A horde of hungry students filed into the dining hall. After a long afternoon spent in town, many of them were eager for lunch, while some took seats on their benches, chatting merrily to one another.
For most of them, Saturday meant going to town even if you had no money, so long as you could get away from the hostel for a few hours.
But not every student had this privilege.
Lukas Smith sat alone at the centre table, while the hall filled up with students. There was space for five more people to join Lukas's table, but everyone went past it as though it were part of thin air.
It was a common rumour around the hostel, and at school, that Lukas Smith was insane and as a result, most students took up to calling him 'Loony Lulu', 'Cracked-up Smith', or most commonly, 'Lu-cray'.
And yet, they were all not aware that something sinister was happening right under their noses. Something only Lukas could see. Ava Brown's ghost loomed among the hundreds of oblivious students who were waiting in line for food. Her auburn hair was dripping with water, strands of it glued to her bloodless face, and she was shivering under an equally drenched tunic; her shadowy eyes were staring at him with malice.
Not willing to draw the slightest attention to himself, he ignored the ghost and took an unhungry bite from his steak and kidney pie. He wasn't going to give her the pleasure of feeding on his guilt. Not today.
And then, slowly, the laughter, the buzz of conversations around the hall, and the clattering of plates died away, followed by an eerie silence that consumed the dining hall. It took a few moments for Lukas to register what was happening. When he looked up from his plate, however, his bowels hardened to stone. Ava was sitting in front of him, staring at him unblinkingly. "No. You're not real." Lukas said, shutting his eyes, "You... you died. I saw."
"Wha-- What do you mean?" Ava was gone. Replacing her where she sat, his bushy eyebrows drawn together in a frown, was Duke.
Lukas blinked and looked around the dining hall at large.
A dark haired girl, a table away from them, was buried in a book -- her eyes half-closed, indignant yells were issuing from a number of students who were still standing in line for food, for there was a sudden outbreak of pushing and shoving, and others had grouped into cliques. No one saw him acting out but Duke.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Fine." Lukas took another reluctant bite from his pie while avoiding Duke's studying gaze.
"You're sure?"
Lukas nodded.
"Alright. If you say so." Duke was showing no signs of wanting to leave.
"I'm guessing you got my text yesterday."
Lukas nodded.
"Alright. Tell me what you thought."
"I'm still thinking about it."
"There was nothing to think about on that text."
Lukas took a big chunk from his pie, which was beginning to taste like mud on his tongue.
Duke crossed his meaty arms and observed him closely. "Tell me where you were the time we were celebrating Gracie's birthday."
"When was that?"
"You'd know, if you read the text."
"Got caught up, I guess."
"Good. Then must apologise to Gracie in person for leaving her to entertain her false hopes of your return."
Lukas stole a glance at Duke's table and caught Gracie's eyes, who hastily looked away towards her food, her face turning scarlet. Others around her, however, were much more successful in controlling the urge to look in his direction. Instead, they were buried in deep conversation which, without a doubt, concerned him.
"Still can't bring myself to believe you left her. Considering all those years you've wasted with each oth --"
"So you talk about me, then."
"Sometimes. If she frets on how thin you're becoming, which is almost every day." Duke said, watching him.
"What do you want?"
"Tell me where you were during Gracie's birthday. It was after the roll call, and you were nowhere to be found in your dorm room. I che--"
"Maybe I was hiding under my bed. You never know." Lukas said in a carefully controlled tone.
"I'm not taking shots at you. Relax."
"I am relaxed." Lukas hid his hands from Duke's view, which were clenched and twitching uncontrollably.
"Come. Join the rest of us at my table. Just to talk properly..."
"No I'm good."
Duke maintained eye contact with Lukas, before he bid him goodbye and left.
It was at that point when Lukas realized what he'd done. One of the few of St. Stefan's High who still spoke to him like a normal person has walked away.
Lukas closed his eyes, nodding compulsively when he realized that he'd almost confided to Duke about what's been torturing him for the past year. Something even Gracie, his childhood friend did not know.
Lukas imagined himself telling Gracie that he'd killed her sister and that her ghost had come back from the dead for revenge.
He couldn't bring himself to imagine her reaction.
