Superstitious

Chapter Seven

"Russell! Dinner's Ready!" called Mrs. Winter.

There was no response. Mrs. Winter called again, and, after five minutes of silence, went to investigate.

"Russell. Dinner is ready," she said as she opened her son's bedroom. There, on the bed, he laid flat on his stomach. He was completely zoned in on the small, leather-bound notebook he was reading.

"Again?" she asked.

Russell was startled to find that his mother had suddenly teleported into his room.

"Mom!" he said in a surprised tone. "Hi."

"Are you reading that book again?" she asked with eyebrows raised.

"Sorry," he replied. "It's just that, this is the only thing I have left from dad."

Mrs. Winter's eyes softened at Russell's words.

"Well, why don't you put the journal down for a bit. Dinner's ready. If you don't hurry, it will get cold."

"Alright," Russell said reluctantly. 

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When I woke up, I found myself lying outside of the Wilkens' place. I sat up and groggily checked my watch. It was only 7:00 a.m...

"7 am!" I yelled jumping up from the ground and hastily brushing myself off. 

I had slept through the whole night. My mom was probably worried. Especially since she couldn't contact me via cellphone. 

"My phone!" I thought.

I wasn't able to find it.

"I'll just ask her to buy me a new one," I thought.

I began my long trek home. When I arrived I noticed the car was gone, which meant my mom was still at work. She probably didn't even know that I've been gone the past two nights. I headed straight for the TV after I walked in. I flopped on the couch and turned on the TV. The first channel that popped up was the weather. Normally, I would have changed the channel in disinterest, except the weatherman had said "Happy Monday!"

"MONDAY!" I yelled.

I hurriedly looked at my watch. Crap! He was right. I rushed around the house trying to get my things together until I realized that Vince had all of my stuff. I glanced at the clock. School started at 8:10 a.m. It was now 7:50 a.m. If I really rushed, I could make it. Without a second to lose, I grabbed my bike out of the garage and pedaled as hard as I could. I made it with 5 minutes to spare. I sat down in my seat just as the bell rang and the teacher came in to take attendance. 

"Good morning, class," she said.

"Morning," were the unenthusiastic replies.

"When I call your name, say 'here'," she announced.

With that, she started going down the line till she finally got to my name.

"Russell Winter," she said.

"Here," I responded.

There was a brief moment of silence before she repeated my name.

"Russell Winter, are you here?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said a little louder. "I'm here."

The teacher looked around the room as if she was searching for me.

"Last call! Is Russell here!" she yelled.

Aggravated, I stood up from my seat and yelled, "HERE!"

There was another moment of silence before she marked something down on her chart.

"How odd," she mumbled. "Has anyone seen him today?"

"No," a few students answered.

"Huh," she said as she headed for her desk.

"Excuse me!" I yelled. "Are you deaf! I'm right here!"

I began to frantically wave my arms in the air.

"Now, let's begin. Please open your textbooks to page 237," she continued.

"This is unbelievable!" I shouted.

I marched over to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Hello?!"

Well at least I tried to grab her shoulder, except my hand went right through her!

"What?!" I yelled in shock.

I tried to grab her again, but I received the same result. In a last act of desperation, I stood in front of the whole class and yelled," Can anybody hear me?!"

No one responded. I frantically tried to touch my teacher for a third time, but nothing happened.

"Is it just me or is it a little cold in here," my teacher said as shse grabbed the blazer hanging on her chair.

"This is unbelievable," I thought as I clutched my head and fell to my knees.

"It's just a dream," I thought. "Just a dream."

For the first half of my day, I tried my best to communicate with someone... anyone, but my efforts bore no fruit. By lunch time, I came to terms with reality. I had somehow turned into a ghost. Given I couldn't really eat, I decided to learn what I could about myself. By the time lunch was over, I had learned four things. Once, I could still interact with objects normally. Two, small object disappear with me when I touch them, but if I concentrate, I can make others continue to see them. Very handy for pranks, if I do say so myself. Three, I can't touch people. Four, I can float, and, with some concentration, I can go through walls. Even though no one could see me, I decided to attend the rest of my classes. At least I could still learn stuff. Well, from some of my classes. I sat in Chemistry reading a book I "borrowed" from the school library and listening to music. Towards the end of class, an idea popped in my head. Marty. If there was anyone who could help me, it was Marty. Since there was only about 15 minutes left, I decided to leave and go find Marty. However, that wasn't the only idea that popped into my head. Maybe, since I was a ghost, I could teleport! I concentrated with all my might. I tried to imagine myself traveling from the Chemistry room to the library. When I opened my eyes, I was filled with a sense of pride and embarrassment. Good news, I can teleport. Bad news, I definitely needed practice. I found myself face to face with a locker, but not just any locker. A locker that could only be found in the girl's locker room. I face palmed myself.

"Of all the places," I yelled.

Suddenly, I heard voices, and, to my horror, a group of girls, no doubt coming from P.E., came in through the door. I froze half-expecting one of them to scream. To my relief, they passed right by me and continued talking. This led me to realize that I was an idiot, because how could I forget that no one could see or hear me. As tempted as I was to stay and watch them change, I knew two things. A.) I would never forgive myself and B.) I needed to find Marty. Reluctantly, I headed through the door, literally, and made my way to the library.