Final Girl by Michelle Schusterman (beach books .TXT) 📕

“We don’t have to keep doing this,” Dad said gently. “We can go back to Ohio, Kat. It’s okay.”

I couldn’t believe this. “Are you trying to punish me?”

Dad blinked and straightened up. “I’m trying to help you, Kat.”

“By threatening to make me move back to Chelsea?” I wiped my eyes furiously. “You know I want to stay with the show. I’m not scared, and I didn’t rip up your—”

“Jack?” We turned to see Jess in the elevator, holding the doors open and looking at Dad expectantly. “I’ve been texting you—that conference call starts in a minute.”

“Be right there!” Dad faced me again, lowering his voice. “Kat, stick around the hotel for now, okay? Maybe get some rest. I’ll check in on you in an hour.”

I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I just nodded. Dad headed for the elevator, and I sank down onto the lobby’s sofa.

Dad hadn’t been angry, and he hadn’t thought I was lying. That should’ve been a comfort. But he thought I was scared. Like being on a ghost hunters show actually frightened me . . . not just that, but that I was so freaked out I thought a ghost was haunting me.

He thought I was crazy. And I hadn’t even told him the full truth about the Thing. If he thought the solution to me seeing a ghost was to send me back to Ohio, what would he do if I told him I’d created a ghost that was another version of myself?

Have me committed, probably. I didn’t want to lie to my dad. But the truth hadn’t worked, either. I’d have to fix this without his help.

Trouble was, I had no idea where to begin.

CHAPTER FOUR NIGHTMARE ON CLOWN STREET

Post: The Montgomery Elevator

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As most of you probably know, tomorrow the P2P crew is heading off to Beijing. I’ll have a post up soon about where we’re filming, but for now, here’s two clue words:

1. Demonic.

2. Bridge.

(Yeah, it’s going to be amazing.) (Virtual candy corn for anyone who guesses right in the comments!)

In the meantime, we spent the holidays in New York City, which was really fun and REALLY cold. Oscar and I thought this would be a great place to film the third episode of Graveyard Slot. There’ve got to be plenty of haunted places in this giant city, right? Turns out there are—and one of them happens to be the home of Fright TV vice president Thomas Cooper. You probably remember his kids, Jamie and Hailey, from our last episode about Brunilda Cano. They took us for a ride down to the basement of the Montgomery building on a century-old manually operated elevator, where we attempted to contact the operator who died there nearly seventy-five years ago.

A quick note: For the first time ever, we got to meet a few fans of P2P in real life today! One of them mentioned a comment supposedly from me on a recent Rumorz poll. I just wanted to let you guys know that it’s not me—just some random person using the name “The Real Kat Sinclair.” No idea what that’s about.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the video! More soon from Beijing.

HAILEY stood framed in Oscar’s doorway, hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, like an adorable sixth-grade supervillain out for vengeance.

“There is a guest star.”

There was a clattering sound from the bathroom, and I frowned. “Oscar? You okay?”

“Fine,” came his response. Maybe it was my imagination, but his voice sounded a little wobbly.

Jamie and Hailey didn’t seem to notice. “How do you know?” he asked his sister before popping another Cheeto into his mouth.

“I heard them in Roland’s room,” Hailey said. “Jess was talking about doing a special segment on the finale, and Lidia said they’d have to cut one of their usual segments, and your dad said ‘Which one?’ and Lidia said she didn’t know because they’d never had a guest star until now.”

Oscar stepped out of the bathroom carrying an armload of toiletries. “You were eavesdropping?” he asked, heading to his suitcase and dumping the bottles inside. He sounded normal now, but his lips were a thin line.

Hailey rolled her eyes. “Look, if they don’t close their door all the way then it’s not a secret meeting. Anyone walking by could overhear.” She flopped down on the bed next to Oscar’s suitcase. “And you’re missing the point. There’s a guest star. And they didn’t tell you guys!”

“So?” Oscar said, and Hailey sighed loudly.

“Aren’t you mad? You’re part of the cast, too!”

“Oh, right.” Oscar nodded. “I’m furious. Roar.”

His deadpan tone made Hailey giggle. Jamie nudged my leg with his foot.

“It doesn’t bother you?”

I made a face. “Honestly? I can’t blame them. I couldn’t even keep my mouth shut about my dad staying on for next season around Shelly Mathers. And it looks like I was wrong, too.”

“He didn’t say he’s leaving,” Oscar said quickly. “He just said he’s still thinking about it.”

My talk with Dad after his conference call yesterday had not gone well. According to him, I’d been “not acting like myself” ever since we left Buenos Aires. He thought the news about Grandma selling the house, and the fact that he hadn’t made a decision about whether we should buy it, had made me frustrated with him. Which . . . okay, yeah, it had. Still. It was pretty insulting that he thought I’d have a meltdown like that.

He hadn’t helped matters by telling me he hadn’t signed the contract yet for a reason. “The contract is for the whole season,” he’d said. “A year. I took this job mid-season because Bernice broke her contract and I needed work. This is a longer commitment. Between this and the news about the house . . . I just need some time to think about it.”

I hadn’t bothered asking him about Live with Wendy. The possibility that Shelly Mathers knew more about Dad’s career than I did would just be more fuel for my anger.

“What about your