Letters With a Ghost

Chapter Twenty

"They posted the results today," Danielle said, voice shaking with a mixture of excitement and fear. "They're on the activities bulletin board in the main lobby."

Camryn nodded, swallowing the lump growing in her throat. It had been a month since her presentation. She had expected to be called down to the office for questioning about her participation, but no such call ever came.

"I'll wait for you to check," Danielle added. "See you in a bit."

Camryn hung up the phone and got out of bed. She dressed slowly, movements shaky and almost uncertain. She prayed that this would all be worth it. It had to be, after all. She put a lot of work into that speech, and what she read at the end...

She glanced over to the pile of notebooks and loose papers stacked in the corner of her room. Each sheet, front and back, started a new entry with the same introduction. 263 letters. 263 burdens symbolizing wasted time and desperate attempts to cope with a hopeless situation. 263 cries for help strangled and silenced by the hard reality that is being completely alone with no one close enough who even cares enough to hear the creeping sounds of Death gearing up and ready to take another soul.

This fact is accentuated even more by the fact that she read one out loud with only herself and one other person knowing that it was more than fiction, and no one suspected a single thing.

Even the other person, Jonathan, the one who knew her story and supposedly suffered through it with her, made no move to reach out. In fact, he only seemed to care that morning, sitting atop Ayden's grave.

She was alone.

No one knew that her makeup concealed the bruises left by her mother. No one knew her smile concealed the scars left on her heart.

She was completely and utterly alone.

She grabbed her backpack and opened her bedroom door slowly. She checked to make sure the halls were clear, then tiptoed out and down the stairs. Quietly, she opened the front door and slipped into the cold morning air.

She listened to her music while she waited for her bus. She tried her hardest to get lost in the lyrics, a way for her to temporarily forget about the world. Despite her efforts, her thoughts did not abandon her.

When her bus arrived, she climbed on and walked down the aisle, claiming her usual seat. Seat 17. Her favorite number since she was little. She didn't know why.

Danielle got on at her usual stop, the bus went its usual route, they talked about their usual things.

When they got off, they found Jonathan leaning against one of the pillars leading into the building. He walked over when he saw them.

"The results are posted," he said quickly.

"We know," Danielle said. "You didn't look, did you?"

Jonathan shook his head. "I was waiting for you two."

The three of them walked into school together. They made a beeline for the activities board, located the list, and read down the line, holding their breaths.

ATTENTION ALL ACTIVITIES FAIR CLUB PRESENTERS: RESULTS POSTED BELOW. IF YOUR CLUB IS LISTED, PLEASE REPORT TO THE BOARD DIRECTOR'S OFFICE LOCATED TO THE LEFT OF THE MAIN OFFICE

Cheer Club
Newspaper Club
Foreign Language Club
Robotics Club
Diversity Club
Environmental Efforts Club
Aspiring Writer's Club (please report to the main office)

They all exchanged glances, nerves skyrocketing to a new level.

"Maybe he just wanted to congratulate us on our efforts," Jonathan offered, sounding unsure of himself. "Camryn's writing was really good."