Ghost of a Chance

One The thing about Chloe is, you never know what she'll do. She's crazy. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. It's just that she's totally unpredictable. Take the Junior Prom, for instanceshe wore a tuxedo. Not that weird, you say? It was her date's tuxedo. And she actually convinced him to wear her prom dress. And this is Josh Stone we're talking about, King of the Jocks, not some poor little freshman so in awe of her he couldn't say no. Why did she do it? She said that shade of pink was perfect with his skin. If you knew Chloe, you'd know that is so typical. So that Monday on the lunch lawn, when Chloe told me her new house was haunted, I pretty much took it in stride. I mean, things that sound outrageous when someone else says them sound like everyday stuff coming from Chloe. "Yeah, right," I said, peeling my orange. "I'll bet it's Elvis." "Don't be silly," she giggled. "Elvis is dead." You see what I'm up against. If she wasn't my best friend, sometimes I think I would just write her off. "I thought that was kind of a prerequisite," I said. "His name is James," Chloe told me, ignoring my sarcasm, as usual. "Oh yeah. James Dean. That was going to be my second guess." She laughed. "You never believe me, Melissa, but I always turn out to be right. When are you going to learn?" I didn't say anything back to that, because basically I couldn't. Unfortunately it's pretty true. The thing is, though, her stories are always so totally unbelievable. Take the story in question, for example. I sighed. "So what makes you think you have a ghost in your house?" "Well, I can see him, for one thing. And he talks to me. He's a really interesting guycute too. I know you're going to love him." "No doubt," I said, completely unconvinced. "And how do your parents like . . . what's his name again? James?" "They can't see him," Chloe answered, pulling another speck of pickle out of her tuna salad sandwich and adding it to the growing pile of condiments on the pink paper napkin in front of her. "Of course not," I said, sarcasm flowing once again. "That's so convenient." "Yes, it really is," Chloe agreed, missing my point completely. "Can you imagine my mom dealing with a ghost in her new dream house? Or my dad either, for that matterhe's still in shock over the payments. It's a lot better this way. Everybody's happy." That, of course, was the understatement of all time. If the average family is happy, then Chloe's is delirious. Her mom and dad are as in love as when they met twenty years ago. It's a crazy story, but then it involves Chloe. You see, her dad is British, but he got sent to Japan to shoot some photos for the magazine he was working athe's a photographer. He met Chloe's mom on a bus, and it was love at first sight. They got married a week later and eventually moved to California. The rest, as they say, is history. Chloe and her older brother, Chaz, were both born in Californiahalf Japanese, half English, and 100 percent American. Chloe of course gets no end of enjoyment out of watching people try to figure out how a girl who looks like she does could be named Chloe Hart. If they're unfortunate enough to asRoberts, Laura Peyton is the author of 'Ghost of a Chance ', published 2006 under ISBN 9780553494983 and ISBN 0553494988.