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53dcde3
|
"I said, "Jesse, don't flatter yourself that I did this for you. I mean, it has been nothing but one giant pain in the neck, having you for a roommate. Do you think I like having to come home from school or from work or whatever and having to explain stuff like the Bay of Pigs to you? Believe me, life with you is no picnic." He didn't say anything. He just kept pulling me along. "Or what about Tad?" I said, bringing up what I knew was a sore subject. "I mean, you think I like having you tag along on my dates? Having you out of my life is going to make things a lot simpler, so don't think, you know, I did this for you. I only did it because that stupid cat of yours has been crying its head off. And also because anything I can do to make your stupid girlfriend mad, I will." "Nombre de Dios, Susannah," Jesse muttered. "Maria's not my girlfriend." "Well, she certainly used to be," I said. "And what about that, anyway? That girl is a full-on skank, Jesse. I can't believe you ever agreed to marry her. I mean, what were you thinking, anyway? Couldn't you see what she was like underneath all that lace?"
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mediator
jesse-de-silva
meg-cabot
suze-simon
|
Meg Cabot |
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c2c21f3
|
Jesse, this is Craig. Craig, Jesse. You two should get along. Jesse's dead, too.
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mediator
meg-cabot
suze-simon
|
Meg Cabot |
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3fa0d7a
|
"Well, I guess slave-runners aren't really my cup of tea. That is who you married instead, right? A slave-runner. Your father must have been so proud." That wiped the grin right off her face. "You leave my father out of this," she snarled. "Oh, why?" I asked. "Tell me something, is he sore at you? Your dad, I mean. You know, for having Jesse killed? Because I imagine he would be. I mean, basically, thanks to you, the de Silva family line ran out. And your kids with that Diego dude turned out to be, as we've already discussed, major losers. I bet whenever you run into your dad out there, you know, on the spiritual plane, he doesn't even say hi anymore, does he? That's gotta hurt." I'm not sure how much of that, if any, Maria actually understood. Still, she seemed plenty mad."
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mediator
meg-cabot
suze-simon
|
Meg Cabot |
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30b26d7
|
Look, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I said no because the whole thing would just be too Dirty Dancing , right? Summer fling at the resort, only with the roles reversed: you know, the poor working girl and the rich doctor's son, nobody puts Baby in the corner, blah blah blah. That kind of thing.
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mediator
meg-cabot
suze-simon
|
Meg Cabot |
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c3adc14
|
"Do people in the twenty-first century still dance?" My heart beat thundered in my ears, far louder than the slow music. "Um," I said, barely able to swallow, my throat had gone so dry. "Sometimes."
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jesse-de-silva
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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e225200
|
"Jesse, who had not stirred the whole time from the spot he'd been standing, confident I could handle Cheryl myself, was grinning.
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jesse-de-silva
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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3ebd80b
|
It was around then that the phone rang. It was my friend Cee Cee, wanting to know if I cared to join her and Adam McTavish at the Coffee Clutch to drink iced tea and talk bad about everyone we know.
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friends
funny
suze-simon
|
Meg Cabot |
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8fcb17b
|
Sleepy pulled the car to a stop in front of this paved entranceway, which was flanked on either side by these enormous palm trees, kind of like the Polynesian Resort at Disney World. In fact, the whole place had kind of a Disney feel to it. You know, really big, and kind of modern and fake.
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susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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c2664df
|
"So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I was applying for campus housing and overheard Andy telling my mother that the only way I was going to be safe from all the sexual assaults he'd heard about on National Public Radio was if I lived in an all-girl dorm. Never mind that I have been kicking the butts of the undead since I was in elementary school, and that almost the entire time I resided under Andy's roof, I had a hot undead guy living in my bedroom. These are two of those secrets I was telling you about. Andy doesn't know about them, and neither does my mother. They think Jesse is what Father Dominic told them he is: a "young Jesuit student who transferred to the Carmel Mission from Mexico, then lost his yearning to go into the priesthood" after meeting me. That one slays me every time."
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jesse-de-silva
proposal
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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c271e94
|
Okay, let me state right now that I am not a coward. I'm really not. But I'm not a fool, either. I think if you recognize that you are up against a force greater than your own, it is perfectly okay to run. It's not okay to leave others behind, though.
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suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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1ee8c79
|
What was I thinking, anyway? It would never work out between the two of us. I mean, I'm a mediator. His dad's a vampire. His uncle's a killer. What if we got married? Think how our kids would turn out...
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susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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27b2cda
|
"I'll tell you what kind of girl I'm not," I said crankily. "I am not the kind of girl who's looking to share her room with a member of the opposite sex. Understand me? So either you move out, or I force you out. It's entirely up to you. I'll give you some time to think about it. But when I get back here, Jesse, I want you gone."
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susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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29005d6
|
Of course, I didn't know how I felt about my first kiss coming from one of the undead, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, and let me tell you something, Jesse was way cuter than any live guy I'd met lately.
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susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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4103df4
|
Only a couple of people have figured out what a weirdo super freak I am on the inside. And those people all have a reason to keep my secret, because...well, I've helped them resolve their own secrets. One person especially. Miraculously, he fell in love with me. Don't ask me why. I think I'm fabulous, but I'm not entirely sure what he sees in me (except the fact that I've saved his life a few times. But he's returned the favor).
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proposal
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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3aad147
|
Cementerio El Encinal meant Cemetery of Many Oaks (I'm taking Spanish so that when Jesse and I have kids, I'll understand what he's saying when he yells at them in his mother tongue).
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proposal
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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724ad7e
|
"Okay, okay, already," I said, holding up both hands in an I-surrender sort of gesture. "I'll try it your way from now on. I'll do the touchy-feely stuff. Jeez. You West Coasters. It's all backrubs and avocado sandwiches with you guys, isn't it?"
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susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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e6ead8a
|
My intention, of course, had been to wake up early and call Father Dominic to warn him about Heather. But intentions are only as good as the people who hold them, and I guess I must be worthless because I didn't wake up until my mother shook me awake, and by then it was 7:30, and my ride was leaving without me.
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suze-simon
the-mediator
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Meg Cabot |
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0df2d88
|
"I don't understand why you are so unhappy about it," Jesse said. He had stretched out across the tiles, contented as I'd ever seen him. "I like it much better this way." "What way?" I groused. I couldn't get quite as comfortable. I kept finding prickly pine needles beneath my butt. "Just the two of us," he said with a shrug. "Like it's always been."
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susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
reunion
|
Meg Cabot |
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c27f6af
|
"Jesse, you're not going to lose me. I had the situation totally under control." Sort of. "But I have to say that after so many years of you keeping your feelings for me hidden out of propriety, it's really nice to hear you say all those things. Plus, it's emotionally healthy that you're letting them out this way. Keep unburdening yourself." I wrapped my arms around his neck. "What is it exactly, that you find so irresistible about me? Is it my magnetic personality? Or my emerald green eyes? Or maybe it's just my hot bod?" I felt something against my torso. "Oh, I'm getting the impression that it's my hot bod."
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proposal
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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8d4de47
|
"Observation point," he said, pointing to the wooden sign in front of us that said, OBSERVATION POINT. NO LITTERING. "A lot of kids come here on Saturday night." Micheal cleared his throat and looked at me meaningfully. "And park." I have to say, up until that moment I really had no idea I was capable of moving so fast as I did getting out of that car. But I was unbuckled and out of that seat quicker than you could say ectoplasm."
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susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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4e27840
|
But there's only one other person besides me in the Monterey Bay area who could pick up on spectral sound waves-especially now that Jesse is going to school so far away-and that person happened to be away at a seminarian retreat in New Mexico. I knew because Father Dominic likes to keep his present (and former) students up to date on his daily activities on Facebook. The day my old high school principal started his own Facebook account was the day I swore off social media forever. So far this has worked out fine since I prefer face-to-face interactions. It's easier to tell when people are lying.
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jesse-de-silva
proposal
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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f838c1f
|
He was even more overprotective than my stepfather. But in a boyfriend, that kind of thing is actually attractive.
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proposal
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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35be911
|
Oh my God, I am such a liar. And I can't even leave it at just one lie, either. Oh, no. I have to pile it on. I am sick, I tell you. Sick.
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lying
ninth-key
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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082fed0
|
It wasn't just that Mr. Beaumont and his creepy staring was freaking me out. And it wasn't that my dad's warning was ringing in my ears. My mediator instincts were telling me to get out, now. And when my instincts tell me to do something, I usually obey. I have often found it beneficial to my health.
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susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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c366e11
|
So there I was, sitting on the plane in a black leather motorcycle jacket, seeing these palm trees through the window as we landed. And I thought, Great. Black leather and palm trees. Already I'm fitting in, just like I knew I would... ...Not.
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suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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1df0927
|
See, even though Jesse's a ghost, and can walk through walls and disappear and reappear at will, he's still...well, there. To me, anyway. That's what makes me-and Father Dom-different from everybody else. We not only can see and talk to ghosts, but we can feel them too-just as if they were anybody else. Anybody alive, I mean. Because to me and Father Dom, ghosts are just like anyone else, with blood and guts and sweat and bad breath and whatever. The only real difference is that they kind of have this glow around them-an aura, I think it's called.
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jesse-de-silva
ninth-key
father-dominic
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
ghosts
|
Meg Cabot |
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de82055
|
As hard as it is to date someone with nineteenth-century manners-seriously, it's getting to a point where I spend so much time swimming laps in the campus pool to work off my sexual frustration, my highlights are becoming brassy-I still feel a thrill every time Jesse calls me Susannah. He thinks the name everyone else calls me-Suze-is too short and ugly for someone of my strength and beauty.
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proposal
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
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ddcc528
|
See, my special gift is that I'm a mediator. I help guide the tortured souls of the newly dead to their afterlife destinations-wherever that happens to be-generally by cleaning up whatever messes they left behind when the croaked.
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susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |
|
28fe524
|
Father Dominic, however is a way better mediator than I am. Well, maybe not better. But different, certainly. See, he really feels that ghosts are best handled with gentle guidance and earnest advice-same as the living. I'm more in favor of a sort of get-to-the-point approach that tends to involve my fists.
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father-dominic
susannah-simon
suze-simon
the-mediator
reunion
|
Meg Cabot |
|
3d8aba4
|
I guess I should explain. I'm not exactly your typical sixteen-year-old girl. Oh, I seem normal enough, I guess. I don't do drugs, or drink, or smoke-well, okay, except for that one time Sleepy caught me. I don't have anything pierced, except my ears, and only once on each earlobe. I don't have any tattoos. I've never dyed my hair. Except for my boots and leather jacket, I don't wear an excessive amount of black. I don't even wear dark fingernail polish. All in all, I am a pretty normal, everyday, American teenage girl. Except, of course, for the fact that I can talk to the dead.
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suze-simon
the-mediator
|
Meg Cabot |