The Haunted_Edit Copy 4-9-17 final final 5 Upload

also sleep with a night-light on; would you like to tell this stranger
that, too?
Clearly, my father was too excited by everything to wait
around for his scaredy-cat daughter, because he whirled off in the
direction he’d been pointed, going, “Come on, Chelsea! We want to
get good seats!”
I might as well have just taken a red sharpie and colored in
my cheeks.
The guy behind the counter laughed. It wasn’t mean
sounding at all, but it didn’t do anything to help my blush go away.
“Don’t worry,” he reassured me. “It’s not scary. I promise.”
I raised my gaze from my flip-flops to his dark eyes. “I’m
not only scared of the ghosts. I’m also worried about what kind of
weirdos are going to be taking this class.” In my head, I had an
image of some deathly pale Goth nerds congregating in the shop. I
know that was completely stereotypical and unfair, but I was
petrified. My brain was all but rational.
He raised an eyebrow curiously. “Oh? Weirdos, huh? What
if I told you I’m the one who got the group to come here and speak
today?”
Hi, I’m Chelsea Keller, and I am an insensitive asshole. “Oh,
man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sure you’re not a
weirdo.” Good, babble incoherently. Maybe he will think you’re
mentally challenged and forgive your rude comment.
The guy shook his head, still smiling. “Don’t worry about it.
I’m a member of the team. I wanted to educate the world a little on
the weirdo community, so I asked them to come out and give a talk.”
Was he making fun of me? Okay, I kind of deserved that. I
had just insulted something he was clearly interested in. “Sorry,” I
said again. “I’m just nervous. This stuff has always freaked me out.
I’m just here because it’s my dad’s birthday and he really, really
wanted to come — as you can see.”
“Seriously, it’s fine. Not everyone is into it, and I get that. It
would be like trying to get me to sit down and watch The Notebook;
I’d be horrified and judging everyone in the room enjoying it. But
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