And then she recalled Derek saying that he didn't want her to be a werewolf because she'd have that in common with Lucas. Was that why he'd pulled away? Gawd, why did life have to be so damn hard? Kylie stayed in her room the next few hours. Feeling an emotional storm rage inside her, she tried to think of anything that could take the edge off.

She'd napped, actually fallen asleep, but had awoken when the temperature dropped in the room. She looked around for the ghost, but the spirit didn't materialize. Remembering the ghost's appearance after Fredericka left, Kylie asked, "Do you have something to say?"

Her question vibrated in the still coldness of the room. Kylie hadn't expected an answer, but asking was her job, right? Staring at the ceiling, she jumped when something crashed to the floor. Turning around, she saw her phone had fallen from the nightstand. When she picked it up, she heard someone on the line.

"Hello?" Kylie recognized Sara's voice.

"Hey," Kylie said.

"What's up?" Sara asked.

Kylie huddled under the covers to ward off the cold. "Nothing. Did you call me?"

"No. You called me," Sara answered.

"Oh." Kylie glanced at her cell. "My phone fell off the nightstand. It must have dialed you accidentally."

"Oh." The awkwardness rang louder than Sara's voice.

"Where are you?" Kylie asked, just to chase away the uncomfortable silence because just hanging up felt too rude. It wasn't as if Kylie could say what's on her mind like, Hey guess what? I just tossed a werewolf out of my cabin for trying to kill my kitten that's now a skunk, and tonight, I might turn into a wolf myself. Right then Kylie realized she'd been blaming Sara for the distance in their relationship, claiming Sara had changed. Well, hell, now look who had undergone the most change.

"At the mall with Tina," Sara answered, her voice sounding strangely tight.

"Tina?" Kylie asked, hoping to show interest in Sara's life.

"Tina Dalton. She just moved here."

"Is she nice?" Was Tina Sara's new best friend?

Sarah chuckled. "Not really, but her brother is hot."

"Hmm," Kylie teased. "Good thing I didn't have a brother or I'd think you were just interested in him all these years."

Sara laughed and Kylie joined in. A little of the awkwardness faded.

"It was strange that you called," Sara said. "I was just thinking about you. Do you remember when we were thirteen and you did that backward flip and knocked both of us off the trampoline? Our moms took us to the emergency clinic by our neighborhood because they thought you had broken an arm and I had a goose egg on my head."

"Yeah," Kylie said. "What made you think about that?"

"Who knows," Sara answered with the same tight voice.

Kylie leaned back on her pillow. "You thought the doctor was cute."

"He was cute." Sara sounded normal again. "Any hot guys at the camp?"

"Yeah." Kylie took in a deep breath and when she released it, it came out as a fog. Strange. She'd thought the spirit had left but she was moving closer.

"You hooked up with any of them?" Sara asked.

Kylie's heart tugged. "Kind of, but ... we sort of ... called it quits." Or he called it quits. A shiver ran down Kylie's back and she looked around again for the ghost. She still hadn't materialized, but her chill filled the room.

"That sucks," Sara said, and in the background Kylie heard someone call out Sara's name. "Hold on a sec."

The line went silent as if Sara had covered the receiver. But Kylie's ears picked up Sara's intake of air. Whether Sara had moved her hand, or if it was Kylie's hearing abilities, she wasn't sure. She still didn't grasp how this whole gifted hearing thing worked. It came and went. Just like her strength.

"No, I'm not using my insurance." Sara's voice filled the line. "I'm paying cash. Of course my mom knows. Look, is the doctor going to see me or not?"

Kylie frowned when she realized that Sara had lied about being at the mall. The reasons for the lie filled Kylie's head. Had she run out of birth control pills? Or did she think she was pregnant again? Tightening her grip on the phone, Kylie was reminded of how different they were. How sad was it that they couldn't share things-neither werewolves or sex? "Kylie," Sara said. "I need to go."

"Okay. Bye." Kylie put her phone back on the nightstand. When she looked up, the ghost sat at the foot of her bed, appearing incredibly sad. Kylie started to speak but the spirit faded.

"Great," Kylie muttered. "Communicating with spirits is almost as bad as communicating with old friends."

At eleven thirty that night, Kylie walked with Della and Miranda to the campfire. Her heart swelled with the fear of what would or wouldn't happen to her tonight, but she refused to show it. Of course, Della pretty much knew what she was feeling because she kept studying Kylie with an enormous amount of sympathy.

The moment the three of them cut through the clearing, Kylie spotted Derek standing in a group of four other fairies. He glanced at her. The full moon offered enough light for her to see the soft concern in his eyes. No doubt he could read her fear. Stopping, she muttered to Della and Miranda to go ahead and let her talk to Derek. Her two roommates walked off.

Kylie waited for Derek to come and offer her his comforting touch-just a touch to ebb the fear from her heart. She could really use a little of his calm right now, not to mention his touch. His gaze met hers, but instead of moving over, he glanced back at his circle of friends. That's when Kylie got the first hint of how things would be between them from now on.