Ghost

0302

“Audrey, I need to talk to you.”

I was standing in front of her door. Usually deemed as no-man’s territory, but I thought the pressing issues were getting out of hand. She needed to know.

“What, Knat?” my term of endearment.

“I need to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Could you please open your door?”

I heard her let out a groan, but the sound of her footsteps followed and her door creaked open. “What are you blabbering about, I have a test I have to study for, and-,” she stopped, noticing my serious expression. “What?”

“I need to talk to you about…school stuff.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What kind of ‘school stuff’?”

I took in a deep breath, convincing myself there was no chickening out. I would just have to rip it off, like a band-aid. Maybe if I said it fast, it wouldn’t hurt as bad.

“The kids at school are spreading rumors about you and they’re all talking about it behind your back, and those new friends of yours are total pricks,” I said it so quickly I wasn’t sure if she’d heard me, but her expression said it all. “They know,” I whispered.

“W-what?” she said, moving her hand up to grip her forehead.

“I’m sorry, but you needed to know.” She stared off in panic for a few moments before her expression turned cold.

“How could you even say something like that?”

I stopped, confused. “What?”

“How could you even say something like that, you little brat, nobody knows about that. It was part of the lawsuit. It was legally confidential.”

“But all the kids are-”

“The only way anyone could know about it is if someone blabbed their mouth off. Did you blab your mouth off?”

I hesitated, my eyes starting to burn. “No…of course not.”

“Oh really? You blabbed your mouth off about it the last time. Remember?”

My eyes were watering up and I had to blink to keep it down. “I’m sorry. I said I was sorry, I didn’t know what else to do-”

“Stop trying to start drama. You really think I'm stupid? I could tell you were jealous at lunch the way you kept glaring over at us-”

"Jealous?" I couldn't believe this.

"Yeah, that's right, and if you don't put a lid on the little act I will bring Mom into it. You don't want to have another conversation with her again, do you?"

I shook my head.

“Then get out of my face, you little snot.”

She slammed her door, an inch or two away from bashing my nose in. I stood there, my eyes welling and my anger flaring up with it. I suddenly felt like my whole family hated me. No matter what I tried to do, I was always being the troublemaker. Always the nuisance.

I stomped back into my room and slammed my door, falling onto my bed and sobbing like a fussy five year-old. I felt pathetic. But at the same time, I felt like if I jumped out my window, my sister would be throwing confetti down after me. I'd be doing the world a favor, as angsty as that sounds.

“You wouldn’t be doing me a favor.” My head shot up to find Raven sitting at the edge of my bed, looking down at me with her rainy-grey eyes.

“Did you just-” I paused. “Did you just read my mind?”

She shook her head, slow and solemn. “I could feel your negative energy. It was so low, I could just kind of…tell.”

“Huh,” I said, wiping away the tears and flipping over onto my stomach. “I’ll have to add that one to my guidebook.” I let out a weak laugh, but I could feel the tears fighting back again.

 “Here,” she said, patting the space in front of her with a kind smile. “Tell me all about it.” I hesitated a second but nodded, scooting over towards her. If there was a downside to being a loner, it was certainly never having anyone to talk to. I could already feel heat settling in me as she took my hair in her hands and started winding it into a braid. “At least you know your secrets will be safe with me.”