Ghost of a Chance (7 page)

“Why do I need a TV for my room?” I ask as my dad and I drive to meet Cindy at the mall. I'm being a brat. Of course I want a TV for my room. Who wouldn't want a TV for their room? Watching
Pretty Little Liars
and T
he Vampire Diaries
on my laptop is all well and good, but let's face it—there's no substitute for Ian Somerhalder on the big screen.

But up until now my dad has been anti-TV-in-my-room,
believing that I'm going to hole up all day, watching movies and refusing to interact with society.

So if I want to watch TV, I have to do it in the living room. Which is probably why I'm suddenly now being allowed to have a TV in my room. Obviously, Cindy and my dad want the downstairs TV all to themselves. They want to, like, marginalize me to my room so they can hold hands on the couch while they watch sappy Nicholas Sparks movies.

Not that they have to worry. Since I have no friends and no boyfriend, I'll be spending all of my time moping around my room anyway. My dad will probably blame it on the new TV and think that his worst fears are coming true.

“I just think it's time for you to have one,” my dad says.

I roll my eyes as I get out of the car. Maybe after we're done picking out the TV, he'll let me go look at hair accessories. Maybe doing my hair in some fun new whimsical styles will make my mood more fun and whimsical.

Cindy's waiting for us outside the store. She's wearing this really nice camel-colored long wool coat that's extremely stylish, but for some reason she has paired it with mom jeans.

“Hey, Cindy,” I say.

“Hi, Kendall.” She gives me a big smile, like she's super-happy to see me. “I like your shirt.”

“Thanks,” I say. “I like your coat.”

“You do?” She beams. “It's new.”

We walk inside and are immediately accosted by a salesperson wearing a nametag that says
ROBBI.
There's an outline of an
E
after that, which obviously means his name is Robbie and a letter fell off somewhere.

“Hello,” he says. “And what are you shopping for today?”

“We're just looking,” my dad says firmly, and I roll my eyes. My dad hates salespeople. Seriously, he totally refuses to ask for help with anything. When his doctor put him on a low-cholesterol diet and gave him a list of supplements that might help, he wandered around Whole Foods for half an hour before I talked to an employee without him noticing. It's totally ridiculous.

“We're looking for a TV,” I say now. If I'm going to be getting a TV, then I'm definitely going to need something high-end. If I'm going to be stuck in my room with no friends, eating my way through boxes of peanut butter cups, then I should at least be able to do it in high-def style.

“What size?” Robbie asks. “And do you like LCD or plasma?”

“LCD for sure,” a voice says behind me. “Plasma's got a better picture, but the tubes always blow out, and then you have to replace them, and I honestly doubt your dad's going to want do that.”

“Thanks,” I say automatically and turn around, expecting
to see another Best Buy employee. But it's not a Best Buy employee. It's Lily. She's peering at a display of heart rate monitors. “Wouldn't it be hilarious if I put one of these on?” she asks, trying to touch them. But of course her hand just goes right through the display case. “Can you imagine?” She throws her head back and laughs. “You know, because I'm dead?” She laughs again.

“Who are you talking to?” my dad asks.

“Uh, Robbie, of course,” I say.

“But he asked you what kind of TV we wanted. There was nothing to thank him for.” My dad peers at Robbie like he's some kind of con man instead of a college kid who's probably working for minimum wage and just wants us to buy a TV so he can go on his break or whatever.

“I want an LCD,” I say. “That way we won't have to keep replacing the bulbs.”

My dad looks at me in surprise.

“What?” I say defensively. “Just because I'm a girl, I can't know about electronics?”

“No,” my dad says. “Not because you're a girl. But because you've never showed any interest in anything technological before.”

“That's such a lie,” I say. “Who's the one who set up the wireless printer?”

“You set up the wireless printer?” Cindy asks. “That's amazing!”

I can't tell if she's being nice or condescending. I decide to believe she's being nice. “Thanks,” I say, beaming.

“Older people are so impressed with technology,” Lily muses. “Of course, I really shouldn't be making fun of old people. They're old and I'm dead, so honestly, they're better off than I am.” She sighs and continues to look at the heart rate monitors.

She has a very good point. She actually seems kind of nice. Maybe I judged her too harshly just because she's Madison Baker's sister. Maybe Lily's the nice one. So I probably shouldn't judge Lily just because her sister is a brat.

Oh, well. It's really not my concern anyway. Poor Lily is going to just have to find someone else to help her move on. I've decided I'm out of the ghost business for the foreseeable future.

“So here are our LCD TVs,” Robbie says, bringing us over to a section of the store and pointing to them with a flourish. All the TVs are tuned to SportsCenter. How lame.

“Can I turn the channel?” I ask.

“Be my guest.”

Robbie hands me the remote, and I turn to ABC Family, where they're showing a rerun of a
Vampire Diaries
episode. Love it! I can just imagine snuggling up in my bed, watching this on the big screen.

“Now, don't think we're going to be buying any kind of
protection plan,” my dad tells Robbie. “I read online that those things are rip-offs.”

“Okay,” Robbie says warily.

“Dad, you don't have to be rude about it,” I say, giving Robbie what I hope is a friendly smile.

“I'll tell you what's rude,” my dad says. “Trying to get people to part with their hard-earned cash for something they're not going to use.” He glares at Robbie again. Jeez. Talk about misplacing your anger.

I look to Cindy for help, but she's just nodding along with my dad while she stares at the television screen. “What's this actor's name?” she asks.

“Ian Somerhalder.”

She gets a dreamy little smile on her face. Ew. I think Cindy likes what she sees.

“Don't look so freaked out,” Lily whispers to me as she floats down the aisle. “She's old, not blind.”

“Anyway,” my dad says. “We don't want to be here all day, so let us know what the best-rated TV is and then I'll google it on my phone to make sure you're not being deceptive.”

“Why didn't you just google it before you came in here?” Robbie asks sweetly. “Then you wouldn't have to worry about whether or not I was telling the truth.”

Wow. Robbie seemed so sedate, and now he's getting smart with my dad. That's definitely not going to go over well.

My dad's lips set in a firm line, the same kind of line they get when he's mad at me. He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, his cell phone rings.

He looks down at the caller ID, and a look of surprise breaks out on his face.

“I'm sorry,” he says. “I have to take this.”

It's probably one of his construction clients. Hopefully, a really demanding one who's having some kind of complicated problem that's going to take a long time to fix.

He hurries out of the store.

“What do you think of this one, Cindy?” I ask, not because I really value her opinion but because I need to break her out of her Ian Somerhalder daze.

“Ian Summerfield,” Cindy says, watching the screen.

“Somerhalder,” I correct.

“Is he in anything else?”

“I think he was in
Lost
.”

“Lost!”
Her eyes brighten. “I've been meaning to watch that show. Do they have it on Netflix?”

“Um, I'm not sure.” Wow, she must really be in love with Ian Somerhalder. And now she's getting all excited because she'll be able to watch
Lost
to get her fix. I mean, how would she really explain to my dad that she wants to watch
The Vampire Diaries
?

“Ian Somerhalder is way too skinny,” Lily says. “He's definitely nowhere near as cute as Channing Tatum.”

“Agreed,” I say, before I remember I'm not supposed to be talking to her.

“So!” I say, flipping through the channels. Obviously, if I want to get Cindy's opinion, I'm going to have to get Ian Somerhalder's face off the screen.

“Oh!” she says, seemingly startled. “Why did you change it?”

“Probably because you were drooling over that guy on television,” Robbie says, shaking his head. “All the girls want Ian Somerhalder. My girlfriend is obsessed with that guy. It's annoying.”

“Aw,” I say. “I'm sure she thinks you're just as good-looking as he is.” Robbie has frizzy hair and a little bit of acne, but beauty is only skin deep. I'm sure his girlfriend loves the way he looks. Otherwise, why would she be with him?

“No, she doesn't,” Robbie grumbles.

“How do you know?” I ask.
Click, click, click.
I switch through the channels fast, trying to get a look at as many different programs as I can. I think it's probably important to be diverse when it comes to figuring out picture quality.

“Because she says, ‘Wow, you really aren't as good-looking as Ian Somerhalder.' ”

“That's really rude,” Lily says. She's sitting on the floor of the store now, watching some kind of volleyball game playing on one of the screens on the bottom shelf.

“That's really rude,” I echo. “It might be time for you to get a new girlfriend.”

“Yes,” Cindy chimes in. “If someone isn't treating you with the respect you deserve, it's time to find someone who will.”

She sounds very wise. I wonder if it's because of her and my dad. There was this whole big scandal involving him not wanting to tell me about the two of them being together. So he kept the relationship a secret, and Cindy got super-annoyed by it. And so then she got offered this job in Virginia, and she threatened to take it.

That's why my dad bought her that promise ring—to, like, prove his love to her. And it seemed to have worked, because from what I can tell, they're happier than ever. Well. As long as Cindy never meets Ian Somerhalder.

“I
was
thinking it might be fun to try out the single life,” Robbie says. He watches as a girl walks by, her long blond hair swishing as she goes.

When did this trip turn into some kind of counseling session for Robbie's love life? I'm sure he's a nice guy, but priorities, people.

“Yes, well, I'm sure the single life will be fun,” I say. Not. I've been single for, like, a day, and I already realize how bad it sucks. Not only am I single and without a boyfriend, I'm single and without a best friend.

Thinking about Ellie starts to depress me, and I feel a warm tingle at the back of my eyes. I look down at the
remote in my hand and try to keep myself from crying.

“You okay?” Lily asks. “Why are you crying?”

I obviously can't tell her, but it's nice of her to ask. I wonder what she would do if she knew that part of the reason my life is such a mess is because of her dumb sister. After all, if Madison hadn't told Brandon that I liked Micah, Brandon wouldn't have been so suspicious, and maybe he wouldn't have been so upset when he saw me and Micah at the bowling alley together. And then I wouldn't have told him that I could see ghosts, in an effort to make sure he wasn't mad at me anymore.

“Whatever,” I say, taking a deep breath in through my nose and letting it out through my mouth. “I think we should get this one.” I point at the TV I've been watching. “Let's wrap it up.”

“Um, okay,” Robbie says. He looks a little startled. Probably he's not used to people making such quick decisions.

“Shouldn't you ask your father if the price is okay?” Cindy pipes up and asks.

I stand on my tiptoes and look toward the front of the store. Of course, now that I'm ready to get out of here, my dad's nowhere to be found.

“This TV is very reasonably priced,” Robbie says. It's definitely the wrong thing to say, since apparently Cindy shares my dad's belief that salespeople are the devil. She glares at him suspiciously.

“Maybe we should try calling my dad,” I say, and pull my cell phone out of my purse. “And let him know we're ready.”

“I don't know,” Cindy says. “What if he's on a business call?”

“Then he just won't answer,” I say.

I push the call button and listen as the phone rings. But then I catch sight of my dad walking into the store.

He doesn't look happy. Probably he's dealing with some kind of work emergency. Good. Maybe he won't be in the mood to ask a ton of questions and he'll just let me get the TV I already picked out.

Robbie switches through the channels on another TV before settling on a boxing match. He has morphed from pretending to do his job to pretty much not doing it. And if he gets testy with my dad, we're never going to get out of here.

“Oh, there's your father,” Cindy says, deciding to state the obvious. She fluffs up her hair, like my dad didn't just see her a few minutes ago. Her hair looks exactly the same. In fact, her hair always looks exactly the same. She insists on wearing it in this totally crazy beehive, with poufy bangs.

Maybe I should offer to take her to the salon for a haircut. But obviously not the one Micah's mom owns. Actually, I don't even think they do haircuts there. I'm not sure what they do besides manicures.

“Hey,” I say once my dad's within earshot. “I'm going
to get this one, okay? It's supposed to be a very good deal.” I point to the little card that's perched near the television, which shows that the TV has a user rating of four and a half out of five stars on the Best Buy website.