School Spirits | I Don't Do Friends

26- The Poltergeist

Mina was speaking again after a few days. Not much, but enough for Caroline to understand that she knew. She just hasn't brought it up.

But she had broken her loop. They were walking outside, it was a nice fall afternoon and the wind was gentle and cool.

"I just- I don't know." She'd been trying to speak to her for a while. Mina just couldn't find the words. Her head hurt.

"It's okay. There's no rush we got forever." Caroline walked beside her. She never thought she'd take the roll of "a shoulder to cry on" she was never good at it. But she can sympathize with just about anyone, so it wasn't that hard.

"That kid could've been me." She spoke. She stared at the concrete ahead of her.

Caroline waited to speak. She'd never talked to someone who'd broken out of a loop before. She was finally beginning to understand who her friend even was.

"Yeah, but he wasn't." She signed. If only she'd tackled Mina out of the way in 87'. She could've. She was just in awe and horror like the rest of the crowd.

"Because of you. I'm, realizing things still and I don't really get it. But I know that doing that was weird." She finally looked at her.

Mina used her first ounce of critical thinking in 40 years to point her out. Pick her apart.

"Yeah this one kids a little obsessed with the disturbances I cause. He calls me a "poltergeist" like a ghost that moves shit. I guess if there's a name for it I'm not all alone? I don't know it doesn't really matter." She shrugged, Mina deserved a little honesty after all these years.

"It does though, you like saved someone's life. You could change things."

"How? As far as the living's concerned I'm a draft."

"That stage light was inspected a week ago. It should've malfunctioned like that. The school definitely doesn't care about the students. You can make them." Minas voice went low. A twinge of vengeance caught in her teeth.

Now she was speaking Caroline's language.

She did a little research on poltergeists. They're thought to be spirits that use strong emotions as energy to move things, slam doors, and even hurt people. Checks out with her. Some believe they're trying to communicate, others think they're vengeful, most think they're a hoax.

Well she's definitely real enough. And she is a little vengeful. Now she just had to decide how to get the schools attention. Something that they could've ignore or blame on the wind.

She had to enter the library to study on all this stuff. She didn't like it but seeing her mothers name on the plate outside wasn't as hard as it used to be. She heard the door creek open.

Wally stood there in the doorway. His shoulders hung low.

"Um... hey." He shuffled his feet.

"Hey, I um.... Sorry about the other day. I'm just a little protective of Mina is all. I didn't mean to yell."

She's tried to stay neutral with Wally since the whole thing a few years ago. Sometimes she couldn't help but get mad at him still.

"I get it. How is she?" He took a few steps into the room. She was sitting at a table with a bunch of ghost books and newspapers.

"She's better. She knows now at least." She told him. It was true. One of the first truths she's told him in a while.

"Good."

"Yep." She popped the 'P'. He wasn't leaving but he didn't say anything for a minute either.

"So, what are you doing?" He picked at his nails. She could tell he felt weird about talking to her again. She felt the same.

"Well, Maddie said this one student's been learning about me. You know, the doors slamming, the missing stuff. Apparently I'm a Poltergeist." She said. She left out the bit with vengeance.

"Oh like the movie! We watched it in group a while ago. Made fun of it." He gingerly sat down across from her.

"Yeah, well. Based on what I'm reading they're real. I check every box, seriously look." She turned the book around to show him a passage. He read for a moment.

"Holy shit, this is definitely you."

"Yeah and there's a name for it, so there's others I guess. But it says here they're tied to a location like usual. I haven't figured out why I'm different yet." She flipped open another book.

It doesn't help that the majority of the population thinks ghosts are fake. There really aren't any conclusive opinions on them.

"Are you okay, like... with everything?" He'd been wanting to ask that question for a while. It was more like "are we okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'll always be mad... not at you, just.... In general. I'm working on it." She admitted. She didn't want it to be weird anymore. She never really did. But she couldn't understand his trust in the group.

"You know, Janet crossed over." He told her. He knew that she was thinking.

"What?" She didn't like the feeling she got hearing that. Something felt off.

"Yeah, the other day."

"The same day Maddie died?" She asked, it felt like the right question to ask.

He rolled his eyes. She was always looking for a conspiracy. If she couldn't trust Mr. M she could at least try being indifferent.

"What? It's a good question." She looked up from the book.

"Why can't you just be happy for her. No one really knew her but she crossed over. That's a good thing, right? It's hope."

"It's just I feel like we would've known, like when my dad crossed over, the walls shook, the lights flashed. It's weird I had no idea is all." She shrugged. Anymore of her thoughts on the subject should be kept to herself for now.

"Yeah I guess."