Ghost || Michael Clifford

chapter one

       Maleah's POV

       My life has always been plain and boring. It's always the same, go to school, go home, play my Xbox, go to sleep, and repeat. That was until I met Michael Clifford.

       It was on my birthday when I finally turned sixteen, it was a bad birthday. My family didn't do anything but fight, we were all just falling apart. I stayed in my room crying that day.

       That's when I heard a voice, "Don't cry" I looked up and saw through my ready eyes a boy with red hair. "Who are you and what are you doing in my room!" I yelled pushing myself away from him in fear. He came closer to me, my back now fully against the wall. "Don't be scared, it's okay" he says in a whisper which didn't help at all, it made my fear increase. He sat down on my bed besides me and pulled me into his chest, which was successful for him because he was stronger than me. The more I'd pull away the closer he'd pull me to him.

I heard my door open and I quickly pulled away. Shit. "Hey honey, we're sorry we didn't really give you such a great sixteenth birthday, we'll go out tomorrow and I promise it'll be much better" she says ignoring the boy next to me. "You shouldn't be in your room alone though, go hang out with your friends" she adds before leaving causing me to be even more scared.

I quickly looked at Michael, my fear connecting with his eyes. "How come she couldn't see you" I asked in a hushed voice. "May I introduce myself" he says with a smirk. "I'm Michael Clifford, a ghost" He says making me push him away. "Get out!" I yelled. "Sorry, no can do" Michael says with a smile. "You see, I may be a ghost but I'm also your guardian" Michael says while he started walking around my room going through my CDs. "I don't believe that" I mumbled crossing my arms over my chest. "Believe it babe, because it's true" Michael says pulling out a CD. "Put that down" I mumbled walking over to him and grabbing the beautiful CD out of his hands. "You like Finger Eleven?" He asked. "I love them but we're not talking about them right now, how come I can see you now? Like out of all the times I could have seen you, why now?" I asked putting the CD back. "I only come when you want or need me to" he says looking at me. "I don't need you know but you're here" I reply staring into his eyes in confusion. "Just because you say you don't need someone, doesn't mean you're telling the truth" Michael says before looking away from me. I sighed sitting on my bed and running a hand through my hair. "I still don't understand why now?" I asked. "You've never really been upset like this and that's why I'm here now. I'm here to cheer you up and protect you. That's my job" Michael says turning around to face me. "Then shouldn't you be cheering me up right now instead of roaming through my CDs" I say with a smirk making him smirk back. "I mean technically I don't have to cheer you up, I just have to be here and make sure you don't do anything stupid" Michael says before sitting besides me on the bed.

We just sat there for awhile until he finally spoke, "So are you feeling better" I could tell he wasn't very used to cheering people up which caused me to let out a soft laugh. "No not really" I said looking at my lap. "I'm just confused, why can't my family get along? They used to be perfectly fine and now there's not one day they're happy" I mumble. Michael looked over at me with sympathy. "I may be dead but I can remember things like my family, they fought all the time, but they were never happy. It came to the point where my dad hurt my mum physically" Michael mumbled and he looked up at me. "They ended up being happy though, so never ever give up. Not like I did" He adds looking down at his lap. I gave him a confused look. "Did you... Kill yourself?" I asked and he looked into my eyes with tears which tore me to pieces. "Y-yeah" his voice cracked as he spoke.

My body took control of me and I felt my arms wrap around the dead boy and his arms wrapped around me.

"What happens when I don't want or need you? Where do you go?" I asked but he stayed silent. "Michael?" I asked and he looked down at his lap. "I go back to hell" he says making my heart stop. "W-what why? Why hell why not heaven?" I asked trying to look into his eyes. "Well you see life is a game. If you win it you go to heaven. If you lose it you go to hell. I killed myself which made me lose so I went to hell" he says, still not looking at me. We stayed silent again.

I laid down and yawned which caught Michaels attention. He had fear in his eyes and I knew exactly why. He didn't want to go back to hell, I didn't want him to go back either. "I want you to stay" I say causing relief to wash over his face. I patted the empty space besides me and he laid down. "Is there anyway I can help you escape hell?" I asked and he sighed. "I'm not aloud to tell exactly what it is. If I told I'd be there forever" he says looking into my eyes. "But yeah it's something you could help with" and that was the last word he said before we both fell asleep.

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