The Ghost of Sherman Oaks // Paxton Hall-Yoshida

2.

Chapter 2: S1E2

Thursday, August 9th

School the next day is terribly boring, which is what I expected. That is, until my third period history class. Paxton gives me a bright smile as I sit down next to him in class, which I return happily.

Part of me is surprised Paxton bothered to remember me. I've met him a few times in the past, of course, but always in passing. When I worked with Becca at Old Navy for a few weeks and when I came over for dinner once in the sixth grade. I'm not surprised he didn't remember me before. We run in completely different circles, after all. The only overlap between us is sitting next to each other in class and his sister.

"Alright, class, can anyone tell me seven groups the Nazis wanted to kill?" Mr. Shapiro asks as soon as the bell rings. I raise my hand immediately, though as normal, I go unnoticed by the teacher. Realizing how few people notice me at school, I'm starting to wonder if I really am a ghost. Maybe that's why Mary came up with that name so many years ago.

To be fair, she didn't notice me for months either. I was the boring depressed kid who watched her mother die. That was the only interesting thing about me back then.

"Devi? How about you?" He asks, completely ignoring Ben Gross's hand in the air. He seems to be trying to make trouble between the two, though I can't see why he would be doing that.

"Devi?" He calls again after a second as Devi continues to stare off into space. Slowly, people begin turning to look at her, myself included.

"Devi!" He finally calls louder, making the girl jump. Devi looks up in confusion, seeming a bit dazed. "I asked you a question."

She looks up, her resolve strong again. She clearly wants to do well in the class and answer the man's question.

"Name seven groups the Nazis wanted to exterminate." He says again, making strange hand movements as he goes as if trying to spell it out for the girl. Devi blushes slightly as she thinks it over for a second. The teacher only watches intently from his seat on top of his desk.

"Oh, um... the Jews, the disabled, Freemasons, bench republicans, the queer community, Jehovah's Witnesses, and, um..." She trails off, stumbling for an answer. I want to tell her myself, though I know that would be cheating, so like everyone else in the room, I let her struggle.

"May I, Mr. Shapiro?" Ben interupts her stuttering rudely. The teacher seems delighted, though, by the prospect of having a bit of drama in his classroom.

"Oh, yeah, of course Ben." He says with a small smirk on his face. The only one who doesn't seem to be paying attention to it all is Paxton, who sits straight forward at his desk, writing notes and ignoring the girl who sits right behind him.

"It's the Romani people, Mr. Shapiro." Ben says, folding his hands in front of him and speaking proudly.

"That's right, Ben. Good work."

"It's okay, Devi." Ben taunts rudely. I send him a glare, but he's looking at her and not me, so he doesn't catch it. Paxton, on the other hand, seems to sense my unease and turns to look at me curiously. "I know how hard it is to memorize seven simple facts."

That's when I hear something I wasn't expecting, nor wanting to hear. Devi speaks quietly, almost too quietly to hear, but I pick up on it. Ben does too, based on the look on his face. I know I've paled hearing the words, though I can only imagine the anger on my face.

"Yeah, well, I wish the Nazis would kill you, so..."

"What was that, Devi?" I call out to her, anger clear in my tone. Paxton furrows his brows in confusion, finally turning to look at the girl behind him.