“Kids?” Cope took a step back. His eyes slid shut. “I’m not getting anything. Maybe they were only showing themselves to Everly because she’s closer to their age?”
“Maybe.” Ten was about to elaborate when Everly walked out of the bathroom.
“There’s an empty classroom up here.” She pointed down the hall.
“Fitz, can you let Aurora and Wolf know what’s going on so they don’t freak out that we’re all gone?” Ronan asked.
“You got it.” Fitz walked back into the lunchroom, which was now a beehive of activity.
Everly reached the classroom and stepped inside. It was cool and dark with the lights turned off. She slid into one of the desks and put her head down in her arms.
Ronan took a seat next to her and rubbed her back.
“Everly!” Wolf said, running into the room. “Are you okay?” Aurora was right behind him. He climbed into the seat beside her.
“I couldn’t keep them from coming with me.” Fitz shrugged, signaling that he hadn’t tried very hard to keep them away, and shut the classroom door behind him.
Ten nibbled his lower lip, trying to figure out how to explain what was going on to the kids. He didn’t want them to be scared of Everly and what she could do, especially since neither he nor Cope had seen the spirits in question.
Everly took a deep breath. “When we started singing, I saw three ghosts at the back of the lunchroom, standing near the principal.”
“What’s so different about that?” Wolf asked. “You see ghosts all the time.”
“The spirits were little kids. Like us.” Everly’s bottom lip wobbled, and she looked as if she were going to start crying again.
Ten remembered what it had been like when he’d seen his first child ghost. It had been shocking, to say the least. He’d known that sometimes little kids went to heaven far too soon but never thought something like that could ever happen in Union Chapel until one of his middle school bullies had been hit by a car and died as a result. The boy’s spirit had appeared to Tennyson at his funeral. Seeing his former classmate had messed him up for months, but at least Everly didn’t know the spirits she’d seen this morning. “Can you tell me if they were little like Ezra or Lizbet, your age, or older like the Velociraptors?”
“They looked our age, but they were dressed differently. Two boys and a girl.” Everly’s eyes were on Ten. “You didn’t see them, Daddy?”
“No, honey, I didn’t. Neither did Cope.” Ten sighed. They were going to have to bring the kids back into the cafeteria for lunch. Maybe then he’d be able to get a read on the spirits. Ten’s mind had been on the concert, with his full attention on the kids. Maybe he’d been too busy to notice the spirits.
“It’s possible they only wanted you to see them since you’re around the same age,” Cope said. “What did you mean when you said the kids were dressed differently?”
“The little girl wore a little plaid dress with black-and-white shoes and weird socks that came up to her knees. The boys wore their hair parted on the side and were wearing creased pants like Dad wears with his suit, but with straps that went over their shoulders.”
“Suspenders,” Ronan said.
“Are the kids here now?” Ten asked.
“No, I only saw them in the lunchroom. They were so excited to see me, and all I could do was cry like a baby.” Everly sunk her head back onto her arms.
“You’re human, honey,” Ronan began. “Just because you have these amazing gifts doesn’t mean you don’t have feelings of your own. If I saw the ghosts of kids, I would cry too.” Ronan locked eyes with Ten, who didn’t need to be a mind reader to know his husband was thinking about Michael Frye.
“I ruined the concert.” Everly sounded miserable.
“No you didn’t,” Aurora said with a wicked grin. “Kenny P was picking his nose and wiping it on Ruth. I could see all the kids in the audience staring at him.”
Everly barked a laugh. “Ew, that’s disgusting.”
“Yup!” Wolf agreed. “I think I’ll pick a different partner to sit with on the bus ride home. I don’t want him to wipe his boogs on me.”
Ronan dry heaved. So did Jude. “How about we go grab some lunch, okay?”
“As long as it doesn’t have lunch lady boogs in it!” Wolf cackled, and he hopped out of his seat and pulled Everly out of hers. “Come on, Aurora!”
The little girl shook her head. She ran to Fitzgibbon. “I’ll eat the snacks we brought from home.”
“Are you sure?” Fitz asked. “I was looking forward to trying the pizza. Why don’t we go see what’s going on in the cafeteria, and then we’ll decide, okay?”
