Page 122 of Zero Chance

Waves?

Yes.Waverly Frank.

Who else named Waverly worked at the library and knew about his ghost mom?

How did you get my number?

I groaned.Really?

No idea,

I smarted back.

You just had it printed on hundreds of posters in large, bold font under a picture of my underwear that you passed around campus.But it’s a true mystery how I came to be in possession of your number.

Instead of being contrite, the man merely answered,

It wasn’t HUNDREDS of posters.We only made fifty.

My mistake.That’s SO much better.

I had a feeling he’d detect my sarcasm.

Do you know what this message from your mom means or not?

Of course.She’s saying Laterman.

Laterman?Are you sure?How do you know?

Because I’m just that brilliant.Obvs.

With a snort, I typed,

I remain unconvinced.

I’m pretty sure I heard him roll his eyes across campus as his little bubbles appeared on the screen.

Fine.It’s because she has a system.If she uses one book, you can figure out what she wants from the title or subject matter.If she uses more, you take the first letter of each title and spell out the word she’s trying to say.

I turned my attention to the tomes on the table to spell out Laterman.Irritated that he was right, I wrote,

Well, what the hell does Laterman mean?

That was her last name, genius.

Oh.Okay.That makes sense.

I paused to slap my palm to my forehead.

She showed me this right after I called her Mrs.Dugger.

Yeah.Don’t do that,

Keene warned.

My dad is basically the reason she’s dead, so anything that reminds her of him, like his name, will probably set her off.

Okay, wow.Good to know.

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