Ghostly Miracles at Midnight

"You guys, I told you this was a bad idea," Alicia whined.

"Oh shut up," Regina said, "I don't know why you're so bossy all the time, you never do anything."

"Well I'm just saying what everyone's thinking," she replied, "Do you really think it's smart to be here in the middle of the night?"

"We're not in the middle of the night yet," Regina said, "It's still 7:00 and we have plenty of time before lights out."

"Yeah, but what if someone comes? We could get in trouble!"

Regina rolled her eyes, "Don't be such a baby."

Alicia's stomach growled.

"Shut up!" Regina hissed, "I can't hear myself think with your stupid stomach growling all the time. Are you hungry or something? Go eat some food, I've got everything set up."

"No, I'm not hungry," Alicia replied, "But my stomach hurts."

"Stop making excuses," Regina said, "Why don't you just go home?"

"I'm not going home."

"Whatever," Regina said, "Just keep it down."

The three girls made their way down the hall toward the cafeteria, the only place they could practice without getting caught. The school had a strict policy that forbade students from being on school property during off hours. Ever since a kid broke his leg running through the football field during summer vacation last year, the school board was extremely paranoid about children being on school grounds even for extracurricular activities.

Alicia felt her stomach rumble again, sighing in annoyance. She had gotten sick from eating too many hot dogs at the school picnic last weekend, and hadn't felt well since. But the thought of being alone with Regina and her friends kept her from leaving early. It was bad enough that she didn't have any friends of her own. She had been friends with Regina for years, ever since she moved to their town from California. They had grown apart a few years ago when Regina met her friends, but after she finally convinced them to let her join them in their weekly sleepover, she decided that she was willing to put up with Regina's constant airs to get to be part of their group.

"Hey, guys, check this out," Regina said, stopping in front of the cafeteria doors, "I'm pretty sure this is where the ghost lives."

Alicia sighed. Regina had been talking about this "ghost" for weeks, ever since she heard it was one of the haunted buildings in town. She had insisted that they come to the school at night to 'prove' that the building was haunted. Alicia had tried to talk her out of it, afraid that they would get in trouble. But Regina was stubborn, so she had agreed to come along.

Regina pulled out a chair from under the table by the door and motioned for them to sit.

"All right, so let's review," she said, "We wait for the ghost to show up, then we ask it if it will answer our questions, and if we can touch it and stuff. I'm hoping to get the ghost to talk tonight."

"What questions are you going to ask it?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, why don't you just ask it what it wants?" Jamie said.

Regina looked irritated, "I'm not gonna ask it what it wants! That's stupid. It's not a person. It's a ghost. You don't ask a ghost what it wants."

"Yeah, but ghosts are like, people. They were alive once, so they must have had feelings, right?" Jamie said, "So they probably want the same things as regular people."

"I'm not asking it what it wants," Regina said, "I'm asking it how it feels about stuff. Like, does it like being a ghost, or does it want to be alive again?"

"What if it doesn't know?" Alicia asked.

"Then we'll have to find out who killed it and bring them to justice," Regina said.

"What if it wasn't dead?" Alicia asked.

"What do you mean?" Regina asked.

"Maybe it's just stuck here, and it wants to move on. Maybe it doesn't want to be a ghost anymore."

"That's dumb, who would want to be a ghost?" Regina said, "Anyway, it's not like we're going to ask it that. I just want to ask it about itself."

Alicia groaned, "Whatever, let's just get this over with."

The four girls sat in silence for several minutes, waiting for something to happen. They didn't notice the pot of spaghetti that had been left on the table behind them. A stir of wind blew past and the pot began to tip over, slowly spilling its contents onto the floor below. They jumped as the pot clattered onto the ground, startled by the sudden noise.

"Did you hear that?" Regina whispered.

"What was it?" Angela asked.

"It sounded like a ghost noise," Regina said, "Did you guys hear it? It sounded like a ghost noise."

"It was just the pot," Alicia said.

"It wasn't just the pot," Regina hissed, "That's a ghost noise. I'm sure of it."

They sat in silence again, waiting for another noise. It didn't take long this time. The sound of a child crying could be heard coming from the hallway. They were startled by it again, but Regina was instantly sure it was a ghost noise.

"Can you believe it?" she whispered, "It's talking to us. Let's just try to listen to it."

They listened quietly for several more minutes, until their necks started to ache from craning them around. A small voice filled the room, but none of them could tell what it was saying.

"Whoa, that's freaky," Angela whispered, "I can't make out what it's saying."

"Me either," Alicia whispered, "I don't know what to say back. It's probably just a trick. It's trying to mess with us."

"I bet the ghost is telling us to stop being such mean girls," Regina said, "I bet it's just trying to help us. Maybe it's trying to tell us to stop bullying people."

"How would it know we're bullying people?" Alicia asked.

"Ghosts can see everything," Regina said, "It might not just be trying to help us. It could be trying to trick us. I wonder what it would say if we told it we lost all of our friends."

"That's not a very nice thing to say," Alicia said.

Regina smiled, "Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad. I'm sure it's not going to tell anyone. So let's tell it."

Alicia looked around nervously, the others looking at her expectantly. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"Fine," she said, "But I don't want to get in trouble."

Regina leaned back in her chair and looked straight up at the ceiling, as if she was speaking to the ghost.

"Oh great ghost, we are having problems with our friend, Alicia. She lost her friends, and she's sad."

Alicia's face turned bright red. She thought they were just playing a joke on her, but Regina was serious.

"She needs new friends, but she's too shy to talk to them."

Alicia wrinkled her brow, "You're making this up."

"I'm not making it up," Regina whispered, "Just let me talk, okay?"

Alicia groaned and sat back, crossing her arms in frustration.

"So anyway, she doesn't have any friends right now, and she needs some help. So can you help her?"

She took a moment to look at Alicia, rolling her eyes. Regina was clearly making fun of her.

"Can you help her?" Regina repeated, louder this time.

Alicia gritted her teeth, "Regina, you're being ridiculous."

"What?" Regina asked.

"I said you're being ridiculous!" Alicia snapped, "You're not being serious! Why are you doing this to me?"

"I am being serious!" Regina said, "Why are you being so mean? Just let me help you. Hey, ghost, can you help Alicia?"

Alicia stood up, "I'm done with this. I'm leaving."

"But why are you being mean?" Regina asked, "Why are you being so mean to me?"

Alicia stormed out of the cafeteria. The girls watched her walk away.

"That was rude," Regina