The One That Got Away || Benny Weir

35

"Dude, I was this close to conjuring an invisible sandwich," Benny says to Ethan, as he and Reagan enter his bedroom. "What could be so urgent that--" Benny stops himself as Ethan held out a piece of paper.

His learner's permit.

"You got your permit," Reagan says. "This is definitely way more important than Benny's Invisi-BLT."

"That's right." Ethan nods. "I'm allowed to drive. As long as there's a licensed driver in the car with me."

"Need a babysitter for the car too?" Benny chuckles. "Lame," Ethan smirks at him until he remembers. "And your babysitter's a hot Sarah. With a driver's license. Less lame."

"Well, awesome people don't like to brag, Benny. Awesome people, like me." Ethan grins.

"All right, Mr. Awesome. Do you have a car?" Reagan questions, holding up her own set of car keys. "No, I do not."

"Leave that to Benny," Benny says before snapping his fingers, a few pink sparks from his fingertips. "Ah, worth a shot. Plan B."

*

The three best friends made their way to the nearest yard sale on Ethan's street. There was an old car that was torn up for sale.

"Seriously? This piece of junk?" Ethan asks.

"Well, it's within your price range: zero to zilch," Benny says. As they looked at the car, the boy who was running the yard sale noticed them and went over.

"Hey, seventy-five dollars, and it's yours."

"Hey, Malcolm." Ethan greets, while Reagan and Benny wave at him.

The boy, Malcolm, looks at Reagan and smiles at her. "Hey, beautiful. I don't think we've met before." Reagan awkwardly smiles as Benny wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her to his side. Malcolm looks between the two and clears his throat.

"My grandpa left me all his favorite things in his will. So I'm selling them." Malcolm explains, and Ethan asks if the guy in the photo on the windshield was his grandpa.

"Family heirlooms. Yeah, and we will totally buy something you think is worthless and resell it for more." Benny tells him. "And I'm sorry for your loss."

"Yeah, sorry." Ethan awkwardly says as he puts his photo frame down. "I'm only interested in the car. Does it run?"

"Maybe if you get the squirrel's nest out of the engine." Malcolm walks off to sell more stuff and Ethan hops into the driver's seat. When he grabbed the wheel, his eyes glowed white as he received a vision. The car's engine starts.

"Hey, it runs!" Benny cheers.

"So do I!"

Ethan runs back to his house, and Reagan and Benny follow him confused.

*

"There's no way I'm buying that car," Ethan tells his best friends as they walk through the front door to his house. "When I touched it, I had a vision. There was a ghost in the backseat."

"Ooh, backseat driver from beyond the grave!" Benny says. "Bonus."

"Not a bonus. Not buying that car." Ethan repeats.

"Oh, come on." Reagan sighs. "We've gotten rid of a ghost before. Remember Coach Ed? We've gotten rid of him, and we can do the same with this ghost. Besides, you need a new car to impress Sarah with."

"I bet the ghoul in the car is probably not even evil," Benny tells him. "Oh, right. So it's one of those happy ghouls. Likes to stick his head out of the window like a ghost dog."