Scary Mary

By S.A. Hunter

Mary has always been different. She’d like to be normal, but being able to hear ghosts means she’ll never be like everyone else. She starts her junior year of high school hoping to be left alone, but Cyrus Asher is new and doesn’t know or seem to care that she’s an outcast. They start hanging out and all is well until she goes over to his house. Cy’s house is haunted, and not by Casper, the friendly ghost.

But it’s not the ghost that ruins the evening. That honor belongs to Vicky “The Hickey” Nelson with her borrowed Ouija board and stuck-up friends. They make her so angry that she uses the ghost to freak out everybody. Cy orders her out and Mary thinks she’s lost whatever chance she had with him. But there’s still the ghost to deal with. He’s mean, nasty, and possibly homicidal. She has to get rid of him or Cy and his family could be hurt. Or worse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: S.A. Hunter
• Release date: Jul 29, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452370859

S.A. Hunter

S.A. Hunter lives in Virginia and works in a library. She is the author of the YA series Scary Mary as well as other fantasy novels. Visit her online at www.sahunter.net or email her [e-mail]

Book preview

Scary Mary

S.A. Hunter

Copyright © 2013 by S.A. Hunter

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Cover by Wicked Cover Designs

Print ISBN-13: 978-1477625040

Contents

Dedication

1. Hello Leave me Alone

2. Classmates

3. After School Activities

4. A New Friend?

5. First Date Jitters

6. Dealing

7. Scary Mary, Investigations

8. Ghost Hunting

9. Unwanted Chats

10. Denial

11. Help

12. Showdown

13. Tag Team

14. Conclusions

About the Author

Also By S.A. Hunter

Preview

TO MY LOVING PARENTS.

Thank you for all of your support.

Chapter 1

Hello Leave me Alone

MARY’S FOOTSTEPS ECHOED down the locker-lined hallway. Doors swung shut to start classes as she passed. She caught snippets as the doors closed.

Welcome back to a new school year—

Hope everyone had a great summer—

Please, turn to page sixty-four—

Up until five minutes ago, she’d been in one of those classrooms, bored out of her mind, and doodling pentagrams onto the cover of her spiral notebook. Then the PA had snapped on with a screech of static. The attendance secretary Mrs. Higgins’ nasally voice had come through to call her to the guidance office. Everyone turned to stare at her in disbelief. No one got called over the PA to the guidance office. No one normal at least.

When she shoved open the door to the guidance counselors’ suite of offices, it bounced violently off the door stop, startling Mrs. Higgins. Mary marched past the scowling secretary to Mr. Landa’s office. She raised her fist, but it opened before she could bang on the door.

She put her fist on her cocked hip. Who gets called to the guidance office on the first day of freaking school?

Mr. Landa’s smile didn’t falter as he held the door open wider for her. Welcome back, Mary.

She rolled her eyes and ducked by him.

From behind his desk, a disembodied female voice said, I’m so sorry, Mary. I tried to stop him from summoning you: I hid his pass pad, made all of his pens leak, I even banged his knees with the desk drawers. I can’t believe he had Mrs. Higgins call you over the PA. Whatever happened to student confidentiality?

As she took a seat, Mary flashed a quick smile toward Mrs. Brown, or at least, where she thought she was judging by where her voice emanated. Mary couldn’t tell exactly because she couldn’t see her. Mrs. Brown was a ghost, and Mary couldn’t see ghosts. She wasn’t clairvoyant. She was clairaudient, which meant she could only hear ghosts. It was a little weird even among psychics, but Mary couldn’t help how she was weird.

Mary’s guidance counselor Mr. Landa didn’t know his desk was haunted. Like all normal people, he couldn’t see or hear ghosts, and like most people, he didn’t believe in them either. He shared his office every day with Mrs. Brown without any clue. He just thought his desk was a vexing piece of junk. The drawers slid open on their own or they got jammed for no reason. Random things disappeared and appeared in them. He got annoyed, but he never got goosebumps. When weird stuff happened, a normal person’s first inclination wasn’t to assume a ghost was messing with them, and if Mary had tried to suggest the desk was haunted, she would have been swiftly fitted for a straitjacket and shipped off to a padded room.

When she’d been alive, Mrs. Brown had been the school nurse. The desk had been hers. She’d died of a heart attack while sitting at that desk. The desk had been moved around until it had ended up in Landa’s office. It wasn’t unusual for schools to reuse furniture for decades. It also meant that it wasn’t unusual for schools to be haunted.

Mr. Landa turned on the white noise machine outside the door and flipped his sign to ‘In Session’. He cautiously went around the desk to take his seat. I called you down here because we need to talk. Ready for the new school year?

Mary slouched down into her chair. No, but ready or not, right?

Mr. Landa shuffled the papers on his desk. I hope this year is good for you. What did you do over the summer?

The usual. Talked to the dead. Cavorted with demons. Worked on my tan.

He nodded in approval. Cavorted, that’s a good word. It sounds like you did look at those SAT prep books I loaned you.

Mary grimaced. She didn’t want to admit that she had read them. Why am I here?

I called you in today because I wanted to touch base with you on a few things.

She frowned at him. And you couldn’t wait until after the first day of school?

He gave her a wry smile. I did wait. It’s second period. I thought about calling you out of first.

He’s not joking, Mrs. Brown said.

Mary slid down further in her chair. She’d been seeing Mr. Landa since she started attending Eastern Snyder High School. It was supposed to be some proactive initiative for troubled teens. In middle school, Mary had gotten into a total of six fights. Back then, she had trouble controlling her temper, and the other kids had trouble controlling their mouths. When she’d graduated to high school, her file had been flagged. Mr. Landa had quickly called her in and began asking her about her feelings. He’d said she could tell him anything. Those first meetings had been mainly her venting about various kids. And while it had felt good to let loose on how stupid and mean some of her classmates were, listening to Mr. Landa counsel her on how to deal with them had been infuriating. He’d been of the belief that she should just turn the other cheek.

Mary had become aware of Mrs. Brown about halfway through her first session with Mr. Landa. He’d been droning on about making friends and being open to new experiences. Mrs. Brown had commented, Gah, he sure loves to listen to himself talk. Too bad he’s the only one.

Mary had snickered at her remark. A brief touch of the desk had confirmed that it was what the ghost haunted. It had been tough to get a moment alone in the office to tell the ghost that she could hear her, but after she had, all new possibilities had opened up.

Mrs. Brown had told her interesting tidbits about Mary’s assailants. Like if they’d wetted their beds until they were ten or if they’d gotten in trouble for making out with someone, the someone not being their current boyfriend or girlfriend. Needless to say, the dead school nurse had been much more helpful than the living guidance counselor.

Mary? Are you listening to me?

No, she hadn’t been. Yes, sir. New school year, new possibilities.

Yes, but even though it’s a new year, we can’t forget about the last one. Let’s try to not have a repeat of any of the most upsetting incidents. He flipped open her file. Like let’s not bean any boys with softballs this year.

It was an accident. I thought he’d duck.

Mrs. Brown tisked. You broke that poor boy’s nose.

No spiking girls’ milks with Ex-Lax.

Mrs. Brown spoke up again, That wasn’t nice at all. You should’ve apologized to that girl.

Did the janitors ever manage to unclog that toilet?

Mr. Landa didn’t bother to acknowledge her question. He continued down his list, No more threatening to shrink freshmen’s heads.

Mrs. Brown only snorted in amusement.

Mary threw up her hands in mock-frustration. Oh, come on! You’ve got to leave me something!

Mr. Landa closed her file. This is a warning, Mary, either shape up, or you’ll be expelled and that would be a terrible shame, seeing how you’ve made it to your junior year, and your grades are good. We know you deserve to be here. Try to work with us.

I heard Mr. Landa talking to Principal Hoke. She wants to expel you the next time you get in trouble. He had to promise to keep a very close eye on you. This was the downside of Mrs. Brown haunting Mr. Landa’s desk. Sometimes there was justification for the guidance counselor’s meddling, though Mary would have been happy not knowing it.

I’ll do my best, she said, but her voice didn’t hold much confidence.

Mary’s transgressions were not done to innocent victims. She’d broken the football player’s nose because he’d been ragging on her for the past four days. He’d been asking her if she liked corpses. Like did their cold bodies make her hot? And did she drink her own menstrual blood? Disgusting stuff like that. The coaches had heard a lot of it, but they didn’t tell him to quit it. The fact was some of them had snickered at his comments. When she’d seen her chance to shut him up, she’d taken it. He never asked her any more questions. Ditto for poop girl. They should’ve listened when she told them to shut up. And as for the freshmen, it was just too much fun messing with them. Some of them really believed she could shrink their heads!

Please do try your best. You know people would be nicer to you if you let them.

His words garnered a groan from Mrs. Brown. Even she knew that was a lie.

Mary’s eyes narrowed, and her jaw tightened. You want ME to be nicer? Nicer to the teachers who ignore everything until I do something? Or the vice principals who always assume I’m the troublemaker? Or maybe you mean my classmates who are all oh so friendly and nice as they sneer and insult me?

Oh Mary, I promise it gets better, Mrs. Brown said.

Mr. Landa crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Have you ever tried just telling those that upset you to stop? I know it sounds too simple and couldn’t possibly work, but maybe you should give it a try.

You mean ask nicely and say please?

He nodded. What could it hurt?

She straightened and dropped her jaw in faux amazement. Wow! Why didn’t I think of that? I’ll just say please and thank you and the world will be a better place!

He peered over his glasses at her. Tell me, has what you’ve been doing worked any better?

She crossed her arms and looked away.

Just try it once and see what happens. If it doesn’t work, you’ll at least know for sure.

I have tried being nice. ‘Please don’t call me that! Please don’t push me! Please don’t kick me! Please stop throwing rocks at me!’ They just laughed, and the teachers just watched.

And how old were you when all that happened?

She hunched over and stared at the floor. I was six.

Don’t you think they’ve changed by now?

No, they’ve just gotten bigger rocks.

Mary, I know children didn’t actually throw rocks at you while your teachers watched.

Her jaw tightened. This was another reason why seeing Mr. Landa was stupid. He rarely believed her when she told him real stuff. They did.

No teacher would stand by and watch a child be abused like that.

You’re right. Mrs. Jones turned away when it began.

He shook his head. He wouldn’t believe her.

She clenched her fists to keep herself in check. It wouldn’t do to get emotional. He would only make a note in her file. It did happen. Just like everything else I’ve ever told you.

You mean like your summer cavorting with demons? Or what about last spring when you were abducted by aliens? Or better yet, that time you saw Elvis? Mary dropped her gaze. He had a point, but she told him outrageous lies because he insisted that she tell him something. She’d tried to tell him the truth at first, but like now, he always refused to believe her. She wished she hadn’t tried to tell him something true now.

He let out a long weary sigh. Never mind. It’s all in the past. We should focus on this school year. Don’t antagonize the other students. Don’t talk back to the teachers. Don’t cause trouble.

She stared at a spot over his head and gave him a clipped nod. She just wanted their session over.

Okay, we’ll talk more next Wednesday during third period. Go and get a pass from Mrs. Higgins. While he talked, Mrs. Brown slid open a lower drawer in his desk. When he pushed himself to his feet to escort Mary out, he tripped hard over the open drawer. He banged his leg and had to grab the desk and wall to stop himself from belly flopping to the floor. His face went maroon. She knew he was biting his tongue to keep from cursing. Mrs. Brown didn’t like it either that Mr. Landa didn’t believe her.

Mary, hang in there. High school isn’t forever. It won’t always be like this. She knew what Mrs. Brown said was right on one level, but she was wrong on another. She would always hear ghosts and that meant she would always be different.

Mary waved to Mrs. Brown, though Mr. Landa thought it was for him. He nodded goodbye to her while nursing his bruised shin. Mary wondered

Reviews for Scary Mary

[gilroy_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Picked this up because the description of ghost talking teen seemed fascinating. It started as a normal Teen book, with the first day of school. Main character is an outcast, against the most popular girl. (Expected tropes.) New kid thrust into path of main character. Outcast MC can hear and talk to ghosts. Parents dead, raised by grandmother. Best Friend is more outgoing than MC. Yet has a daddy that protects her right to be weird. Here's where the author starts to lose me. We've already established that the MC can hear ghosts. She doesn't like it, but can hear them. Also doesn't necessarily see them. So why WHY when she hears a strange voice, does she not automatically assume it's a ghost until proven wrong? Why is she freaking out when she realizes that She hears a voice and her new MMC interest doesn't? Or does she? The sad part is the more interesting aspect of the character is being buried behind a drama llama romance plot.The ghost thing finally does come forward in the plot. It feels like the romance angle is interfering with the rest of the story, like the book started as a romance but couldn't create a full story so added the ghost side of things. It feels like the MC is a little dense. I spotted the ghost's anchor and the possession as soon as the author showed it. Interesting ending. It's not horrible. There's a few editing errors, but nothing that the big houses wouldn't also suffer. On the fence, so a solid 3 stars.

[ljldml · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Scary Mary was a free kindle book from Amazon.com. I love ghost stories but don't think I would have ordered this book if it hadn't been free. The cover is a little eerie. Not getting this book would have been a mistake. It was a fun read. Mary reminded me of the main character from the TV show Ghost Whisperer. She couldn't see the ghosts but could hear them. A ghost dog brought humor to the book. It has all the earmarks of a good summer read for tweens and YA. It has Mary, her best friend Rachel, a new boy in school named Cy, a snotty vicious cheerleader named Vicky, Cy's brother Kyle and of course a mean spirited ghost named Ricky. I encourage anyone who likes ghost stories to get this book- especially while it is still free for the Kindle. I give it 3.5/5 stars.

[scoshie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Vitriol. I immediately fell in love with this author after reading that word. Excellent teen horror/fantasy. Started off like EVERY other teen novel these days. Loner girl/new cute boy but I must say after that the book takes off well. Can't wait to read the next installment. Good job!

[ajbraithwaite_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

One of the 'most downloaded' free books on Amazon, so I followed the herd...Glad I did - it's an enjoyable, quick, YA read - well written, holds your attention and makes you care about the main character, a clairaudient high school misfit.

[elwood_mom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Teen novel. Fairly standard tale of a teenage girl who can hear ghosts, while her grandmother reads tarot and performs seances. Lots of teen angst with the cute new boy in school, the other kids being bullies and a *very* angry spirit. Good book for tweens.

[shahnareads · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This story is pretty cliche, and the author lays it on thick. Jesus.

How many more stories about the sad bullied child with no friends do we need?

Obviously the new boy she meets in the first chapter is her love interest.
Obviously the cheerleader is her arch nemesis.

Everything is so obvious.

There is also an over use of not commonly used words in this novel. Its supposed to be for teenagers. Teens don't talk like that. it's like the author pulled random words from a thesaurus just to sound more intelligent.

It's also not written well. So that's a thing. spelling and Grammer mistakes everywhere.

Oh! And who doesn't know the zip code to Beverly Hills. Seriously. Even for a fake character she's stupid. It's pretty much common knowledge.

Fart


I think if this idea was re-worked, and maybe some better dialog, and this could be a good story.

[khal_khaleesi · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I felt this book was a bit of a let down. I couldn't get into it for the longest time at all until a little over half way through it. Even then, I wasn't *that* into it.

I also couldn't relate to any of the characters. Mary was too much of a stereotypical goth which really annoyed me. Stereotypes in books drive me crazy especially goth ones. I didn't care what happened to Mary or anyone really.

The plot was a bit boring...trying to get rid of an evil ghost. Even the ending was a bit sudden and disappointing.

This book was just okay. Nothing special. I won't be reading the next book in the series.