Ghost

Chapter One - The Summoning

 Jess closed her laptop and grabbed an already used tissue next to her. She rested her forehead on her wooden desk, blowing her nose and trying to dry her eyes. It was almost eight p.m., and she had spent her day watching videos of one of her favourite bands: The Rolling Stones. She watched their early concerts, documentaries, random videos she could find on YouTube and looked at pictures on one of her favourite websites, Tumblr. She was what people called a fangirl. Spending her time crying over dead or old musicians, dying to buy concert tickets she could never afford, listening to loud music, wearing band shirts almost all the time, complaining she was born in the wrong era... Welcome to the Classic Rock Fandom. Nobody understood her in real life, and the only people she could talk with about those bands usually were teachers, who could only mention The Beatles. All of her friends lived in their generation, were modern and listened to new musics. She was always like the black sheep of the group. But that started to end when she randomly met a friend at the college restaurant, Chloe. She was wearing a vintage outfit, had 1950s glasses and she was eating with a friend at the same table as Jess, as the other tables were full. Jess was telling her new friends about Paul McCartney, when Chloe bent in her direction and said “Hey, er... What do you think of Old Paul?” That was the beginning of a friendship that was still not over. Concerning old bands and old fashion, they were like partners in crime, trying to find everything about it, and rummaging through old clothes at the local second-hand clothes shop. Jess felt like Chloe was the only person in this world who could understand her and share this passion.

But this time, Chloe was not online, and Jess knew she went to a diner in Germany. For them, Germany was close. They both lived in a French city, near the borderline. Jess did not like going there, for it reminded her of all the terrible hours she spent learning German at school. Finally, she could not even remember a word. At this moment, she felt the urge to hug someone. She was in tears, as she watched touching videos about the founding member of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones. He was her favourite member, for he was a gorgeous and funny man. Moreover, never had she seen such a talented musician. On his Wikipedia page, she counted all the instruments he could play, and it went to fourty-five. He died prematurely at the age of twenty-seven, in July 1969. Even though she never knew him, she felt linked to him in a special way. She loved him dearly and she could not even explain why. But isn't that what love was all about?

She went out of her bedroom, switching off the light, taking her laptop with her downstairs. Her dog ran to her and jumped on her, happy to see someone. She put her laptop aside and hugged the dog, who felt that something was wrong. Jess called the dog and opened the back door so he could run freely in the garden. It was time for Jess to cook dinner, as her parents were out for the evening. She sighed, wiping some tears away, but just thinking about Brian Jones made her break down into tears again. Weeping, she opened the doors of a wardrobe and took out a packet of pastas. She filled a pot with water, in which she added salt, and put it on the fire, waiting for it to boil. Still thinking about the videos she watched, she crossed her arms against her chest and sat in the corner of the kitchen, burying her face into her hands. She sat there, without controlling her crying, until she heard the boiling water; she stood up and put the pastas in the pot before lowering the fire. She sat back where she was and kept on weeping, unable to stop.

“Brian Jones, Brian Jones, Brian Jones...”

She kicked a drawer of one of the furnitures and hurt her fingers. She gasped and shook it in the air. She thought about how she was and laughed sarcastically. How pathetic she was! Crying over someone she never met, just because of videos. But at the same time, she really felt terrible because of his death. It was something she could not get over and she knew it. Her dog began to bark outside, though he was not at the door. She opened the door and sneaked outside.