The Institute

Chapter Five- Picture of Lucy

I floated through the next week, just waiting for when my family was going to visit again. I worked on my schoolwork and for the first time in a long time, I actually understood it. When Tuesday finally came, I was so excited I couldn’t eat or sleep.

“Is something wrong with you, Jeremy?” Nurse Linda asked.

I just smiled and shook my head.

At breakfast, Sean was looking at me funny.

“What are you so happy about?” he asked.

“My parents are coming to visit,” I said.

“Well, you weren’t this excited last week,” he said.

“They’re bringing my brother.”

“Didn’t they last time?”

“Yeah.” He looked at me then shook his head.

“Did your parents come by yet?” I asked.

“Nope,” he said. “I just don’t get why either. They didn’t act like this at all when I was still at home.”

When breakfast was over, Nurse Linda took me to Dr. Shrueger’s office. My parents and brother were already in there waiting for me. I went over and gave my mom a quick hug. Again, my dad didn’t say much, but this time, I didn’t really care because all I could think about was talking to Josh. My parents and Dr. Shrueger talked for a while occasionally asking me questions, but Josh just sat looking at his phone. When my parents and the doctor left to give Josh and me some time again, I practically jumped out of my seat to tell Josh the news.

“You won’t have to prove I’m not crazy, Josh. I’m only going to be in here five years!” He just glanced up from his phone and nodded.

I frowned and sat looking at him for a minute then he put the phone in his pocket. He smiled a weird smile then he started talking.

“Jeremy, I really don’t think you’re crazy,” he said.

“Josh, did you hear what I just said? Whether I’m crazy or not, I’m only going to be in here five years.”

“Yeah, but I know you’re not crazy, so you don’t have to be in here at all.”

“Oh yeah? What proof do you have of that?” I asked angrily.

“Remember those stories Grandpa used to tell us? The ones about the ghosts that he saw?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said unsure of where he was going with this.

“How do you think he knew they were ghosts?” He asked.

“Josh, those were just stories,” I said.

“Were they?”

“Yeah…”

“How can you tell?” he asked.

“Well, everyone knows ghosts aren’t real.” He rolled his eyes.

“Just because you can’t see stuff doesn’t mean they’re not there—oh wait! That brings me to my next point: You can see it.” My mouth dropped open.

“You don’t seriously think that I… That I see ghosts do you?” I stared at him. “Oh, you really do. And they say I’m the crazy one. I think maybe you should leave now.” I was upset that Josh wasn’t happy about my five-year-sentence and a little scared that he was in twelfth grade and he believed in ghosts. I got up to go get Mom and Dad when he grabbed my arm.

“Wait, Josh, listen, how do you think Grandpa knew they were ghosts?”

“I don’t know, how?” I tried to pull out of his grip but he used to be on the football team so there was no way I was getting loose until he let me.

“If they didn’t tell him they were ghosts then he had to figure out some other way, right?”

I sighed. “Right. Now that you mention it, I think I read somewhere that schizophrenia is hereditary.”

Josh just ignored me. “So then the only other way he could’ve known was if he could see them but no one else could.” He let go of my arm. “Remember when we got too old for ghost stories but Grandpa would still insist that they were real? Everyone thought that he was just old and seeing things. So they put him in a hospital. I think that he really did see ghosts, and I think that you might have inherited the ability to see them from him.”

“You know what, no! I think I inherited my insanity from you.”

“Please, Jeremy, just think about it for a minute.” He rubbed his forehead. “Look, I even looked it up on the web.” He pulled out his phone and showed me the screen. It was an article about ghosts:

Are They Real?

By GhostGrrl92

Ghosts. Are they real? That’s one of the FAQs of the supernatural world. There have been claims of sightings all over the world, it is very common, but are these people telling the truth?

One out of fifty people that say they have seen a spirit before are actually telling the truth. Those other forty-nine people are just starving for attention. I have firsthand knowledge of seeing ghosts because it runs in my bloodline. The people who can see ghosts usually don’t even know they are seeing dead people. It is tricky to tell the difference between the living and the dead. Half of all people are misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.

I just about dropped the phone when I read the last sentence.

“Hey, are you okay, Jeremy?” Josh asked.

“Yeah, fine,” I said.

“You believe me now?”

“Josh, you know you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. Didn’t they teach you that in, like, first grade?” Weirdly, I felt like laughing.

“Jer, seriously, I know this girl who wrote it and she’s not lying.”

“Wait, you know this girl? Who is she?” I asked.

“Sorry, I can’t give out that information,” he said.

“Fine, I don’t believe it anyway.” I walked to the door again but this time Josh didn’t stop me.

“Give it a little bit of thought, Jeremy,” he said as I walked out the door. Yeah, right, I totally can see ghost. Ha. But at that moment, I began to wonder if Josh was right.

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