PHANTOM SEPILOGUE

CHAPTER 5

After Max left I sat on my couch for a couple hours just thinking about how I'm going to tell him that he's the reason that I'm here. I check the clock above the fireplace to see that it's only 4:36 in the morning. I am officially bored. What did Harry do for 3 months without me? I mean not to sound cocky or anything, but Harry and I had quite the fun together when we weren't solving his murder.

I decide to take a little walk outside since no one I know would be awake anyways. Usually I would open the door to feel the cool morning breeze hit my body, but instead I feel nothing.

As I'm walking along the sidewalk in the dark hours of the morning, I remember Max was coming over to my house after his shift at Mel's. I really need to think about how I'm going to tell him he is the cause of my problem here. When I continue to walk around I eventually am passing by CHHS. A quick happy memory flashes back into my mind of Harry waiting in my car for me after school every so often...

I shut my car door behind me and lean my head back, shutting my eyes briefly.

"My God, I'd forgotten how long school was. I've been waiting her for ages."

I whip around and narrow my eyes at Harry as he smiles innocently at me, as if he didn't just turn up in the back of my car.

"You need to stop that," I snap, pressing a hand to my chest.

"It's too much fun," he shrugs. "If I'm going to be dead, I'm going to have fun with it."

I roll my eyes. "Of course."

I remember how I felt the first day Harry started to accompany me and how odd it felt to have someone dead to show up randomly by me all the time.

I wish I could ask Harry how I could deal with this, he had way more knowledge on the afterlife and how to get Max to forgive himself. I mean they were best friends after all.

My thoughts drift away and I'm suddenly in front of the diner, the sun starts to rise above me and I know I need to get somewhere people won't see me. I smile when I see Max's car parked on the side of the diner and I start to walk over to the back seat door.

My body glides through the door and I sit down behind the driver's seat, leaning my head against my hands admiring all the details of Max's 2003 Toyota Corolla.

I sit for a few hours watching people go in and out of the diner. I see a family of 3 walk in with a girl that looks about 11. That girl shouldn't take her parents love for granted, she never knows when one day they could just disappear. Frowning at the family that mimics mine I look away and try to focus on something else.

Moving to the front of the car I find a deck of cards in the glove box in front of me, I start to shuffle and play with them until I see someone walking towards the car, at first I'm scared it's a customer thinking I'm some psycho murderer in Max's car so I quickly move to the back and duck.

My paranoid thoughts rush away when I see Max's blonde curls peek through his beanie as he walks towards the car. He enters the door of the driver's seat and I see him shiver and look around curiously.

"What the hell" he whispers to himself wondering why his car is so cold when his AC isn't even on let alone his car.

I chuckle lightly at the confused expression all over Max's face. He immediately looks around and meets with my eyes.

"Oh my god, Jane" he laughs "You scared me shitless" he finishes with a deep breath.

"Sorry, I just got so bored waiting at home. So I took a walk early this morning and ended up here" I shrugged