Overlap

Hiding and Seeking

"Maybe I was too harsh, but she's dead anyways," Nadine murmured, her head leaning on her hand as she blankly stared out the window in her classroom.

She let out a half smile as the breeze lightly swept through the room and gently pressed upon her face.

It was hard to believe that the events from last night and that morning occurred in the span of 12 hours. It was enough to have drained her for the week, perhaps longer considering the immense stress certain parts brought to her life.

And by stress she particularly meant the presence of the ghost girl---Kath as she called herself. 

Nadine had a fixation on horror stories, specifically films as she constantly fantasized about producing more quality movies at the local level. She was drawn to the conspiracy theories revolving around the supernatural and the alleged encounters that were passed around in late night conversations and public forums.

But she did not believe they were real...nor did she anticipate being the lead character in what very much seemed like a generic modern day ghost story.

It was a struggle to fully conceptualize; because how does one properly react when a spirit invades one's room and begs for help in finding her identity and reaching the afterlife?

In a novel or movie, the hero or heroine would answer yes and agree on the strenuous journey of helping the ghost out with whatever attachment it had to the living world that ceased the spirit's ability to pass on. And Nadine always wondered why. While there were instances the hero was unwilling (and in her opinion, the most logical route one could take with such stories) others' decisions lacked backing. Why would someone want to risk their life to help the dead? What about their time? Do they not have any other activities? 

As she concluded, the reason the leading characters agreed was really because the plot would have not been able to continue had the author not made the human protagonist so willing. 

As cute as some were, those mainstream family ghost story movies underprepared her for the 0.0000001% chance it could actually happen.

Her head fell back as the sound of the teacher dismissing the class teleported her back to reality.

She diverted her eyes towards her blank notebook and let out a sigh. The stress from last night clearly was a distraction as she was stuck in a loop of endless thoughts.

"Thanks, Kath," Nadine muttered as she harshly shut her notebook and bent from her seat so she could place it inside her bag.

"Rough day?"

Nadine's eyes immediately aviated at the sound of the familiar voice and she gawked at the source of the sound, her jaw hanging down in utter surprise.

"Diego.." she trailed off before quickly zipping up her bag and standing, looping her backpack around her shoulders. "What are you--"

He uncrossed his hands from behind his back and handed her an unfamiliar looking hot pink flower with petals shaped in minuscule bundles.

"What type of flower is this?" Nadine questioned with a chuckle as she took it from his grasps and placed it into her own.

"An amaranth. Saw it in the flower shop and thought it looked pretty," Diego explained as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and kissed her on the forehead. "Sorry if I took out my anger on you the other day. I've been stressed," he added.

"You know, most people usually give roses. And instead you went for the most obscure looking flower I've seen," Nadine teased. "Which is what I like, so apology somewhat accepted," she said as she brought the flower to her nose and inhaled its scent.