The Living Ghost (EDITING)

Chapter V

‘Do what?’, my mum smiled which surprised me. My dad smiled too. I turned to Davis whose laughter shook the house. ‘What!’, I almost yelled. ‘Happy Birthday, sweetheart’, she hugged me. I was taken by surprise, ‘It’s my birthday?’, I asked stupidly.

‘Of course, sweetheart’, she held me by the shoulder, ‘you forgot your birthday but we won’t’.

‘Happy B’day, sissy’, Davis handed me a neatly wrapped tiny box.  ‘You wrapped it?’. I didn’t expect him to wrap so neatly. ‘It’s the least I can do for my sissy’, he said. I raised a brow. ‘Okay. Yeah, I wrapped it’, he smiled. I opened it. there was a necklace. The turquoise coloured beads were perfect.  . ‘This is beautiful!’, I almost screamed, ‘thanks!’. ‘Welcome, sissy’.

I would have slapped him a few days ago but I was too happy to notice it.

‘Don’t forget my gift’, dad chuckled. ‘’My’?’, mum raised a brow. ‘Ours’, he corrected. I laughed. She handed me a box. I opened it. a black shimmering, sleeveless dress, like the one’s  I always’ wanted.

 ‘It’s…. it’s amazing!’, I hugged her and then dad. ‘You have to go to school’, she said. ‘C’mon! give me a break!’, I complained. ‘No way, honey!’, she sang and literally dragged me to my room, ‘Get ready fast! Davis will drop you school!’.

I sighed. Not even on my birthday I get to sleep properly.

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‘

‘Hey! Aurum!’, Austin appeared behind me holding a bouquet  of roses, lilies, and gladioli and a wooden box. ‘How’s ….’, he didn’t let me complete my sentence, ‘Happy Birthday’, he said  and handed me the bouquet. ‘Thank you!’, I smiled. ‘DO you like it?’, he asked.

‘Of course I do!’, I said. ‘No. I mean do you really like it?’, he asked emphasizing ‘you’.

‘I really do like it’

He bit his lower lip. For some reason he looked nervous, ‘Do you like me?’.

‘Yeah I do’, I said. ‘I mean… really like me?’.

I felt a little awkward, ‘Why are you asking this?’. He took a deep breath, ‘I love you’.

I stepped back, ‘You’re not serious’. ‘I am, Aurum. I really love you’. ‘What…. What about Lisa?’, I asked. ‘I broke up with her’.

I felt guilty about that. Because of me she was heatbroken. ‘Look, Austin……’, I pursed my lips, ‘you’re a nice guy but…..’.

‘But?’, he asked. ‘But… you shouldn’t do that…. Lisa… she loved you a lot’, I said. I couldn’t believe it. Austin liked me?! ‘Um….. so what do you say?’.

‘What do I say?’, I asked.

‘Yes or no?’, he asked. I couldn’t decide. One side I had Lisa’s friendship and  trust and the other side was Austin’s happiness. ‘I don’t know.’, I shook my head, ‘I’m sorry, Austin. But you’re a nice guy but……’, my voice betrayed me.

‘I understand that’, he nodded, ‘I’m sorry’. ‘It’s okay’, I said, still feeling bad and guilty. ‘So, how’s the bouquet?’, he asked again. ‘It’s beautiful’ I suddenly wanted to walk away from there but I didn’t. he’d feel guilty and I didn’t want him to.

‘So……’, I didn’t know what to ask him.

‘So what?’, he faked a smiled. There was a silence between us.  ‘I’m sorry, Austin’, I said, with guilt, ‘I’m so sorry. But I like someone else’. I lied. My heart paced. I couldn’t lie to my best friend. But I just did.

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After school, I decided to walk Lisa home. Just to make sure she was fine. She didn’t talk to us the whole day. I didn’t even see her around during lunch.

‘Hey Lisa! Wait!’, I yelled. She stopped, ‘What?’, she asked a little rudely. ‘I heard that you and Austin….’.

‘Yeah. We broke up’, she tried not to cry, ‘do you know why?’.

‘No’, I lied. ‘Because he likes someone else!’, she buried her head in her hands and sobbed. ‘Don’t cry Lisa. He’ll be back for you. He loves you’.

‘No he doesn’t!’, she almost screamed. ‘Don’t cry. Lisa. Don’t’, I put my hand on her shoulder. She wiped her tears and faked a smile, ‘Oh! I forgot! Today is your birthday, right?’, she asked.

‘Yeah’, I replied. ‘I don’t have a gift. I was… you know….’, her voice faded. ‘I understand’, I smiled, ‘I don’t want you to cry. I want you to stay strong’.

She smiled as she put her hand in her pocket and handed me a tickets. ‘Go watch a movie. I bought this for Austin and me but…… anyways, sorry I can’t get you….’.

‘C’mon, Lisa! I just want you happy! C’mon smile’, I said. She smiled.

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Cameron’s POV

I was staring at the tape which the CCTV camera had recorded.  I bit my lip as I rewind and played it again and again. There was nothing special in it. My phone buzzed, ‘Detective Grace’, I said. 

‘Grace, this is Chief Irvin speaking’. ‘Yes chief?’.

‘Have you found anything?’. ‘Negative, sir’.

‘Call me when you’ve got something!’, he yelled. I raised a brow, ‘Sure’. He cut off. I looked at my phone, ‘B***h!’.

I glanced at the tape again. Something caught my eye. I magnified it. I was surprised to find Davis and Aurum over there. She was dressed in black suit, just like the ghost. It hit me, the ‘Living Ghost’ isn’t a guy. We’ve been misled because we thought it was a guy.

I picked up my phone to tell my discovery to Chief Irvin but I stopped, I can’t just blame them without a proper proof. There were many people who came to National Museum dressed in an outfit like that.

I needed to get close to them. An idea hit my head.

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A/N: Twist in the tale!!!! Austin Likes Aurum???? wow

Cliff hanger again!!! lol!!! i love Cliffhangers (only in my books)