Her gift teaser.

Chapter 4.

Chapter 4.

After the busy day with Mia, Allison was finally getting ready to go to bed. As the girl brushed her teeth, she giggled upon remembering how scared she and her friend were of the snake. It was a funny scene that neither of them would forget anytime soon. Now, with clean teeth and a smiling face, Allison headed to bed.
As she left the bathroom, the girl flipped the light switch off. The light flipped itself back on. This was something that usually didn't happen, but since Allison had such a busy day, she chose to ignore it. The girl flipped the switch off once more before heading to bed. Allison slept like a rock, not even tossing or turning. Unfortunately, this serene slumber would soon be interrupted. At 3 a.m., Allison was awoken by a strange sound.
As she opened her eyes, she saw her TV randomly flipping through the channels. The girl thought that maybe she was laying on her remote. Upon further inspection, however, it was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, the channel flipping resumed, so she decided to get out of bed and get a closer look. The medium closely checked her TV, but nothing seemed to be wrong. She turned it off and went back to bed. As she was walking back to her bed, she saw something terrifying.
Her TV remote was levitating in the air, still flipping through the channels.
"Huh? What the-?" The girl cried. Now understandably, the girl was pretty freaked out. Since she was a medium though, dealing with the paranormal was something she was used to. So, after quickly shaking back, the girl angrily called out to the uninvited visitor.
"Show yourself . . . now!" She yelled. Upon saying this, a peculiar laughter filled the room. It wasn't scary or demonic, but instead sounded like a child's laugh. Seconds later out of nowhere, the apparition of a young girl manifested over her bed.
"Heh,heh,heh! I knew you could see me," the ghost girl spoke. "I just knew it!"
The girl in Allison's room had long blonde hair that went all the way down her back. She was dressed in a frilly pink dress, looking like it was from a different time. She looked like a cute little doll you would put on your mantle. Allison didn't care about any of this though. In fact, the only thing that was bothering her was the ghost being there in the first place.
"Wha-what are you doing in my room?" Allison huffed.
The ghost gave her an innocent smile and replied, "I'm here cause you can see me. And since you can . . . I wanna be friends. So, let's play together!" the girl cheered.
Allison gave her a mean look and quickly shot her down.
"Um, I don't think so. I don't make it a habit to be friends with you guys," Allison griped.
"Now, that's not very nice. I think we could be great chums." the girl smiled.
"I said I'm fine. Now, if you don't need anything from me, you need to go."
Instead of listening, the ghost girl floated right up to her and extended her hand. "Heh, my name's Maria . . . I think we'll be great friends."
"Wha-are you deaf or something?" Allison spoke.
"Nope, I just want to be your friend."
At this point, Allison didn't know what else she could say. She figured she would just go back to bed.
"Whatever, I've got to go to sleep. You need to leave . . . I can't hang out with you," the medium exclaimed.
Once she was back in bed, she covered her head up, hoping that if she ignored this new problem, it would just go away. Eventually she was able to fall asleep. Meanwhile, the young Maria stayed by her side. It seemed the attitude she gave didn't even register to the girl.
The next morning when Allison awoke, she began to look around. She didn't see the young girl anywhere in her room. Thinking the ghost had gotten the hint, the medium breathed a sigh of relief. We then see her get out of bed and have a nice morning stretch. This would soon be interrupted, however, by a strange noise coming from her closet. Upon inspection, she would find the spirit inside, digging through one of her old toy boxes.
"Wow, you have so much cool stuff." Maria chuckled.
"Are you kidding me? You're still here?" Allison spoke.
"Yeah, I told you I wanted to be friends. What should we play?" the girl smiled.
Allison slammed the closet door in her face and began to get ready for school. This situation was so annoying to her that she quickly rushed through the morning routine. She didn't even bother to grab a snack or anything. She figured Mia would have something for her anyways. Once she was dressed, the girl locked up and made her way to school. Meanwhile, we see the innocent Maria begin to trail behind Allison.
"Where ya going?" she asked.
"To school, a place where ghosts shouldn't go."
"Well, it's not like I've got anything else to do, I can go to school with you." she smiled.
"I didn't ask you to come with me. You really need to go away," Allison commanded.
Instead, the young girl continued to float behind her. At one point, the child got a little bored and decided to try something. She grabbed Allison's backpack off her shoulders and began to float away with it.
"H-hey!" Allison cried. "Give that back!"
"Ha,ha! Catch me if you can!"
We then see the teenage medium chase after the playful spirit. The rest of the world, however, saw a girl chasing a floating backpack.
Knowing this looked strange, Allison was trying her best to catch up to Maria. Unfortunately, the spirit was very fast and never ran out of stamina.
"Ugh, come back here now!" Allison demanded. "People will freak out if they see us!"
"Ha,ha, nope . . . ya gotta catch me."
At this point, Allison knew this wasn't going to end, so she had to get creative. The medium stopped in her tracks and with a stern voice exclaimed, "If you don't give that back right now, I'll never be your friend."
Maria froze and then she floated over to Allison with a sad look.
"I . . . I was just trying to play. Please don't be mad. Here," she said, handing the backpack over.
Allison was honestly surprised this worked, but happy that it went her way.
"Thanks. You need to listen when I tell you things next time."
Allison resumed her walk like normal, but Maria blocked her path. "Pl-please forgive me, I don't wanna lose my friend," the girl cried.
"Um, I hate to burst your bubble . . . but we're not."
Before she could finish however, Allison noticed something.
The ghost girl had a truly worried expression on her face. She seemed genuinely sad that Allison threatened this non-existent friendship. In fact, seeing this made the medium feel a bit . . . bad. While she may have been an annoying ghost, this was just a child. One that probably didn't live a long life. So, in a moment of weakness, Allison took pity on her.
"Look, it's okay. I just wasn't in the mood to play right now."
"Well . . . can we later?" the spirit asked.
"Uh sure. Just . . . not while I'm in public."
Maria thought for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "Okay, I promise to be good. But in return, I want to play later."
"That's fine." Maria then extended her pinky finger, wanting Allison to make a promise with her.
Reluctantly, the living girl obliged the spirit. Right in the middle of their agreement, however, Allison heard a voice.
"What are you doing Allison?"
The girl turned around to see Mia standing behind her with a confused look. Now, you could say this was an awkward situation since the medium was standing in the middle of the street with her pinky in the air. She had to come up with an excuse for this quickly.
"Um, I'm trying out a new viral trend."
"Yeah, I haven't heard of it." Mia replied.
"Well, it's new . . . like brand new," Allison persisted.
"Well, I doubt it'll last long. You look like a total dork right now," Mia said, snapping a quick pic.
"Eeeh! Delete that, delete it now!" Allison cried.
After this misunderstanding was behind them, the two continued their walk to school. Meanwhile, Maria gave Mia a curious gaze. She thought the blonde looked cool, as if she saw a big sister in her. Allison didn't think much of this, and chose to ignore the spirit.
Later that day, Allison was sitting in class with the usual bored look on her face. She began to think about the small girl and how she hadn't seen her all day. With wishful thinking, Allison hoped that she would move on. Things didn't always go the way the medium wanted though.
After class, it was time to have lunch with Mia. Once she arrived at their usual spot, her friend was nowhere to be found. This annoyed Allison, as Mia was supposed to be the one feeding her. The girl waited a few minutes, but over time the hunger started to be too much.
For her tummy's sake, Allison went to look for her friend. She went to the usual spots she would find Mia, like the girls' bathroom or in the library where it was cool. However, the girl was nowhere to be found, forcing Allison to find food elsewhere. The medium took a few dollars and went to a vending machine for a snack cake. The school's vending machine was upstairs by a big set of windows. The windows overlooked the school yard where everyone hung out on their break. As Allison purchased a snack, she happened to look outside and saw something unbelievable.
In the school yard, with a bunch of younger girls, was Mia . . . jump roping for some reason. Allison couldn't believe what she was seeing as Mia was introverted and lazy. She would never go out and play like a two-year-old. Allison knew she had to get a closer look. We then watch as the teen went outside to confront Mia. It's here we see the usually cool natured girl was playing and socializing with a huge smile on her face.
"Mia, what are you doing?" Allison asked.
The girl then looked at her with a goofy look and smiled. "Um, I'm just hanging out . . ."
"Hanging out, with a bunch of first years?"
"Yeah. . . they're cool." Mia nodded.
Before Allison could get any more info, one of the younger girls interrupted the two.
"Hey Mia, we were about to go eat together in the cafeteria. Wanna come with?"
"Of course, that sounds awesome!" Mia jumped up.
As Allison watched the girl walk away, she was left feeling extremely confused. Mia was not acting herself. In fact, she was like a completely different person. Allison had to get to the bottom of this and quickly. The medium quietly followed behind the group of girls to keep an eye on Mia.
Once they arrived at the cafeteria, the group of girls stood in line waiting for their food. Meanwhile, Allison sat far away enough where they wouldn't notice her. Lunch today was hot dogs and Frito pie. Allison and Mia both hated chili and found it completely disgusting. The two also didn't eat school food and instead brought their own. That's why what Allison was about to see completely threw her for a loop. She watched Mia pick up her hot dog and take a huge bite out of it.
"Mmmmmm, this is so delicious," the girl cheered.
Seeing this confirmed Allison's worries. Something was wrong with her friend. But what was it? Minutes passed and Mia had cleaned her whole plate. Allison even saw her share food with some of the other girls. Soon after this, the bell rang for classes to resume. Now Allison's chance to keep an eye on the girl was gone. For the rest of the day, she had to hypothesize as to what was happening. Unfortunately, nothing but blanks came up.
Finally, after a lot of worrying, school ended and Allison went to find her. It was here that the medium saw Mia walking home with the group of younger girls. Her childhood friend was happy and bouncing around like a giddy little kid. Allison followed along quietly for a little bit, until eventually the group of girls went their separate ways. Now Mia was all alone, and Allison once again decided to confront her.
"Hey," she called out.
"Oh, hi Allie. What's up?"
Instead of giving a friendly reply, the medium gave a mean look and spoke, "Who are you?"
"Wha-whaddya mean?"
"I've been watching you all day and you're not Mia".
The girl's face filled with a blush and she looked to the ground. "What are you talking about? I'm your bestest friend ever . . . Mia."
Hearing this upbeat reply tore it, Allison got even angrier. "See there . . . Mia would never say something like that. You're not her."
Now, as if mentally backed into a corner, Mia ran from Allison.
"He-hey get back here!" We then watch as Allison began to chase her old friend. Mia had always been fast, so Allison didn't have an easy time keeping up. Fortunately, neither girls ever worked out much, so Mia quickly ran out of stamina.
Now with a confused face, the girl started to cough and wheeze. "Huff . . . puff . . . what the . . . why can't I . . ."
Before she could finish her sentence, Allison grabbed her by the shoulder. "Heh, yeah . . . we're not much for the whole exercise thing," the girl panted. "Now tell me who you are!"
Allison watched as Mia's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed on the ground. We then see a small spirit rise from Mia's unconscious body. As it took form, Allison was shocked by who she saw.
"Maria!"
"Yeah, it's me," the small girl confessed.
"Wait . . . so you were possessing Mia?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Maria bowed her head and explained herself. "I knew I couldn't take over you, so I figured I would borrow your friend's body and enjoy myself. I never got to be a teenager, so I figured it would've been fun. I'm really sorry. I hope you're not mad," Maria spoke.
Upon hearing this, Allison was understandably mad. At the same time, however, she took pity on the girl. It must've been tough dying at such a young age and never truly experiencing life. Instead of getting angry, Allison decided to shrug this one off.
"It's okay, Maria. You've probably been through a lot. Just don't possess anyone again, especially Mia."
"Yes, ma'am." the girl pouted.
While the two made up, Mia was still unconscious on the ground.
"I tell you what," Allison spoke. "Why don't I carry Mia home, then we'll go to my house and play."
Upon hearing this offer, Maria flew high into the air and cheered. "Yay, that sounds fun!"