Something’s up. “What’s in it for you?” He asked.

Michelle gave a sigh, her hair drooping to one side, turning a subtle shade of green. It flopped to her right, and she looked down, not quite at Jason.

“I-I want to help,” she said finally.

He reached out and touched Michelle on the shoulder. Michelle was one of the few ghosts he could touch if he concentrated hard enough to focus his own “spirit.” Touching her caused her to look right at him. “Is that all?” He asked. Michelle was a bit of a troublemaker, but having her around was a comfort. If she wanted to help him, great. He needed to make sure the reason was on the up and up. A strange buzz started when he woke up, finding her standing over him. Something about today didn’t feel right.

She avoided looking at him for a heartbeat. “I think that there might be someone else there, ok. Someone I might know and wanted to talk to. Alone.”

“Was that so hard?” Cameron asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Yes,” she said, then sneered, her hair rising a little before flopping again. “You’re not gonna ask who I’m seeing?”

“Why should I ask? Not my business.”

“I’m sorry, Michelle. Yeah, we can go before school. I’m still going. We just gotta—” Cameron swallowed hard “—skip breakfast.”

There was a beat of silence between the two, staring at each other.

“Stacey’s gonna hate that,” Michelle said, smirking at the coming entertainment.

“She’s twelve! What’s she gonna do to me?” Even though his heart was thumping harder in his chest.

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“How dare you try to leave without breakfast!” Stacey shouted, slapping the counter with the metal spatula. Stacey glared up at Cameron, all four foot three of her slight frame. “You’re not leaving here without something in your stomach.” She then turned quickly scooped up three pieces of bacon with the spatula, slipping them easily onto a plate of napkins with a growing mound of crispy bacon. “Besides, you are wasting away,” she said, slapping at his stomach.

“Stacey, I’m fine.” Cameron grabbed his sister by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug. He kissed the top of her dirty blonde head. “I know. You think I’m wasting away. I’ll be ok. Here, I’ll take some bacon, ok?”

“Annnnnnnnnnd?” she asked, a sniffle coming into her voice. She looked up at him with big brown eyes. “What else ya taking?”

“I’ll throw some orange juice in the thermos, ok?”

She smiled. She petted his arm. “Good boy,” she said with a smirk as she tuned back to the full open range stove with bacon, pancakes, sausages, and eggs for a squad of thirty people.

There was a roar of laughter from his father, sitting behind a newspaper at the kitchen table. “She has you trained well.”

“You’re trained as well, pop.”

His father, Derek, said nothing. Drooping the paper, he stuck his tongue out, then grabbed at the pile of bacon that Stacey brought to the table. “But I also do what I’m told for bacon.”

Cameron shook his head as Stacey tried to bat her father’s hand away. “Wait until I get you coffee and your soy-bacon.”

When she turned around, Derek made a disgusted face and Jason couldn’t help but laugh. “Obey yes, like it, no.” Derek said.

Cameron filled his thermos with OJ, ignoring his father. He gave Michelle a head nod to head towards the garage. He had to be careful, even though it was easy to hide her, since no one saw her but Cameron. It still would look weird if he bobbed his head without a reason.

The whole time, Michelle watched, fascinated. No-one else sensed her. Though when Michelle floated closer to the stove, Stacey trembled and looked around for a second. She then looked upward towards Michelle’s face before shaking her head and moving the back on to the table.

Cameron cocked an eyebrow at Michelle, who was looking at him with a confused look. Shaking it off, he grabbed the keys to his Accord and said, “Be home for dinner,” he said, eyes darting to the garage. Once they were in the garage, he held the driver’s door open and let Michelle float through the open door before he settled into the seat himself and started his car.

“You better!” Stacey screamed at him right before he turned the key.