Haunted Love | Mat Nicholls

eight

Lee shifted his heavy backpack, his ghost equipment and notebooks clattering against each other. He sighed and looked at the practically empty gas station on Yorkshire Street. It was almost 10 and the two boys who Lee still didn't know the names of hadn't shown up yet. The wind blew softly against his hair and he huffed, fixing his fringe. He considered just leaving, finding their request and actions oddly creepy. He had also noticed that the color from the young boys' faces drained when mentioned Mitch, the classmate he had tried to punch. Finding out that he had supposed murdered someone made sense to Lee, he found it kind of believable. He wondered what the fuck the two boys wanted from him and where they were going to take him. Lee got snapped out of his thoughts as he heard a pair of voices boom from the bottom of the street, coming towards him. He stuffed his hands in his jean pockets and looked at the boys coming his way, his chest growing slightly nervous.

"Yo, Lee!" Mat shouted, waving and disrupting the silence on the street.

Lee reluctantly waved back with an awkward smile. Oli and Mat caught up with Lee and they immediately told him to follow them, not providing any further background. Oli and Mat took off quickly and it took Lee a moment to realize they were leaving and to catch up with them. Lee was chubbier than the lanky pair, making it kind of hard to keep up with the two boys.

"Guys, where are we going?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

Oli didn't even bother to turn around, "To this house. We only have a five minute walk, come on."

Lee furrowed his eyebrows at the vague responses, "Can you guys tell me what the fuck I'm here for? If not, I'm just gonna leave," Lee felt frustrated and got a sudden boost of confidence, standing up for himself.

Oli and Mat halted in their tracks and turned around to look at the boy that was dragging behind them.

Oli huffed and put his hair behind his ears, "Listen, you said you know some shit about ghosts, right?"

Lee switched his gaze between the two boys before sighing for what seemed like the millionth time, "Yeah."

"Have you got some sort of equipment?" Mat questioned, making Lee nod in response.

"Well then, you'll be a good help," Oli nodded.

"We've got a ghost friend and we need your help, okay?" Mat just blurted it out, taking Lee aback.

"What the fuck are you on about?" Lee asked but the two boys didn't bother acknowledging his question, instead turning around and leading the way.

Lee rolled his eyes, "Fuck's sake," he whispered under his breath and continued to follow the two boys, cursing himself for even continuing.

•

"Nino!" Nino heard the familiar voice of the boy she couldn't get out of her mind and she felt her lips twitch up, immediately floating towards the front patio of the house. She knew she said she would ignore them, but that didn't mean she couldn't just observe them as they spent time here. She felt her heart tug a bit at the idea but knew she had to get rid of those painful feelings.

"This place gives me the creeps, guys," Nino heard an unfamiliar voice say, making her eyebrow raise and her heart quicken pace.

Her two friends emerged from the forest line, another person that Nino didn't recognize trailing behind them. She felt nerves build up in her chest, she didn't want any other people here. All the previous joy that she felt from seeing her friends disappeared at an instant as soon as this boy entered her vision.

"Nino, where are you?" Oli shouted, squinting his eyes.

He was confused, surely Nino would have shown herself by now.