Ghost

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For the ride home, I decided to give the bus a try. Which, to no surprise, turned out to be a horrible idea.

It would have almost been peaceful if it weren’t for the three snotty little kids who’d yelled, “Witch!” when I first climbed on. And not to mention the four high-schoolers who snickered in the back. I might’ve had the guts to glare at them if my face hadn’t been so red.

Never again.

Audrey hadn’t beaten me home, or at least I guessed since the front door was locked. I didn’t go snooping around to find out as I trudged up the steps to my room. My bag collapsed to the floor, my shoes flew from my feet; bouncing off the wall and landing into a box. Three points.

I found my smuggled stash of incense in one of the boxes, lighting one and waving it out before heading over to my phonograph. Once I had the needle going I collapsed to the floor and slipped into the sweet mercy of death for about five seconds. And then my door creaked open. When I sat up, Raven was standing in the doorway, looking at me expectantly.

“I know you’re a ghost and all, but jeeze. I don’t bite.” She hesitated but hovered in, clasping her hands together and exhaling as she sat back against my bed. She looked around my room in the mid-afternoon quiet, smiling softly.

“This used to be my room,” she said, eyes lost to the memory. “I don’t know how I know, but I just do.”

“I was glad when Audrey picked out the bigger one; the lighting in here is so much nicer.” Raven met my gaze, her smile growing slightly but her eyes still rainy grey.

“I used to think the same thing…at least, I think.”

I stood up to shut my door, and then went sorting through the piles of cardboard for my box of books. When I found it, I pulled out one bound in leather the color of the night sky.

It was sparkling with stars and smiling moons, the letters on the front bold with metallic gold. The Paranormal Eye: A Guide to Spirits and Demons. I let out a sigh as I traced my fingers along the worn cover before carefully opening it and flipping to one of the sticky notes with my writing scrawled across it. The whole side was a sea of sticky notes, and the inside was filled with highlighted words and scribbled handwriting along the edges. I couldn’t help but press my nose against it. It smelled ancient and warm. This was not just my favorite thing in the whole world; this was a chunk of my heart. Or, at least, what was left of it.

And if my mom ever found out about it, it would be condemned to the garbage like everything else.

“What is that?” Raven asked, peeking her head to make out the lettering. “A diary?”

I snorted.

“It’s my guidebook,” I said, running my fingers along the opened page like it was made of butterfly wings. “I’ve searched everywhere for one that wasn’t a complete load of bullarkey, and this is as close as it gets. I’ve still had to tweak it quite a bit.”

“What is it for?”

“Ghosts.”

She perked in interest. “Me?”

“Yep.”

“So you think you can help?”

“I’ve come close before, but I still need practice.”

I yanked one of the boxes toward me, plucking out a heavily used notebook stuffed with loose paper, and the sharpest pencil I could find. I was midway into opening my mouth when one, loud bang rattled the door. I quickly snuck the book under the covers piled on my bed before heaving myself off the floor and hurrying to the door. When I cracked it open a couple of inches, I was met with a suspicious glare. Audrey was home.

She tried to poke her head in. I tried to block her view. She skipped putting her foot in the door and jumped straight to pushing me out of the way. “Excuse you,” I snapped.

After scanning the room, she looked back at me and slit her eyes. “I could have swore I heard you talking to someone.”

“Just the voices in my head,” I said with a shrug.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a freak,” she muttered before whipping past and back out the door. Leaving it wide open, no less. I sighed and closed it, turning around to continue where I’d been so rudely interrupted.

But Raven was gone.