Gravity

Chapter 3

I sat on Abigail's bed and watched as she pulled her hair back into a messy bun. She stood in front of her mirror and let out a sigh. "Yep. This is as good as it's going to get." She tugged at the ends of her grey cardigan, the fabric stretching over her dark blue jeans.

"I think you look cute. I mean, no one is really going to criticize you for how you look today Ab. I mean, they'll think you look great for a girl who is mourning her sister's death." I jumped up from her bed and held up a pair of black and white Vans.

"You're not helping. And the maroon ones." Abigail slid on her jacket. I tossed her the maroon Vans and watched as she bent down to put them on. She let out a sigh as she rose and slung her book bag over her shoulder. "Do I have to go to school today?"

"Ab. It's been two weeks since you've been in school and about a month since I died. You can do this. You'll be fine." I tilted my head and gave her a reassuring look.

"Or...." A grin started across Abigail's face.

"No Abby, I'm not going with you to school."

"Pleaaaaase!"

"No. That would just be, odd, I don't know. I mean, you'd look pretty weird talking to someone that no one else can see don't you think? They'll think you've gone insane."

"Noooo. They won't even notice. I'm sure everyone is going to be giving me a ton of space today, and you can hear my thoughts remember? So I don't have to talk to you out loud. See? Foolproof." Abigail's smile grew as she reached the end of her sentence and I knew there would be no way I could get out of this.

I threw my arms up in defeat. "Fine!"

"Great! Let's go!" Abigail whipped past me, a triumphant smile on her face.

Fifteen minutes later we were pulling into the student parking lot. Abigail's mood seemed to shift as she parked the car. She stared out her window at all of the students mingling amongst themselves, waiting for the bell to ring and scream its demand of keeping a tight schedule. She looked nervous, and soon she was sinking down in her seat.

"Abigal. Come on. It's not going to be that bad. Just get this first day being back out of the way and then we can go home." She groaned and sank further down. "Ab. You can't sit in this car all day. Come on!" She shook her head and twisted in her seat, hiding her face from me. "Hey, look! There's Luke. I know you missed your best friend, and I'm positive he missed you too. Aw, he looks so sad and lonely." Abigail shimmied up and peeked over the steering wheel.

"He does look lonely..."

"See?! Come on! Let's go!" Abigail slowly slid out of the car, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She looked down as she walked over to Luke, who stood against the railing by the stairs. Luke stood at around six feet, his blond hair swooshed and spiked up. His light blue eyes were bright, but soft. He always looked a bit serious, and he chewed on his lip ring when he was nervous. I knew Luke well, he came around the house a lot. He'd always have a guitar with him and Abigail and I would make up ridiculous lyrics for him to sing. We'd known Luke since him and Abigail were in sixth grade. He was new and Ab was the first one to talk to him, they'd been best friends since. He was like a little brother to me.

"Hey Luke.." Abigail stood in front of him, head still down. Luke didn't say anything, just stared at her. She looked up at him slowly, expecting a response from him. He sucked his lip ring into his mouth and squinted at Abigail like she was small print on a page he couldn't read. "Luke." Abigail's tone was playful as she gave him a light punch on the arm. Suddenly Luke wrapped his arms around her. They began to laugh together as he slowly twisted her back and forth. It was nice to see them hug and laugh. I hadn't seen her do much laughing in a while.

"Man, school has been hell without you Ab." Luke said as he broke their embrace. He shoved his hands into his pockets and began chewing on his lip ring. "So, how've you been?"

Abigail gave him a small smile. "A little better."

Luke smiled as he put his arm around her shoulders and led her up the stairs. "Well that's good to hear. You didn't miss much. Mr. Parson shaved his mustache though, it's a terrifying sight."

"Haha. Really? I didn't think he'd ever shave that thing. He combed it like every minute."

"Well, I guess Mrs. Parson didn't like him paying more attention to his stache than her. Haha."

As they walked inside the building, I noticed how good Luke was for her. He was really a good friend. After I had died, I was afraid Abigail would never be back to normal, but watching her and Luke interact just like they use to, like nothing had ever happened, it made me grateful that he was here for her. Out of everyone, he's the only one that brought her closest to being her normal self. However, watching them together also made me realize just how lonely I was. Sure, I had Abigail, but I was dead. Nobody could see me, nobody could hear me, I didn't have anyone like Luke. I couldn't really talk to anyone about this, I mean sure I could talk to Ab about it, but she wouldn't fully understand, she couldn't relate to, well, being dead.

I shook the thoughts of loneliness from my head and started up the stairs to follow Abigail and Luke inside. As I reached the door though, something caught my eye. It was Zac. He was sitting on a bench at the top of the stairs, a guy sat next to him. What is Zac doing here? I'm pretty sure he graduated last year. Shouldn't he be heading back to his college? I mean, it's been two weeks since my funeral, he should have left by now. He sat with his head in his hands, he let out a breath as he stood up. The guy next to him was looking down, he didn't move when Zac stood. As Zac made his way for the door though, I kept staring at the guy on the bench. Why did Zac just leave him? Suddenly he looked up and my lips parted in shock as I realized it was Zac's brother, John, and he was looking right at me.