Still sweaty from gym class, Becky and I passed the Mansion on our way home. I noticed something I had never seen before: a light in the window. Windows--they weren't boarded up anymore!

"Becky, look!" I screamed with excitement. This was the best birthday present of all! There was a figure standing in the attic window, staring up at the stars.

"Oh, no! It's true, Raven. There are ghosts!" she screamed, clutching onto my arm.

"Well, this ghost drives a black Mercedes!" I said, pointing to the snazzy car parked in the driveway.

"Let's go," she pleaded.

Suddenly the attic light went out.

We both gasped at the same time. Becky's nails dug into my thrift-store sweater. We waited, wide-eyed and speechless.

"C'mon, let's go!" Becky said.

I didn't move.

"Raven, I'm already late for dinner! We'll be doubly late for Matt's party."

"You've got the hots for ol' Mattie?" I teased, my eyes glued to the Mansion.

But when she didn't reply, I turned to face her. Becky's cheeks were flushed.

"You do!" I said with a gasp. "And you think I'm weird!" I declared, shaking my head. "Raven, I've got to go!"

I would have waited till morning, but whoever was inside wasn't coming out.

The light in the attic window had lit a fire in my soul.

"I saw a Mercedes parked at the Mansion!" I informed my family at dinner. I was late as usual, this time for my own birthday dinner.

"I heard they looked like the Addams Family," Nerd Boy said.

"Maybe they have a daughter your age. Someone who doesn't like to get into trouble," my mother added.

"Then I'd have no use for her."

"Maybe she has a father I can play tennis with," my father said hopefully.

"Whoever it is will need to get rid of all those old mirrors and crates," I added, not realizing what I had said.

They all looked at me. "What crates?" my mom asked. "Don't tell me you've snuck into that house!"

"It's just something I heard."

"Raven!" my mother said in that disapproving mother tone.

It seemed no one in Dullsville had seen the new owners. It was wonderful to have a mystery in this town for a change. Everyone already knew most everything that happened in Dullsville, and most of it wasn't worth knowing. Matt Wells lived on the good side of town, at the edge of Oakley Woods. Becky and I arrived late and entered the party like we were movie stars entering a premiere. Or rather I did. Poor Becky hung tightly to my side like she was visiting the dentist. "It'll be okay," I reassured her. "It's a party!" But I knew why she was nervous. We were subjecting ourselves to ridicule when we could have been safely at home watching TV like Trevor said. But why should the snobs have all the fun? Just because Matt's bedroom was the size of my living room? Just because we didn't wear clothes that were "in"? So that meant I should sit home on my sixteenth birthday?

I felt like Moses parting the Red Sea, as a crowd of snobs dispersed from the hallway upon our entry. Our classmates eyeballed me, decked out in my usual Gothic garb. Too bad Tommy Hilfiger wasn't there. He'd have been flattered. Everyone was wearing his clothes like a school uniform. The sound of Aerosmith rocked throughout Matt's living room. A thick layer of smoke hung above the couches, and the smell of beer permeated the air like cheap incense. Couples who weren't staring disapprovingly at us were staring adoringly at each other. It was going to be useless to try to talk to anyone.

"I can't believe you showed up," Matt said, spotting us in the hallway. "I'd take a picture, but I don't know if you'd be visible!" Yet despite his bark, Matt wasn't as cruel as Trevor. "Beers are out back," he then said. "Want me to show you the way?"

Becky was in awe of Matt. She shook her head and locked herself in the hallway bathroom. Matt laughed and headed for the kitchen. I waited in the living room by a concert-sized speaker, perusing the CDs. Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, and a bunch of show tunes. I wasn't surprised.

I went back to check on Becky and found the bathroom door open. She wasn't in the hallway, so I walked through the crowd of hammered classmates to the kitchen. A group of hundred-dollar- hairstyle girls glared at me and left, leaving me alone. Or so I thought.

"Hey, sexy Monster Chick," a voice said behind me. It was Trevor.

He was leaning against the wall next to me, a can of Budweiser dangling from his hand.

"Does that line work for you at every party?"

He smiled a seductive smile. "I've never kissed a girl with black lips before."

"You've never kissed a girl before," I said and walked past him.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. He looked at me with his blue eyes and kissed me on the mouth! I have to admit, he was a great kisser, and it didn't hurt that he was gorgeous.

Trevor Mitchell had never even touched me, much less kissed me, except when he bit me in kindergarten. The most I ever got was a thump on the head when I walked too close to him. He had to be drunk. Maybe it was a joke--maybe he was just trying to mess with me. But the way his lips felt against mine, it seemed like we were both enjoying it. I didn't know what to think as he pulled me out the back door, past an inebriated couple mashing on the steps, past garbage cans and the fountain, under tall trees and darkness.

"Are you scared of the dark, Monster Girl?" The woods let so little light in, it was hard to make out the red stripes on his sweater.

"No, I quite like it."

He pushed me up against a tree and started kissing me for real. His hands were everywhere--on me, on the tree.

"I've always wanted to kiss a vampire!" he said, coming up for air. "I've always wanted to kiss a Neanderthal."

He laughed and went on kissing me.

"So does this mean we're going together?" I asked. Now I was the one coming up for air.

"What?"

"Like when we go to school? We'll hold hands in the halls and hang out together at lunch? See movies on the weekends?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Then we're going together?"

"Yeah." He laughed. "You can watch me play soccer, and I can watch you turn into a bat." He began softly biting me on the neck. "I bet you like it like this, don't you, Monster Girl?"

My heart sank. Of course, I didn't really want to be Trevor's girlfriend. It's not like he was Mars and I was Venus--we weren't even from the same universe! And I didn't even like him, really. I knew why he'd brought me out here, I knew what he wanted to do, and I knew who he was going to tell. And at the end of it all, he might win ten dollars from all his betting buddies for "getting the Goth Chick." I had hoped he was going to prove me wrong. Instead, he was proving me right.

It was time to get down to business. "Wanna see why I don't wear white? Wanna fly with me?"

"Yeah." He smiled, sort of startled, but very eager. "I bet you fly like Supergirl!"

I urged him over the picket fence into the woods. I could obviously see better than he. My nocturnal habits had always made me a great observer in the dark. Not as good as a cat, but close. I felt safe and secure, with the beautiful moon now guiding me. I looked up and saw several bats fluttering over the trees. I'd never seen bats in Dullsville. But I didn't go to that many parties, either.

"I can't see," Trevor said, removing a branch from his hair.

As we walked on, he flailed his arms like he was going to hit something. Some people are violent drunks; some are slobbering drunks. But Trevor was a terrified drunk. He was really becoming quite unattractive.

"Let's stop here," he said.

"No, just a little bit further," I said, following the bats as they flew into the woods. "It's my sixteenth birthday. I want this to be a night I'll never forget! We need total privacy."

"This is plenty private," he said, groping around and trying to kiss me.

"We're almost there," I said, tugging him on. The lights from the house could no longer be seen, and we couldn't walk five steps without hitting a tree.

"This is perfect!" I finally said.

He squeezed me hard, not because he loved me, but because he was afraid. It was pathetic.

There was a gentle wind blowing through the trees, and the smell of autumn leaves. I heard bats chirping high overhead. The full moon illuminated their wings. It would have been romantic, if only I had had a real boyfriend with me.

Trevor was completely blind in the darkness, feeling everything with his hands and lips. He kissed me all over my face and touched the small of my back. Even blind, it didn't take him long to find the buttons on my shirt.

"No, you first," I told him. I lifted off his sweater, as unclumsily as I could. I had never done this before. He was wearing a V-neck T-shirt underneath and an undershirt underneath that. This is going to take forever, I thought.

I felt his naked chest. Why not? It was right in front of me. It was soft and smooth and muscular.

He pulled me closer, my lacy black rayon shirt touching his naked torso.

"Now you, baby. I want you so bad," he said, straight out of some skin flick on cable.

"Me too, baby." I sighed, rolling my eyes.

I leaned him down slowly on the damp earth. I slid off his loafers and socks. He eagerly took off the rest.

He lay propped up on his arms, completely naked. I stared down at him in the faint moonlight, savoring the moment. How many girls had Mr. Gorgeous laid out by a tree, only to cast them aside the next day? I wasn't the first and I wasn't going to be the last. I was just going to be different.

"Hurry up--come over here," he said. "I'm cold!"

"I'll just be a minute. I don't want you to see me undress."

"I can't see you! I can't even see my own hands!"

"Well, just hang on."

I had Trevor Mitchell's clothes in my arms. His sweater, V-neck, undershirt, khakis, socks, loafers, and underwear. I had his power. His mask. I had his whole life. What was a girl to do?

This girl ran. I ran so hard, like I had never run before. Like I had been training every day in gym class. If Mr. Harris could have seen me then, he surely would have put me on the track team. The bats flew off, too, as if they were in sync with my movements. I quickly reached the house, Trevor's ensemble wadded in my arms. The snobs drinking on the back porch were too busy talking about their shallow lives to notice me emptying a trash bag half filled with beer cans and stuffing in Trevor's clothes.

I carried the bag into the house and grabbed a startled Becky by the arm. She was delivering beer to a table of poker players.

"Where were you?" she screamed. "I couldn't find you anywhere! I was forced to wait on these creeps! Back and forth-- beer, chips, beer, chips. And now cigars! Raven, where am I supposed to get cigars?"

"Forget about cigars! We've gotta run!"

"Hey, toots, where are those pretzels?" a drunken jock demanded.

"The bar is closed!" I said in his face. "Great service demands a great tip!" I grabbed his poker earnings and stuffed them into Becky's purse. "Time to go!" I said, pulling her away.

"What's in the bag?" she asked.

"Trash, what else?"

I pushed her out the front door. The nice thing about not having friends was there was no one to say good-bye to. "What happened?" she kept asking as I pulled her across the front yard. Her ten-year-old pickup truck sat at the end of the street, waiting for us like home base. "Where were you, Raven? You have leaves in your hair."

I waited until we were halfway home before I turned to her with a huge grin and shouted, "I screwed Trevor Mitchell!"

"You did what?" she shouted back, almost swerving off the road. "With who?"

"I screwed Trevor Mitchell." "You didn't! You couldn't! You wouldn't!"

"No, I mean figuratively. I screwed him so bad, Becky, and I have the clothes to prove it!" And I pulled them out of the trash bag one by one.

We laughed and shrieked as Becky turned a corner near Benson Hill.

Somehow Trevor would find his way out of the darkness. But he wouldn't have his rich threads to mask himself. He'd be naked, cold, alone. Exposed for who he really was.

I would remember my Sweet Sixteenth birthday for the rest of my life and now Trevor Mitchell would, too.

As we drove along the desolate country road that twisted around Benson Hill, the headlights shone against the creepy trees. Moths attacked the windshield as if warning us to choose another way.

"The Mansion's totally dark," I said as we approached it. "Wanna stop for a look-see?"

"Your birthday's over," Becky said in an exhausted voice, keeping her foot on the gas pedal. "We'll go next year."

Suddenly the headlights illuminated a figure standing in the middle of the road.

"Watch out!" I yelled.

A guy with moonlight-white skin and spikey black hair, clothed in a black coat, black jeans, and black Doc Martens, quickly raised his arm to shield his eyes--seemingly from the glare of the headlights rather than the imminent impact of Becky's pickup.

Becky slammed her brakes. We heard a thud. "Are you okay?" she cried.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Did I hit him?" she yelled, panicking.

"I don't know."

"I can't look," she said, hiding her head on the steering wheel. "I can't!" She started to cry.

I jumped out of the truck and anxiously peered around the front, afraid of what I might find lying in the road.

But I saw nothing.

I checked underneath the truck and looked for dents. On closer inspection, I noticed blood splattered on the fender.

"Are you okay?" I called out.

But there was no response.

I grabbed a flashlight from Becky's glove compartment.

"What are you doing?" she asked, worried.

"Searching."

"For what?"

"There was some blood--"

"Blood?" Becky cried. "I've killed someone!"

"Calm down. It could have been a deer."

"A deer doesn't wear black jeans! I'm calling nine-one-one."

"Go ahead--but where's the body?" I reasoned. "You weren't going fast enough to catapult him into the woods." "Maybe he's under the truck!"

"I already looked. You probably just bumped him and he took off. But I want to make sure."

Becky grabbed my arm, digging her nails into my flesh. "Raven, don't go! Let's get out of here! I'm calling nine-one-one!"

"Lock the door if you have to," I said, tearing myself free. "But keep the engine and the lights on."

"Raven, tell me this..." Becky exclaimed breathlessly, gazing at me with terrified eyes. "What normal guy would be walking in the middle of a pitch-black road? Do you think he might be a--?"

I felt the pleasant tingle of goosebumps on my arms.

"Becky, don't get my hopes up!"

I combed the bushes that went down to the creek. Then I headed for the hillside leading up toward the Mansion.

I let out a shriek.

"What is it?" Becky cried, rolling down the window.

Blood! Thick puddles in the grass! But there was no body! I followed the bloodstains, afraid bits of his corpse were strewn everywhere. And then I tripped over something hard. I looked down, anticipating a severed head. I apprehensively shone my flashlight on it. It was a dented paint bucket.

"Is he dead?" Becky gasped as I returned to the truck.

"No, but I think you may have killed his can," I said, dangling the bucket in front of her. "What was he doing painting in the middle of the night? And where was he going?"

"It was just paint!" Becky said with a gasp of relief, hanging up her cell phone and revving the engine. "Let's get out of here!" "What was that jerk doing walking in the middle of the road at night?" I wondered out loud. "Maybe he was going to paint some graffiti or something."

"Where did he come from? Where could he have gone so fast?" she mumbled back at me.

In the rearview mirror I caught the reflection of the darkened Mansion just in time to see a light go on in the attic window.