Chapter Sixty
“What do we do next?” Theo asked as they stood outside Widener. “I gotta admit, at the beginning I was just kind of humoring you… but now I really want to know what that key is for!”
“I know, it’s so distracting, right?”
“Do you want me to ask my mom to set up a session with her psychic? We could meet up during Thanksgiving break. She’d do it in a heartbeat for us.”
“Maybe…” A year ago Violet never would have entertained such a thought, but now she felt like she was open to anything. And Theo’s house in Delaware wasn’t so far from her parents in Philly.
“But we won’t have that much time this break,” Violet said. She knew they both would be leaving campus on Wednesday and would have to return by Sunday.
“Look, let me ask my mom if Lux has time to meet with us that Friday. If you could take the train to Wilmington, I can pick you up and we’d then drive out and meet her.”
“Lux?” Violet asked, bemused. “Like Latin for light?”
“Yep.”
“That’s pretty funny.” She laughed. “What a perfect name for a psychic.” It felt good to have some levity in their conversation. “We’re moving toward the light.”
“That’s what my mom likes to say, too. Despite my dad cringing.”
“Gosh, my parents would have the same reaction. As would my suitemates, for that matter.”
Theo smiled, his dimples flashing like two tiny clefts in each cheek. He glanced at his watch. “I gotta run, but I’ll call my mom and let you know what she says about us meeting Lux.”
“Sounds good,” Violet said.
She wondered if any of this would help her with her thesis next year on the Ghost Trinity and William James.
So many of those nineteenth-century scholars had opened themselves up to the possibility that there were certain rare individuals who possessed a gift for accessing the spiritual realm.
And if one listened to them, new knowledge could be found.
Violet hoped Lux was one of those people.
By Tuesday, Theo let Violet know his mother was thrilled that he had asked her to set up a meeting with Lux.
“So if you can make it to my place, then it’s a go,” he told her as he rolled his bike beside her.
“I’ll make time.” She was excited.
“I was just about to get a burger at Bartley’s. Any chance you want to join me?”
Bartley’s was a landmark institution on Mass.
Ave. The red-and-white sign hanging outside its doors proudly announced it had been serving burgers since 1960.
Countless Harvard students had eaten there over the years, Violet included.
On their second date, she and Hugo had shared a plate of French fries and ordered their famous frappes.
Other times they’d dip inside for a cheeseburger and a Coke.
She hadn’t been in all semester because she thought it might just make her sad.
She paused at Theo’s invitation.
He read her face quickly. “Sorry. I know Hugo loved that place. That guy was the only one on our team who ever ordered a coffee frappe with his cheeseburger.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Do you maybe want to go to the Hong Kong and get some chow fun instead?”
Violet smiled. She appreciated Theo’s sensitivity toward her feelings.
The truth was, she and Hugo had gone to the Hong Kong restaurant, another culinary institution with its sticky menus and plastic tablecloths, almost as often as Bartley’s.
There was probably no place he could suggest that she hadn’t been with Hugo at some point.
“It’s fine. A burger and fries sound like heaven.”
They ambled through Dexter Gate and crossed Mass. Ave. toward Bartley’s. When they reached its red-and-white sign, Theo pulled open the door for her and they found a booth right away and sat down.
“God, I’m starving,” he said. “I didn’t get a chance to have lunch, and I’ve been up since five thirty.”
Violet remembered similar complaints coming from Hugo. She never understood how he managed to get up when it was still dark outside to head to the boathouse.
“Thank God we have it easy with school for the next few weeks until reading period and exams,” she said.
“Yeah… though it really stinks having exams when we get back from winter break. Kinda puts a damper on Christmas.”
Violet nodded and saw the waitress approaching from the corner of her eye.
They both ordered a cheeseburger and fries.
“I’ll have a strawberry frappe, too,” Theo said.
“And a chocolate one for me,” Violet added as the waitress grabbed their menus from them.
She looked at Theo, slightly amused. “I don’t think I’ve ever been here with anyone who got a strawberry frappe.”
“I thought I’d try something new.” He shrugged.
“You normally get coffee, don’t you?”
“Nah, I mean…”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I really appreciate you being so sensitive about everything. And more importantly, not thinking I’m a freak with the whole ghost thing.”
“Well, Vi, by now you’d also have to lump me in that description. I’m the one setting up a meeting with a psychic this coming weekend,” he said and laughed.
The waitress came over with their order.
“Now let’s talk about what we’re going to ask Lux,” Theo said, lifting the glass of frozen strawberry ice cream and taking a long sip from the straw.
“Yes. Good idea.” Violet unzipped her backpack and pulled out her notebook and a pen. “We can write them all down here,” she suggested as she patted the clean leaf of paper. “It’s weird,” she says. “I feel like we’re living in a story and we have absolutely no idea how it’s all going to end.”