“How can you be so still? It’s like you’re barely breathing.”

“What do you mean still? I’m right here!”

I wave my hands in front of her face but Janieva doesn’t even blink. Her hand is over her mouth and she stares — stricken.

“I’m so sorry Toni. It all went too far.” Tears trail down her face as she stares at the mummified lump on the bed, the body wrapped in gauze, tubes leading in and out.

I stop waving and stand closer to her. “What went too far?”

The patient board is visible on the wall near her feet, T. Mazula written under patient name, but that couldn’t be right — because I’m here and I’m fine. My acid washed jeans and white t-shirt are pristine, coiled curls in a poof. No way I’m that lump on the bed.

Steady mechanical beeps echo in the room, proof of life with a constant whooshing sound, like the room is breathing.

I scream, shout, and wave in front of her, but Janieva doesn’t react. I grab at her but it’s like my fingers won’t catch hold, sliding just off her.

“Can you keep it down? Some of us like to haunt in peace!” I stop to see an older guy, head full of black hair, deep blue eyes narrowed in annoyance. He was like if James Dean had a taller, darker, more annoying older brother.

“What do you mean haunt? I’m right here.”

“Oh my God, you’re new.” He wipes a hand across his face. “Look you’ll figure it out soon enough, but keep it down.”

“But I can’t be dead. I’m here. Even if that’s my . . . body, it’s still breathing,” I stutter. To be dead, you have to be DEAD dead — right?

He rolls his eyes and strolls in, black leather jacket slouching on his shoulders.

Janieva doesn’t react, still staring, dabbing a tissue at her eyes. He checks the machine. “Brain dead.” He jerks his thumb at the device. “That machines the only thing keeping your body going. Like the lights are on but no one’s home. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t be talking to me.”

I step back in horror. “This can’t be right.”

“Look, it is what it is.” His eyes soften and some of that naggy tone leaves his voice. “It’s all jarring at first, but you get used to it, he says quietly.

“I’m not getting used to anything,” I say, head spinning, and do the only thing I can think of. There are only two bodies in the room and I’m not choosing mine.

I take a flying leap at Janieva. This time I don’t slip off, I slip in. Everything is ten times louder and I can taste her gum in my mouth, her boots pinching my feet.

Thoughts race through my brain, some hers, some mine. It’s a blur of colors as I see double and feel her spirit pressing against mine, our essences warring with each other.

A tough jerk comes from my spine and it’s like I’m turned loose, sliding out of her as weak as a newborn baby, gasping as I huddle on the floor.

“Rule number 1: Possession’s the fastest way to flame out. Don’t do it,” he says, arms crossed.

My chest heaves. “Possession?”

Black haired Jimmy Dean nods, his inky curls falling into his eyes. He’s breathing hard, but I don’t know if that works since we both don’t have lungs. “You can’t just jump into bodies. There are rules.” He leans down and grabs my forearm, pulling me to standing. Janie as also gripping the edge of the bed, eyes darting around the room as she drags in deep breaths.

“Well, how am I going to learn these rules? My body’s only technically dead,” I wheeze.

The indecision plays in his eyes, as his gaze lingers on the hall and his earlier words wrap through my brain. Who was he haunting and what was I keep him from? His mouth starts to form no, but I see the tiny spark that flares in his eyes. I can see the second I’ve won.

“Come on kid. I’ve been dead 20 years, I guess I can spare a day.” He shakes his head as if he’s already regretting this.

He strides out of the room through the door, a man with a mission.

“Can’t we walk through walls? Are there other ghosts here?”

His sigh is loud and heavy. “Haunting 101: it’s different than you see in the movies.”

“How different? Seeing Casper and being Casper were two very different things.”

I start to follow him but stop to look at Janieva one last time, eyes red, natural hair starting to frizz and remember the one thing from my jump in her body.

Janieva knows why my body’s laying in that bed and she knows the person who put me there. I leave the room with one clear vow on my mind — once I get the hang of this haunting thing, I’m going to find out why.