The Ghost Who Watches Me

chapter 6

Scarlett's P.O.V 

I groan. My body aches and I feel so drained I could fall back to sleep again. Other than the horrible aches and pains coursing through my body, I feel so relaxed. I feel like I just had the best sleep I've ever had. But...oh no! My mum! How could she do that? My eyes shoot open and I gasp for breath. Where is all the blood? Am I dead? Where's the corridor? Where the hell am I?! 

"Morning" he says casually. Phew, it was just a dream, forgot about that. 

"Wha- oh, Luke" my mind clears as I remember how I slept next to Luke last night. I go red again. 

"Why is it that you go red a so much lately?" he chuckles his cute little chuckle "Are you embarrassed?" he smiles and sits up next to me. How can someone so dead be so cute? Wait...did I just call Luke cute? Damn!  He's not cute! Well, he is cute, but not in that way! 

"He is not cute!" 

"What?" he jumps at my sudden outburst, a look of confusion covering his face.

"I mean- shoot!" I jump out of bed and run to the door. Damn, it's locked, I forgot about that. "I-"I turn round my back to the door.  I can feel the fiery redness crawly up my neck and onto my face. Damn why does it have to show up so much on pale people! 

"Scarlett? What's the matter?" he can't help the smile that spreads its way across his face. I physically can't make my mouth move, I'm too embarrassed. "Come on just say what you want to" 

"I-it's nothing, Luke, just leave it!" I'm starting to feel angry, more at myself for my reaction than at Luke and his stupid confidence. His cute confidence. Damn it! 

To take my mind off Luke I decide I should go out. I'm not used to it, but anything is better than being stuck in here all day with him. I calmly walk over to my wardrobe and pick out a black t-shirt, black hoodie, black jeans and my purple trainers. I really need some more clothes; I've had these for years. I try to strip and put on my clothes as quickly as possible. I grab some money from my box and wait.

"I better not turn around to find you staring" I slowly spin my head round to see him sitting on the window sill, the window open. His head is tilted back, eyes are closed and a peaceful smile is on his face. Perfect...OH MY GOD, SCARLETT!

"Don't worry, I'm still sticking to my promise, I won't see anything you don't want me to. Can I look now though?" 

"Yes" he turns round and smiles at me. It is so caring, I smile back. He jumps out and I join him. Once on the ground I begin running to try and get as much distance between us. I don't know why, I guess I don't want him seeing how red I am. Though, my lack of food means I have little energy, damn my diet. My legs start to burn and I am about to collapse when I feel his cold touch around my waist. I turn around.

"Honestly, why can't you just stay still?" he says quietly, like he were talking to a lost animal. "now, are you going to tell me what's going on in that brain of yours?" 

I sigh. "Fine, I think you're cute. Can we leave it there?" I burst out. He doesn't say anything, just smiles. And he stays like that until we get to the shops. I can feel everyone's judging stares on me and Luke but I ignore them. I can't blame them for staring, it's not everyday you see two people as dead looking as us. They must think the dead are walking the streets with them now. Unfortunately for them, half of that is true.

I walk in the first clothes shop I see and walk straight to the guys section. 

"What are you doing?" he questions.

"Finding you some clothes that don't make you look like you just crawled out of a grave" he looks down at his feet. I sigh "sorry, it's just that if you are going to stick around with me in public you might blend in a bit better if you wore new clothes"

I pick out some black jeans, a grey t-shirt and a black hoodie that should all fit him. I think its better he wears something he's used to, plus, I like his casual look. After shoving his new clothes into his arms I walk over to the girls section. I feel so out of place here, I haven't stood in a clothes shop for years. I feel like an alien on another planet. I shouldn't be here. I almost turn round and run out when I see Luke staring at me. 

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking; you don't know what to do"

"Yeah...it's just been a while. This is such a normal thing for girls to do yet I feel so weird doing it"

"Just pick out some clothes then we can leave" 

"Fine" I choose some black jeans with rips in, a purple vest top with a black rose on it and another black hoodie. I finish off with a short black leather jacket and some black ancle boots with small heels. I look around and see all these pretty girls with their friends laughing and picking out outfits that would show as much skin as possible and I think: what would life be like if I did those kinds of things? If my parents didn't do this to me, if I had friends, if I had a boyfriend who cared about me, if I went out and spent all my money on slutty clothes and Starbucks, if I went out to the cinema to watch the biggest film on at the moment, if I was happy. It wouldn't be mine. Yeah, my life is horrible but if I did all those things I wouldn't be me, I would be one of them, the people who have done this to me. 

I pay and keep my eyes on the lady at the desk who keeps eyeing Luke.

"What are you staring at?" he suddenly says, not turning his head to look at her. It startles her and she jumps, I can see her hands shaking as takes the money. 

"N-nothing" she quickly gives me the money and wishes us a shaky good day. 

"Congrats on scaring the shit out of your first human" I say when we get outside. 

"Pfft I didn't scare her, she was just so taken aback by my overwhelming handsomeness" he laughs at his little joke and intertwines his fingers with mine subconsciously. He notices me staring at our hands and squeezes mine gently; I look up to see him smiling. We walk in comfortable silence towards Greggs where I grab a sandwich and a coke. We carry on walking until we get to the park. I lie down on the hill and he joins me, our hands still linked. The sun shines down and all I can think is, this is probably the most perfect and happy moment in my entire life. 

"Why did you stay?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" 

"Why did you carry on watching me, why not move onto someone else? I'm sure there are many people in worse situations than me" I turn my head and I am only a couple inches from him.

"Because...I don't know, something about just makes me feel like I need to. You're special, you're a fighter. After everything, you still carry on; you still fight others for what you care for" 

My mind travels to the picture I drew of Luke, the one that I nearly killed Nicola for. I cared so much for him when I hadn't even met him. There has always been a connection between us and I never even realised. 

My eyes close and I feel Luke's surprisingly soft hair tickle my forehead as he leans closer. I open them; he is staring straight into my eyes in the most caring and loving way anyone has ever looked at me. It is not a look of disgust or of pity, it is of love. I lean closer so I feel our foreheads touch. Nothing could spoil this moment. Nothing.

"Well well well look who climbed out of hell to have a look at the outside world. And it appears you brought a friend too" Damn. Amelia.