~Ghost Boy~

Chapter 3

Tom slowly nodded awake, rubbing his eyes before sitting up. He'd fallen asleep in the corner he'd set up in last night, everything the way he'd left them. The drawer was still gone, though. He gave one more look around, a part of him hoping to catch another glance at the ghost boy he'd seen last night.

He didn't show up.

After a second, Tom shrugged and unzipped his sleeping bag, standing up. Making sure he had his phone, he made his way out of the room.

A few minutes later he made it to the main floor again. Peeking through a few doorways, Tom finally found the room he was looking for - the kitchen. His grandparents were sitting at the paper. Somehow, his grandpa had managed to find the town's newspaper.

"Want some cereal with no milk?" His grandma hummed, pushing the box of fruit loops towards Tom.

Tom shook his head, instead going over to the cooler on the counter, shuffling around until he'd pulled out an apple. He went over to the table, sitting down next to his Grandpa, taking a bite.

Peering over the top of the newspaper, his Grandpa asked, "What's on your mind? You didn't say anything sarcastic."

"Oh... nothing... just don't want to go to school." Tom said, shrugging before he took a bite of his apple. Actually, he wanted to ask his grandparents about the ghost he'd seen (And pissed off), but he didn't want them to think he was crazy or something.

"Well, we were thinking of going into town to look for some new kitchen appliances, and someone who can install them," his grandma said, shooting his grandpa a look.

"Shush. I didn't know the toaster would do that-!"
"Oh, well that sounds fun. I was wondering if you could just drop me off somewhere in town. I want to see what people like doing in this town," Tom said, soon finishing off his apple and setting the core on the table.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait until school starts-"

"Not really. If I don't make friends before school I'll be alone in this horrible town." Tom said, leaning back in his chair, looking between his grandparents.

"Well if you really want to. We're leaving in about an hour so you can do whatever." his grandpa hummed.

~A while later~

"Just text us if you want to go home," His grandma called as they drove away.

Tom waved for a few seconds before turning to face the skate park they'd dropped him off at. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he took in his surroundings. There were a few small jumps, and railings that were quite close to the ground. He was never really much of a skateboarder, so he didn't know what the railings were for but whateveR-

There was a group of girls, giggling as they pointed at a group of boys of the same quantity.

Tom would obviously be staying away from them.

But two boys caught his 'eye.'

They were sitting on the top of one of the ramps. One of the boys was holding what seemed to be a sketchbook, tongue poking out as he drew something. He had brown hair, a bit sticking up at the back, and his food dangled off the edge of the ramp.

The boy next to him was peeking over his shoulder, watching the other boy draw. He had ginger hair that stuck up randomly, like he tried to make it look nice but he spent too much time in the wind.

Tom took a deep breath before walking forwards, up to the ramp. He stood there, looking up at them for a moment, not knowing what to say.

The ginger noticed him first. Now that he was closer, he could see the million freckles that covered his face. He had light blue eyes that seemed to sparkle.

"Hi! Uhm- just a question, why are you staring at us?" He asked with a bit of a nervous smile.

The brunette looked up also, the ginger's question catching his attention. He looked down at Tom, his brown eyes shining with curiosity.

"I-I wasn't staring at you I w-was just coming over to sAY-" He suddenly blushed from his voice crack, clearing his throat quickly, getting prepared to run away.

The guy with the brown hair gave a small laugh, then said with a bright smile, "I haven't seen you before, are you the guy that just moved here?"

"Uh- yeah. How did you know?" Tom questioned, grabbing his elbow in his opposite hand, frowning slightly.

"I saw the moving van yesterday," the guy said, giving another chuckle before putting his feet together and sliding down the ramp. The ginger followed after him.

"I'm Edd, by the way, and that's Matt," Edd said, pointing at Matt with his thumb.

"Uh.. I'm Tom," he said, scratching the back of his neck before looking back towards the two.

"What happened to your eyes?" The ginger blurted out, and a stony feeling ran through Tom. Of course. They wanted to know about his eyes.

"Nothing. I was born like that," he said in a monotone.

"Matt-! You can't just ask that-!" Edd said, turning to scowl at Matt, who gave a small gulp.

"I'm sorry..." he murmured, looking down.

"It's okay I guess..." he said, shrugging lightly. At least they didn't start calling him names or something, "Curiosity is only natural."

Matt nodded slightly, and Edd turned around again with a bit of an exasperated look on his face, "I'm so sorry. Can we just pretend that didn't happen?"

Tom shrugged, "Sure I guess. So... are we friends now?"

Edd nodded, a smile spreading across his face, "If you don't hate us, then of course we're friends!"

Tom found he was also starting to smile.