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  "We were so taken with his parents, too. We were hoping to spend more time with them. I'm so sorry, honey.

  I could barely speak.

  "I thought they liked it here, but I must say that I can imagine it would be difficult for them," my mom said.

  "Why, because she wears a corset? And uses an umbrella to block the moonlight?" I asked.

  "You gripe about how conservative this town is," my mom said. "They might be seeking someplace more cosmopolitan."

  "What are the chances-if Alexander does move that I could go with him?" I asked my dad.

  "Zero," he answered.

  "Honey," my mom said softly, "I know he is your first love."

  "He's my only love!"

  "I know," she continued, "but you are only sixteen."

  "I'm almost seventeen. Juliet was married at that age!"

  "And look what happened to her " my dad said.

  "This isn't funny! If Alexander moves, my life is over- pure and simple. I'll never wake up again." I burst into tears.

  My mom hugged me like I was a child.

  "Why can't the Sterlings like it here?" I sobbed. "Why do they have to go back to Romania?"

  "I'm sure they have family there," my mom said, brushing my hair away from my tearstained face. "That is their home."

  "But this is Alexander's home. If we buy it-then Alexander can live there. He's almost eighteen, you know."

  "I'm not sure we can afford two homes."

  "But can't you try? Use my college money. I'll get a job."

  "Now you are thinking." My dad smiled.

  "I mean it," I said. "I'll do it." But then I calculated the wages I'd made when I worked at Armstrong Travel. "It would take me years working part-time to earn enough for 'Jill a house," I said, frustrated. "By then I'll be buying into a retirement community."

  "When your mother went back home at the beginning of college summer break/' my dad said, "I was so lonely. I wrote her letters every day and called her. That was long before the Internet and cell phones."

  "An e- mail is not going to replace Alexander," I said, and stormed off to my bedroom. "Nothing will."

  This was one time there was nothing my parents could say that would comfort me.

  By the following day the news that the Benson Hill Mansion was for sale had swept through Dullsville like a tornado. However, the only damage it was causing was to my heart.

  "What are you going to do?" Becky asked at my house the next morning as I was still lying in bed. "Is Alexander moving, too? Where is he going to live?"

  "I don't know."

  "Well, get up. We're going to be late. I mean, later than usual."

  "I don't want him to move. I'd die."

  "I don't want him to move and he's not even my boy friend. He's so perfect for you. And I'd hate to see you without your true love."

  "This is, like, the worst news ever!" I cried out. It was true-there was no way around it. My world was crashing around me. "I can't go to school today!"

  Becky tugged at my shirt. "You have to go. I'm not going to let you stay here and sulk. School will get your mind off of it."

  After splashing cold water on my face and promising to help solve my problem, Becky was successful at dragging me to school. But when we arrived I was far from distracted.

  "The Mansion's for sale and Alexander has to move back to Romania," Becky said as soon as she saw Matt.

  "My parents told me last night when I got home. That totally sucks, Raven. Word has it that they are selling it and are going to build a house next to the cemetery" he said.

  Word has it? It was just announced in the paper yesterday morning. "Who did you hear that from-Trevor? "

  "How did you know?" Matt asked, like I was clairvoyant.

  Even Trevor's scenario was better than the reality. At least Alexander would remain in Dullsville.

  I was as miserably morbid as my black attire. I spent the day daydreaming about a life in Romania with the Sterlings. The four of us as vampires, without any downside. A life of eternal love and beauty and moonlight.

  Before class I was at the vending machine buying a soda.

  "Finally that horrible mansion is for sale," I overheard a Pradabee say. "Hopefully they'll burn it down and put up a shopping mall."

  "So you finally scared him away" Trevor said at my locker before English class. "I guess when his parents saw you, they had to pack their coffins."

  "Don't you even start with me. Not today."

  "Well, when then? When will we start our essays?" he asked.

  "I have our list of questions and my answers are blank," I said.

  "To match your brain? That's not my fault,"

  "Half the soccer team is almost finished with theirs and we haven't even started. I know you're a procrastinator, but I'm not cramming this in the night before it's due. Unless we pull an all-nighter-then I'm game." His suggestive gaze bore through me. "I know how you like to sleep in."

  I snarled and slammed my locker shut. "I have a lot on my mind."

  Trevor blocked my exit.

  "You'd better do this assignment. You heard what Mrs. Naper said. If I fail this, it could affect my grades for college. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life in prison with you."

  "We'll finish it in time. I've just been preoccupied."

  "Doing what? Polishing gravestones? Painting your nails with blacktop? Conjuring the dead?"

  Now he was getting on my bad side. "Then maybe I won't do it," I challenged him.

  Trevor paused. His face grew red with anger. "I knew that was your plan all along. I'm not going to let you ruin my chances for a soccer scholarship, Monster Girl."

  The bell rang, ending our hostile discussion.

  "Don't bother asking me to walk you to class," he said sharply.

  Here I was worried Trevor was planning to sabotage me when all along he was thinking I was going to do the same to him. My nemesis and I were more alike than I ever would care to admit.

  "Remember, I know where you live," he said in his most threatening voice, "and that monster family, too. And believe me, they will be here for a while. That house won't sell."

  Trevor started off for English class in a huff.

  I was taken aback by my nemesis' last statement. I raced after him.

  "What do you mean the Mansion won't sell?" I asked, jumping in front of him.

  "Who do they think they can sell that bat trap to?" he asked. "It's an eyesore. And my dad says it's a major money pit. With all the new houses being built, who would buy a ghost- filled broken-down home when someone could buy a brand- new one?''

  Trevor's injurious comment was actually a blessing in disguise. If the Mansion didn't sell, then Alexander couldn't move. My boyfriend could remain in Dullsville forever.

  "I could almost kiss you," I surprised myself by saying.

  "Then why don't you?" he asked, his eyes piercing through mine.

  Just then the second bell rang.

  "There's not enough time!" I said, and escaped into class.

  22

  A Berkley Realty for sale sign was stuck on the lawn of the Mansion. I wanted to rip it out of the ground and throw it over the iron gate.

  I wasn't sure how I would react to Mr. and Mrs. Sterling now that I knew their true plans for Alexander and the Mansion. I dearly loved them like my own parents, but I was obviously conflicted. I knew they weren't trying to hurt me and my boyfriend, but their decision was breaking my heart.

  I waited outside the Mansion's door, barely able to breathe. I knocked several times.

  The door finally creaked open and Alexander appeared/ "They're out," he said.

  I sighed. My anxiety flew out of my body like a bat from an attic. I entered the Mansion and gave my boyfriend a big kiss.

  "I wasn't sure if I was going to have to beg them on my hands and knees or just burst out in tears."

  Alexander gently laughed, but it was apparent by his hollowed cheeks and bloodshot eyes that he hadn't slept. />
  "I have great news," I exclaimed.

  "I could use some."

  "I figured out the perfect solution," I said.

  "You did?" Alexander perked up.

  I took a breath, excited by my problem solving. "You can't move out of the Mansion if no one buys it.,."

  Alexander nodded. "True…"

  "So…"

  "So?"

  "So, we have to make sure no one does."

  "How are we going to do that?" he asked.

  "Glad you asked. Gossip runs through this town like a flood. Usually the rumors are about you, your family, or me. Now we'll be the ones to spread them about ourselves."

  "What will we spread? How can we convince people not to buy the Mansion?"

  I hated to disappoint him. He was so proud of his grandmother's mansion. Just as I adored it, he obviously did even more.

  "Have you been around this town?" I asked. "I can't imagine anyone would be interested in buying the Mansion anyway, with all the rumors surrounding it for years. But now that it's for sale we can't take any chances. We have to spread our own. Verify the Mansion is worse than they thought. Bats, mold, or rusty pipes, None of these women would step one of their Prada-wearing feet inside even view it."

  Alexander's pale face lit up.

  "But what if someone from outside of town comes to take a look."

  "They have to stop at Mickey's gas station. Or stay al Dullsville's bed and breakfast. They'll find out fast enough about the money-pit mansion and then we'll be able to heat their tires screeching away."

  He picked me up and kissed me for a long time.

  "Where do we begin?" he asked with renewed hope.

  "We'll have to set everything in motion tonight. We can't waste any time."

  Alexander and I met Matt and Becky by the fountain al Dullsville's town square.

  Matt was in his jersey and soccer cleats and Becky had her pink sweater tied around her waist.

  "Thanks for helping us, guys." I said. "We can cover more terrain if we have more mouths."

  "We'd do anything to help Alexander stay in town," Becky said.

  "Now, the key spots for tonight are the square and Dullsville's country club," I told them. "I'll cover school tomorrow."

  "Matt can get the two of us into the club," Becky offered. "No problem."

  Sporting soccer cleats and dirt-stained elbows at the conservative club were even more favorable than a black lace bodice and combat boots.

  "Meet you back here in an hour," I said.

  Alexander and I took the north side of the square, while Becky and Matt took the south.

  We popped in and out of boutiques fake browsing and zealously talking about the miserable condition of the Mansion. The sight of Alexander and me together on the square was enough to get gossip going, but the fact that they had inside dirt-literally-on the Mansion made every patron's and salesclerk's ears perk up.

  "Mission accomplished," I said as Alexander and I headed back to the fountain.

  "Hey- you got Shirley's side," Becky said, already waiting.

  "We planned on that," I said, nudging her,

  "My treat." Alexander spoke with the same authority as a coach buying his players food after a win.

  "No one ever listens to what I say," my shy best friend said as we headed into Shirley's. "But when we brought up the Mansion and the cracks in the foundation-everyone in the restaurant heard."

  "It could have been because you were almost screaming," Matt said, "And we didn't have a reservation."

  Just then an elderly couple sitting at a small table sharing a sundae glared back at us.

  The woman said, "I think I heard that girl say that mansion has cracks in the foundation."

  "I know," the man replied. "I thought he said his girlfriend ran screaming from it."

  I gave Alexander's hand an extra squeeze and the thumbs-up to Matt and Becky.

  Assorted dripping ice creams in tow, Becky drove us to Dullsville's country club, which was a snobby members-only club sprawled out over several acres. It included indoor and outdoor tennis courts, an eighteen-hole golf course, a gift and pro shop, and a four-star restaurant. Signs about the upcoming Annual Art Auction lined the grass like it was election day.

  "We'll wait here," I said to Matt and Becky.

  For a few minutes, members with tennis rackets, golf clubs, and yoga mats were coming out of the club- returning from workouts like it was their job. When it quieted down, a couple carrying boxes filled with pottery struggled to open the front door. Alexander jumped out of the truck and opened the clubhouse door for them.

  "That is as close as I could get without a white shirt," he said when he got back into the truck. We held hands with crossed fingers until Becky and Matt returned.

  By the time I got home, word had traveled so quickly about the undesirable money pit on Benson Hill that my parents had already heard the news and were greatly concerned.

  "Maybe you shouldn't return to the Mansion." My mother confronted me as I started for the stairs.

  "Why?" I asked.

  "I heard the walls could fall down at any minute."

  "I thought you didn't believe in gossip. Besides, who told you that?"

  "That doesn't matter," she began, then shouted,

  "Paul- "

  "But the game's almost over- " he hollered back.

  "Paul, this is important."

  My dad reluctantly joined us, clutching the remote like it was a lifeline.

  "It's about Raven visiting the Mansion," my mom said. "I think until Alexander moves, it is best they spend time over here."

  "You can't ban me from the Mansion!" I exclaimed.

  I had no idea my plan would work so well. But now it was working against me.

  "That house is in dire straits," my mom went on.

  "I thought it was pretty sound. It was old and dusty, but I think it was as sturdy as a castle," my dad said.

  "See!" I pleaded.

  "But there were bats," my mom argued. "You both saw them."

  "But I love bats."

  "They are flying rodents," she challenged.

  "Not all of them."

  My parents both looked at me curiously.

  "Sarah, can we discuss this later?" my dad suggested.

  "Mom, those are just rumors. You've taught me all my life not to believe the negative gossip in this town. Are you telling me, in this case, that your own advice has been wrong?"

  For a moment, my dad was no longer interested in the game's outcome, only in my mother's response.

  "Fine. Rumors are just that. I was inside the house, too. And it was a wonderful house."

  "Thanks, Mom," I said, and took off for my room.

  "But just as a precaution," she called, "maybe you and Alexander could start hanging out in his gazebo."

  23

  I had never been so eager to return to school as I was the next day.

  I blabbed about Alexander's haunted, smelly, or leaking mansion (depending on my mood) in the cafeteria, gym, and hallways. The day flew by and I happily headed for sixth bell, until someone stopped me on the stairs.

  "Listen, Monster Girl," Trevor said. "I should have known when I picked you as a partner that I was picking the bottom of the barrel. But even I didn't realize how deep that barrel was. Either you meet me today or I'm heading straight for Mrs. Naper."

  I was grateful to Trevor. Though I'd never tell him that, I felt confident that Alexander would now remain in Dullsville. I hated to do the paper, much less see Trevor, but it was something I had to complete. And there wasn't any reason to postpone it any longer.

  "Sure, today is as good as any," I said.

  Trevor was surprised by my positive response. He glared at me skeptically. "I know… you're not going to show up."

  "Why would I do that?" I asked. "That's so third grade."

  I wanted to meet my nemesis at a neutral place. I didn'i want him to use this as an opportunity for him and his soccer-snob posse to ambu
sh the outsider. I needed somi protection-a place I knew people would be around. The town square. The main library. The police station.