Phantom of the Apartment

Stolen Cereal and Another Q&A

Rebecca didn't appear again after she got the wifi password. Jason tried everything. He repeated every step exactly as he had the first time, but the ghost was a no-show. Apparently none of the steps he had taken actually summoned ghosts. She had just decided to appear because she thought his joke was funny. At least she no longer tormented him with pranks and mischief. Though, it was pretty awkward knowing that there was someone in your apartment you couldn't see. Jason constantly wondered if she was watching him. He still went about his routine and made two cups of coffee, but now he also got her a bowl of cereal. Jason made no further attempts at communication, however, until that weekend.

That Saturday morning, as Jason stumbled around the kitchen in his flannel pajamas and bunny slippers he discovered that the cereal box was missing. He searched everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found. He looked to the table and saw an empty bowl on the table. Well, I can guess where the cereal went.

"Hey! Gho- Rebecca? Did you take the cereal box?" There was no answer. "I was gonna get you some, but I can't find it. Did you move it?"

"Sorry," called a voice from behind him. "There's none left."

Jason whirled around in shock. He hadn't actually expected her to respond. And yet, there she was. Rebecca looked almost the same as before. Except hair was down today and, instead of a hoodie, today she wore a Star Wars tee shirt.

"You ran out of cereal. I meant to save some for you, but you know how it is." She shrugged. Then she raised an eyebrow. "Don't you need to get ready for work?"

"N-no. It's Saturday."

"Oh, good! I was worried you were leaving like that!" She laughed. "That would have been hilarious."

Jason frowned. "What's wrong with how I look?"

"Well," Rebecca smirked, "you're hair looks like it could be a house for birds and you're wearing bunny slippers."

"Excuse me if i don't take fashion advice from someone who was been dead for who knows how long!"

"Two years. Besides, I don't have to be a fashion expert to see that you look like a zombie wearing pajamas. You look like you haven't slept well in days."

"Well," Jason growled, growing increasingly irritated, "that's probably because I haven't! Having a haunted house isn't exactly good for sleep."

"Well, excuse me for living in my apartment! Look," she sighed and pressed her hand to her forehead. "Just meet me in the living room when you're ready to talk. We need to figure out how we're gonna make this work." And she disappeared.

Jason groaned. Why won't she just leave? He decided to wait a while before meeting her. He sat down scowled, deciding that since she hadn't talked in days, he wouldn't respond. However, after a moment he heard the television click on in the other room. He realized that she really didn't care how long he made her wait. She probably won't notice the difference whether I go over there in one minute or ten. He sighed, then he stood up and walked over to the couch where Rebecca was laying across.

"Nice of you to join me. Sit down."

Jason didn't sit down. Instead, he tapped his foot impatiently and raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, Rebecca?"

"Look." She sat up. "Whether you like it or not, we are roommates. I'm not going away anytime soon. The way I see it is that if we actually talk, this will be a lot less awkward. So right now you have two options. You can leave now and we can continue to wander this apartment as strangers, or you can sit down now and stop being so stubborn so we can talk this out like functioning adults. So what's it gonna be, Jason?"