Saving Marley

Chapter Seven

MARLEY

"Are we almost there?" The drive isn't long, but the passing buildings are a reminder I'm not going home and I need a distraction from that.

"We're almost there, just a little further." His muscles bulge under his t-shirt and his knuckles white from the pressure on the steering wheel. I guess he needs a distraction from me.

An iron gate opens and Trent parks on the driveway. He removes the keys and quickly jumps out of the car. I stare at the door handle and sigh. On the brightside, if I fall out of the car, I can't hurt myself because I'm already a ghost.

I curl my fingers around the lever and push the door open. With a smile, I step out of the car and look at Trent. He grabs his bags from the backseat and takes a deep breath. I push on the door, but I slip through it and tumble to the ground.

"Ugh, this will get annoying very quickly," I mumble.

I clamber to my feet and Trent closes the door. We wander to the front door and he unlocks the door and ushers me inside.

He closes the door and it echoes through the large tiled entrance. There's no light and hallways leading to darkness. For someone afraid of ghosts, how is he not terrified of his house? It's cold and creepy and that's not because I'm here.

Trent wanders down a dark hallway and flips a light on. I stagger backwards and blink to force my eyes to adjust to the change of lighting.

He opens the last door at the end of the hallway and flips the light on. Trent's bedroom is large, even has his own couch and television. He's so lucky, my parents would never let me put a television in my room.

"Take a seat, if you can." Trent points to the couch. "I'm going to change."

"Thanks." I scoff.

He grabs clothing from his wardrobe and wanders into the bathroom attached to his room. Once he's changed, Trent flops onto the bed and snuggles into his pillow.

I edge towards the bathroom and take a deep breath. As I enter, I catch my reflection in the mirror. There's another bandage on my head. My skin is paler, which isn't surprising.

"If I survive this, I'm never wearing another school uniform again," I grumble.

"I'll join the petition." Trent chuckles.

"Sarah owes me more than one mango smooth for this."

Trent leans against the bathroom door and crosses his arms.

"You're the first girl I've had in here and you're a ghost, just my luck."

"You want to talk about luck?" I gasp, pointing to my head.

"It was supposed to make you laugh."

"Oh." I sheepishly smile.

"You're different from the other girls, Marley."

"I suppose being a ghost would make me different." I wink.

"Least you're rolling with it."

We leave the bathroom and awkwardly stand in his bedroom. He looks around and shrugs.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"I, um, sure." I nod.

He turns the television on and opens Netflix. I point to a random comedy movie and plonk on the couch, which actually supports my ghosty self. Trent sits at his desk and I sigh.

"I would love to join you, but I have an assignment due tomorrow."

"What one?"

"Modern History."

"Ah, that one is easy."

"I'm glad to hear because I haven't done anything for it."

"Would you like some help?"

"Um, sure." He nods.

"Okay." I smile.

For the first time ever, I'm happy to do a school assignment.

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