"I heard he was a ghost," the guy gossiped.
"Apparently the caretaker has been finding empty candy wrappers in the cemetery—"
"He wears that nasty goth clothing," she whispered, loud enough for me to hear.
I continued to lean back—this time a little too far. I lost my balance and stumbled back.
"Ouch," Heather Ryan complained. "That was my foot."
"Sorry," I said genuinely as I regained my footing.
If I had been a prep like her, she probably would have laughed it off. But instead she looked at me as if I, too, had just climbed out of the cemetery looking for souls. "These are brand-new Pradas," she whined.
"Well, these are vintage Doc Martens. What's the big deal?"
"I think you may have scuffed them," she said, scowling at me.
I stared at her bright white shoes.
"You should be thanking me. I'd be glad to scuff them some more, if you like."
Her boyfriend laughed.
"It's not nice to eavesdrop," she reprimanded me as if she were a teacher.
"It's even worse to gossip," I snarled. "And very tacky to designer-name drop." We were fast approaching the ticket table. "You still have time to ask someone else," I whispered to her boyfriend.
He laughed again and she slugged him in the arm.
"Come on, Raven," Becky ordered, pulling me away. "It's our turn."
I left the gossipmongers and approached the ticket table.
Becky beamed as Matt bought two tickets.
I pulled out a wad of cash from my Olivia Outcast purse.
"No cutting," I heard the couple say in back of me. I turned around. Trevor Mitchell was standing behind me.
"So have you found a date, Corpse Bride?" he asked in a seductive voice.
"Yes, I have," I said, putting the tickets safely in my purse.
"Your father? Or your first cousin?"
"Alexander," I said confidently.
"That's a shame. I would have escorted you. I could have used it for my community service hours."
Trevor handed the cashier a hundred-dollar bill as Matt, Becky, and I made our exit.
On the way home from school, Becky agreed to stop off at Henry's house.
"Billy Boy left something in the backyard. I'll only be a minute," I said, getting out of her pickup truck.
I raced up the driveway. No lights in Henry's house were lit. I peeked into the garage, empty of his parents' cars. Henry and Billy Boy were at Math Club, so the coast was clear.
I hurried past his gigantic pool and gazebo and ran through the pristinely mowed lawn.
I climbed the treehouse ladder, the rungs creaking with every step of my boots. I reached the treehouse deck and inspected the door.
The amulets were gone.
Shortly after sunset, Alexander arrived at my house to find me pacing on the front walkway.
I kissed him, bursting to tell him my news.
"I went to the treehouse. The amulets—they're gone!" I proclaimed, leading him inside. "Valentine has been back to the treehouse."
"Then we can set a trap. This time, I'll be waiting," Alexander said.
Alexander was giving me a huge squeeze when Billy Boy burst through the front door.
"Look what Henry and I found at the treehouse," my brother declared. In his smarmy little palm he held two shining amulets.
My heart dropped. "Those aren't yours!"
"Well, they certainly aren't yours. Finders keepers."
"Let me see those," I said, reaching for them.
"Here," he said, holding the clasps and letting the amulets swing, as if trying to hypnotize me. "See with your eyes, not with your—"
I tried to grab them, but my brother pulled them away.
"There were four," I said.
"How do you know?"
"Uh…amulets come in four; don't you know anything?" I stumbled.
"Henry kept the other two."
"Well, I think they are more my style than yours. Let me have them."
"Forget it. It looks like they're filled with blood," Billy Boy said with delight. "Henry plans to test them."