. A small house out in Harahan. The landlord was a friend of Todd's and made me a good deal. There was a lot of stuff left in the attic from former tenants, and he told me if I'd take it to the curb, he'd knock off the first month's rent."

Hailey made a face. "Was it creepy up there?"

"Not in the daylight. It had a large window that let in a lot of light, so I wasn't too freaked out. But there were a lot of boxes of junk. Some had some good books that I kept, but one was full of notebooks, the spiral-bound kind like kids use for school. Every one of them was full of eerie drawings. I couldn't imagine the mind that sketched them."

"What, what were they of?" Hailey asked wide-eyed.

1.

*"Creepy-looking figures mostly. Some were cloaked, others had long dark hair that covered most of their garish-looking faces."

"You threw those out first, right?" Hailey moved closer.

"I'm enjoying the closeness, but I'm afraid I'm going to get you sick, too." I scooted back, Hailey scooted closer.

"You'll take care of me?" she asked with a smile.

"Pinky swear," I said as I squeezed hers.

"Okay, is there more?"

I nodded. "Unfortunately. You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yes." Hailey nudged me with her foot. "Now go on."

"A week after I was all moved in, I climbed into bed and read for a while. As I reached to turn off the lamp, it sounded like someone stomped the attic floor above my head. It shook the house. I sat there frozen as whatever it was marched over my bedroom and the living room and came back."

Hailey looked as terrified as I did that night.

"I called Kalen and told her what was going on. She and Todd only lived a few blocks away, so they got there in a flash.

The stomping noise was still going on as they pulled into the driveway but quit when they walked up on the porch. Neither of them believed me, but I wouldn't let them leave until Todd agreed to take a look around the attic. We went into the hallway and were about to pull down the ladder when the noise happened right above our heads. It shook the whole house and Kalen turned as pale as a sheet."

"What was it?" Hailey asked as one leg moved over mine.

"We don't know. It took me and Kalen nearly twenty minutes to get Todd to go up the ladder. He searched the whole attic and didn't find a thing."

Hailey shivered. "Could it have been someone on the roof?"

"Todd didn't think so, and neither did I. It sounded too close.

Needless to say, I stayed with Kalen and Todd until I found this place. They lived in that neighborhood for another year, but Todd's friend couldn't keep anyone in the house."

Hailey looked at me long and hard as she bit her lip. "Do you mind if I stay with you again tonight? Purely to make sure you're okay," she said with an impish grin.

14.

*"No," I said seriously. "You snore." I couldn't help but laugh at the indignant look that crossed her face. "Of course, you can. I was going to ask you to stay after the first thirty minutes of that movie, and that had nothing to do with my illness, either."

I woke during the night feeling like I was trapped between two blast furnaces. I nudged Fuzzy with my elbow. She grunted in response but was kind enough to move to the foot of the bed. I pushed the covers off my back so that I could continue spooning Hailey. She felt so good in my arms, yet it was painful. We were just friends, and the sweet torture was becoming unbearable.

1.

Chapter 26.

All geese are evil b.i.t.c.hes.

Hailey went back to work the next day, but she brought me dinner each night. Sometimes we'd watch TV together. Others we'd sit in the courtyard and entertain Fuzzy. I was getting better by the day, and there was no excuse for her to lie in bed with me. We were closer than we'd ever been, but still the friendship barrier seemed firmly in place.

"Do you have plans for Sat.u.r.day?" I asked one evening when we were in the courtyard.

"No, but I wish I did. It's supposed to be sunny and warm,"

Hailey said with a smile.

"I was thinking about going to the park. We could pack a lunch and make a day of it." I took a turn bouncing the ball for Fuzzy. "It'd be something all three of us could enjoy."

"I would absolutely love to do that. What can I bring?"

The sparkle in her eye sent a thrill through me. "Just you, Fuzzy, and tennis b.a.l.l.s."

I half expected the weatherman to recant on his forecast and tell us to expect cold wind and rain. Louisiana winters were nothing if not unpredictable. It could be warm enough for shorts one day, and the next, you'd need a coat. But the forecast was dead on, and I dressed in shorts and flip-flops with a sweatshirt just in case it was cooler than expected.

Hailey had the same idea with a pair of cargo capri pants and a T-shirt and a hoodie draped over her arm when I picked her up.

1.

*"What's in the bag?" I asked as we drove to the park.