Read Online Giving Up the Ghost by Phoebe Rivers - Free Book Online Page B

was now completely gone. She blinked her eyes rapidly as she spoke to me. “Let’s use this bubble you talk about; it is your shield. Visualize it now. But instead of using it defensively, to block out others and fend off their thoughts, use it as a positive energy force. Try now,” she urged.
    So I tried to conjure up the bubble. I closed my eyes. Thought positive thoughts. Opened my eyes. I could see the bubble shimmering and silvery all around me, like I was inside some freaky spacecraft.
    â€œI did it!” I shouted, springing up. “Can you see it? Can you see the bubble?”
    She smiled and shook her head. “I cannot see it. But you have astonishing powers, Sara. And unlike Nina, you are able not only to block this negative energy, but to produce a positive force to change its very nature. You did not bring this on yourself, nor did you invite it, so it will be far easier for you to offset it.”
    We spent the next two hours practicing. It was one of the most exhausting things I had ever done. It was so hard at first. I couldn’t produce the bubble quite so easily the next few times I tried. At first it was like a weak force field. I could actually watch as Lady Azura’s thoughts bounced against it, but then it would drop like a popped soap bubble, and I would be able to hear her thoughts rushing in. I could hear her worrying about me. Worrying about my father and his fears about the house. I suspected that she was letting me hear her thoughts. On purpose. That she was able to let me hear them, or not, at will.
    I tried harder.
    And gradually I got better at it.
    By now it was evening. It was almost time for dinner, I realized, but I wasn’t even hungry. I felt drained, but happy, too. I jumped up from my chair. “Can I go practice?” I asked her. “I want to go find Lily. Or some of my other friends, and see if I can block them.”
    She nodded. “Go ahead, my dear. Go and be strong.”
    I raced out the door and down the sidewalk toward Lily’s house.
    Just as I skidded to a stop at her front walkway, I saw her emerging from the door with Miranda, Avery, and Marlee.
    â€œSara!” yelled Lily. She looked happy to see me. But was she really? I started to tune in to her thoughts. It would be so easy to do. So tempting to listen in. I’d discovered the hard way that kids my age so often said one thing and thought another. I could feel the temptation start to win.
    Then I stopped myself. I didn’t want to end up like Nina. Closing my eyes, I conjured up the bubble.
    It worked. Lily’s thoughts bounced off my bubble. I refused to hear them. Maybe she was glad to see me, and maybe she wasn’t.
    â€œHey, guys!” I said, swallowing my hurt feelings. So what if they were all hanging out together? Without me. Maybe it was a school thing or something.
    â€œWe were just hanging out!” said Lily as the three of them joined me. “And we were about to walk over to your house to see if you were around. I know you were in a hurry to get home, so I figured you had to help out your great-grandmother. And now here you are!”
    I chose to believe her. I chose not to think that they so were not on their way to see me, and that she made up the story so my feelings wouldn’t be hurt. I chose not to let down my bubble and read their thoughts to see what they really were thinking. I chose, as my dad might put it, to give them the benefit of the doubt.
    And ended up having a really fun time.
    The early evening air was cool and smelled of damp earth and sea air. We decided to walk down to the beach. I love the beach when no one else is there. We found an old Frisbee half-buried in the sand and spent the next half hour tossing it, collecting shells, just having fun. I kept wishing I’d brought my camera with me. And then it was time to get home for dinner.
    When I got home, my father was already in the kitchen. He still seemed stressed