Page 34 of Haunting the Deep

“What was his wife’s name? Henry Harper’s, I mean.” My tone is urgent, and a few people turn to look at me.

Mr. Wardwell tilts his head. “Huh, good question.” He picks up a packet off his desk and flips through the pages. He runs his finger down one of them. “Henry Sleeper Harper and Myra Haxtun Harper.”

The room spins.Myra H.H.Either dead people are sending me packages now, or someone knows my family history better than I do.

“Samantha?” Mr. Wardwell says with slight annoyance, and I look up at him. “A name?”

I zero in on Niki. “Why did you pick Henry Harper, Niki?”

She turns around in her chair. “Huh?”

Jaxon stares at me.

“Why did you pick him? Did you have a reason?”

Niki looks at me like I might have lost my mind. She opens her mouth, but Mr. Wardwell interrupts her.

“Samantha, I’ll ask that you stay on topic and not disrupt the class.” His eyebrows are up, and he looks like he means business. “A name.”

I shift my eyes to him. I have the subtlety of a foghorn. “A name?”

“Of a passenger.”

“Uh.” My mind races. I do know some, but for the life of me I can’t think of anything right now except Myra and Henry. And I would bet anything that the painting in the hallway is of her. “Um.”

Mr. Wardwell frowns. “Samantha, whichever team you’re on isn’t going to want a weak link. You’ll be first up tomorrow. You’d better study tonight.”

The last bell rings, and everyone pushes their way out the classroom door. The dance committee has set up a table and is selling anchor and ship-wheel bracelets. The sign reads:HELP US MAKE THE SPRING FLING UNSINKABLE! GET BOTH BRACELETS AND GIVE ONE TO YOUR DATE!The table is swarmed. Excited conversations about costumes and arguments about who gets to be which passenger fill the hallway. It’s strange to me that with more than two thousand people on that ship, everyone wants to be the same ten famous ones. Privileged in life and privileged in death, I guess.

I turn the corner toward my locker. Jaxon’s leaning against it. My stomach twists up into one of those complicated nautical knots that are impossible to undo.

“Hey,” I say, and stop short in front of him.

He looks as uncomfortable as I do. “Ride home?”

I twist the dial on my lock. “Yeah, maybe we—”

“Yo, Jax!” Dillon yells from down the hall. “You coming with me and Blair to Niki’s later?”

Niki and Blair are seriously threatening my last inch of calm.

“Depends,” Jaxon says.

“Yeah, depends on whether you grow a set.” Dillon grabs his pants for emphasis.

Jaxon laughs. “Dude. Really?”

Dillon’s hair is messy, and his backpack is slung over one shoulder. He stops next to Jaxon and grins at me. “Man. Sorry, Sam. I didn’t see you there behind Jax’s fat shoulder.”

I close my locker. Dillon’s a total goofball, but I’ve always liked that about him. What you see is what you get.

I smile. “Don’t apologize to me. Jaxon’s the delicate one here.”

Dillon laughs and punches Jaxon in the arm. “I see why you spend so much time with her.”

Jaxon gives him a warning look. “Seriously, dude. I’m gonna have to insist that you shut up.”

Mischief tugs at the corners of Dillon’s mouth. “Nah, it’s cool. Respect. I’mdefinitelynot gonna say anything about—”