The Gift[ON HOLD]

Chapter 9

"Hey I just dropped by because at lunch you forgot your notebook." Landon said handing me my notebook.

"Oh, thanks." I said looking at the notebook. I could have sworn I had taken it…

"I guess I'll leave now…I'll see you later Poppy." Landon said as he left.

"I distinctly remember you taking your notebook Poppy." Jamie said.

"Same, I thought I took it too." I said.

"I'm going to go." Jamie said getting off my bed.

"What?"

"Yeah…I mean shouldn’t you at least get used to the idea of me being dead? I thought if I left you would be able to deal with it better."

"Don't leave. Please?" I asked looking up at him with my sad eyes.

"You know I can't say no to you when you do that. Alright I am staying." Jamie said giving in.

"Good." I said hugging him.

            While I hugged him I suddenly noticed he didn’t have a heartbeat. How did I not notice this before? He also didn’t feel warm and he didn’t feel cold. He felt real though. I couldn’t wrap my mind over it.

"Trying to figure out if I'm really here?" Jamie asked.

"Maybe…" I said still hugging him.

"I'm not going to fade into thin air if that's what you're worried about."

"Really?" I asked looking up at him.

"No, I would never fade away from you." Jamie said kissing my forehead.

            I hugged him and started crying from the whole situation, not from sadness but from the overwhelming stress from it. Jamie just held me until I stopped crying. Connor seemed to calm down about Jamie, in fact he actually apologized when we went down to the kitchen for dinner.

"Jamie wait." I said before we sat at the table.

"If you're dead, do you really need food? Or do you eat to look normal?" I whispered.

"To look normal…and to feel normal." Jamie whispered back.

            We took our seats and the dinner table was a happy place again. My parents were laughing, and Connor and Jamie were talking like old times. Connor and I were back to normal and I forgave him. Everything looked like it was back to normal. But deep down inside I knew that everything was about to change.

"Jamie, do you want to stay over for the night?" I asked.

"If that's okay with your family." Jamie replied.

"Yeah that's fine." Mom said.

            Jamie and I headed back to my room once we cleaned our dishes. Jamie seemed to be in deep thought.

"You surprise me Poppy. I would have thought you wouldn’t want to see me for a while. You know, until you got used to the idea." Jamie said.

"It hasn’t really changed anything…I think. I mean you are the same Jamie I've been with since I met you; just I didn’t know that you were dead."

"I am glad you feel that way." Jamie said.

           I looked at the clock and it was getting late. I went into my bathroom and changed into my PJ's. I found Jamie with his extra pair of clothes he keeps here in case he ever sleeps over. He set them out lying next to the bed for the morning.

"You sleeping in your clothes?" I asked.

"No." he said as he took his shirt off.

            I suddenly felt my face go red. I turned away giving him privacy. I fiddled with my book on my shelf. All of a sudden Jamie took my hand. I looked at him and he smiled. He was shirtless and wearing pants. He led me to the bed. We sat there for a moment staring at each other. I couldn’t even begin to know what he was thinking, but I was thinking about him like this, and then the skeleton version. It was like he read my mind because he started changing right before me. I was awe struck. I still was in wonder about him.

"Are you scared?" Jamie asked. I shook my head.

"Are you okay?" He then asked.

"Yeah, sorry, I am just fascinated."

"It is pretty fascinating at first." Jamie said smiling.

            It was weird to see him smile looking like a skeleton. I was overcome with exhaustion and lied down. Jamie lied down too, changing back to his normal appearance. I turned away from him because I couldn’t look at him. Not because I didn’t want to…but because I felt nervous. I couldn’t be falling for someone who was dead. Could that even happen? I thought to myself. My thought was interrupted when Jamie curled up next to me and we drifted to sleep.