Ghost Boy (S.M)

nine

I wake up feeling my phone vibrating. I move my arm to try and find it, while I'm still half asleep. When I find it I bring it to my face to see who's calling. My best friend, Reece's is Face timing me. I stare at it for a moment, debating if I should answer. Eventually, I do.  "What?" I say, In a groggy voice.

"Dude, guess who just asked me out." She laughs.  I sit up and move the hair out of my face.

"Who? It's like ten am where you are, who could have asked you out?" She stares at me until I figure it out. "Wait, Cute Coffee Guy?" 

"Apparently his name is, Josh."

"I like Cute Coffee Guy better." I joke.

"Honestly me too." She chuckles . "I've been going there everyday this summer just to see him. I can't believe it. I never actually thought he would ask me out."

"He must think you love coffee. Maybe, he calls you Cute Coffee Girl." I point out. 

"Maybe." She smirks. "So, how's Oregon? Make any friends?"

I think of Shawn and Jace. "A few, but school hasn't started yet so I haven't had a chance to meet many people."

"Right, so when does school start for you?"

"In a couple of weeks." I roll my eyes by the thought of going back to school.

"Are you nervous?"

"Hell Yeah, I'm nervous! I only know one person going there."

"Who?"

"My neighbor." I shrug, try to not bring attention to him.

"Well, I should go, I'll text you later though."

"Okay, Bye. Love you." I say, waving at the camera.

"Love you too."

When we hang up, I'm reminded how much I miss Reece. I've known her since 6th grade math class. We were both the quietest. That's what brought us together, well that and our fear of our teacher, Ms. Brown. Once, Ms. Brown called us into the hallway and yelled at us for not participating and talking during class. We both found it ridiculous, after all you would think we would get in trouble for being too loud. During middle school we got closer and closer until we were inseparable. 

 Shawn appears at the end of the bed, making me lose my train of thought. "Good morning, Jo." He says. 

"Good morning." I yawn. It may be 10 am in Florida but here in Oregon it's only 7 am. I'm starting to regret answering Reece's call. 

"So all last night I tried to move things, lamps, computer mouses, anything really." Shawn says. "But nothing was working."

"Can't you just do it with your ghost powers or whatever?" I get in my blankets, Shawn is making my body cold and I'm also still too tired.

"Yeah, but I can't feel it, I want to be able to move things with my own hands."

"What if you have to be solid, last night you looked alive, you were stronger. Maybe, the stronger you are and the more human you look, the better it works."

"Maybe." He sighs and lays down next to me, looking into my eyes. He has the most beautiful brown eyes I've ever seen. I could look at them forever. "So, who was the girl you were on the phone with?"

"My friend, Reece, from Miami."

Shawn nods and turns to look up at the ceiling. "Hey, that reminds me, can you do me a favor?" 

"Sure, I guess." I shrug.

"Well, I was thinking about my family last night too, specifically my younger sister, Aaliyah. We were really close before this happened and seeing you and Sam together has made me think about her a lot more. So I was thinking, maybe you could look her up or something."

Shawn seems so hesitant to ask me. Like I would ever tell him no. I can't imagine having no contact with my family for three years. "Yeah, of course I can." I open my phone and go to instagram. Most teenagers our age have Instagram, hopefully she will. "What's her name?"

"Aaliyah Mendes." He tells me, looking over his shoulder. 

"Do any of these people look like her?" I show him the list of people and profile pictures. He points to a profile with two girls sitting in a car together. 

"Oh god. That's her." I click on her latest picture. "Wow, she's so pretty." He whispers. The look on his face is too precious for words. He looks like he's either going to cry from sadness or happiness. I'm not sure if the dead can cry but we might be finding out very soon.

I click on another picture. "Here's one form prom."

"She looks so happy." He's smiling so much, it makes me smile.

I click on one from her 15th birthday. "I'm glad she's doing okay. I've been so worried."

I get a notification from Jace and I quickly move my phone away from Shawns view. I'm not sure why I want Shawn to know about him. It's probably embarrassment. That's why I haven't told my family yet either. "Who is it?" Shawn asks, referring to the text.

"Um, no one."

I quickly scan the text.

Jace

Hey Gracie, how do you feel about a picnic on the beach?

I smile down at my phone and see Shawn staring at me in the corner of my eye. I reply to Jace, saying that a beach picnic sounds amazing. I've only ever gone on one date with a boy in my Freshman drama class. It didn't go well but something tells me this date with Jace will be really nice. 

"Seriously, Gracie who is texting you?" Shawn asks, trying to catch a glance of my phone.

He's going to find out tomorrow anyway. So I might as well tell him now and let him tease me. "It's just Jace." I meet Shawn's eyes, he looks disgusted. It almost makes me mad. Why does he care? It's my life, I can go out with who I want. I'm not going to not go just because the ghost haunting my house had a bad experience with Jace. Shawn rolls his eyes and disappears without a word. I stare at the spot he was just in, throwing my hands up in annoyance, "What?"