Call Me Ghost ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Four

Telling Liss about what Brody did to me is almost freeing, in a way.

By no means is it closure, but the fact that I could actually admit it, and come out of it feeling stronger, is such a huge step. Maybe I'm not as weak as I thought. Maybe I am healing.

I want to tell Ghost about it. I want to see the proud look on his face when I tell him that I can face my demons, instead of hiding them deep like I normally do. I want to tell him he was right about Brody and apologize for not seeing it sooner. I want to thank him for trying to help me.

But then I remind myself that he's not in my life anymore, and he probably doesn't even care.

It's the first day of my week-long break from school, and as much as I would like to just stay curled up in bed, I'm trying to move on with my life. I'm trying to find joy again, so when Annie invites me to a beach party that apparently everyone will be at, I decide to go.

I guess it's a pretty big event for the people at school. The beach is about an hour away from the dorms and campus, and to kick-off the midterm break, there's always a huge party thrown.

According to Annie, though, it doesn't really pick up until sundown, so most of our day is spent relaxing, getting ready, and pregaming at the dorm.

Well, she pregames, I don't, seeing as one of us needs to be able to actually drive to the beach.

But it's still fun. Annie has music blasting from her small Bluetooth speaker as we are both crowded in front of the bathroom mirror, applying make-up and doing our hair.

"Your hair is so gorgeous." She sighs exasperatedly beside me, "I wish I had natural curls."

I flash her an appreciative smile, "Thank you, but your hair is gorgeous, too."

She passes me a mischievous smile in the mirror and remarks, "We both look super hot. We better be scoring some guys tonight."

I let out a weak laugh as I twist my tube of mascara closed and mutter, "I don't know, maybe."

"C'mon, it's been like a month since you and Brody split. You deserve some action. It will help you move on."

My smile falters a bit. I still haven't told Annie the whole story behind what happened with Brody and Ghost. I want to confide in her, but I guess I'm just not quite used to being able to talk to a friend about stuff like this.

I would tell her now, but I don't want to bring down the mood. Plus she's buzzed right now, so who knows what she'll even be able to retain at the moment.

"Maybe." I appease her, "If I see someone cute, I'll consider it."

"Oh, believe me, there will be plenty of cute to go around." She laughs before swiping her cup off the counter and downing the rest of her drink in one quick gulp. She sighs and tosses the cup to the side before wrapping her arm around my shoulder and shouting enthusiastically, "Let's do this!"

An hour later we're rolling up to the beach, scouring one of the many public parking lots for a spot. It's already packed, even though the sun has barely started to set. Down at the shore I can see multiple bonfires already ablaze, and hear the music and laughter freely flowing.

We park and quickly exit the car. Annie grabs the two bottles of rum that we brought to drink, while I grab our towels. We walk down the beach towards the large crowd of people, my sandals sinking into the soft sand.

Even though it's barely spring-time, and the sun is setting, it's still plenty warm. I don't feel the slightest chill, even dressed in cotton shorts and a tank top. Annie had wanted to wear bathing suits beneath our clothes in case there's some impromptu swimming tonight, but I vetoed it. Even though the weather is warm, the water is still far too cold.