Kiss Me at Midnight

Part 3

"... and then he kissed me again!"

I laid in bed on my back, my head hanging off the edge. I held my phone against my ear with one hand and held the bridge of my nose with the other. Katelyn had called me promptly at 8 AM, which had only left me with about five hours' sleep since I'd spent several hours laying in bed, thinking about the two boys I had kissed.

Which, honestly, was pretty much how I was spending this conversation, too. When I'd first answered, Katelyn had been pretty pissed off. She yelled at me for leaving her at the party, but in the same breath started going on about how great her ride home with Adam had been. Like a terrible friend, I'd zoned out about thirty seconds later.

Henry had really surprised me last night. I hadn't seen him for a while, and he had reappeared like some sort of butterfly- erupted from the chrysalis, no longer a nerdy caterpillar. And when he'd kissed me, it was nice. I had been thoroughly enjoying it until my dumb anxious mind had started overthinking everything that had happened with William-

Oh, William. I'd barely spoken to him for more than five minutes. We'd only exchanged a flurry of confusing dialogue and a deep sexual attraction, but I was more allured by his ghost-like disappearing trick. Twice he had vanished, once when my eyes were closed, and once as I was staring right at him. Was he an amateur magician, or was he a ghost?

I intended to find out.

______________________

After a short nap, I got dressed in my usual attire- a t-shirt, jeans, and some skateboarding shoes. I climbed into my black SUV and headed out to the Ravencrest Manor.

It looked a little different in the sunlight- more like a home than a "manor". There were no longer swarms of people going in and out, only a small trickle of workers as they hauled out bags of garbage and soiled tablecloths. I could actually imagine someone living their life in this place, rather than just hosting elegant parties every night.

I pulled right up front and parked my car. What was I doing? Did I really think I could walk up to the front door and ask for William?

I answered myself by getting out and walking up the front steps. No one stopped or asked me what I was doing there. The front doors were wide open, so I took a step inside, hoping William or his parents would be around. Workers moved past me as if I were the ghost.

"Um," I saw a woman walk by with some freshly laundered sheets. "Is William here?"

The woman glanced at me for a moment, and then continued walking past me. How rude! I had just asked her a simple question.

"Brenna?"

I glanced up the staircase to see William standing at the top, still wearing the same clothes he had on at the party last night. He was smiling, and he brushed a hand through his thick blonde hair. Still looking fine as hell, I see...

"William, hi!" I beamed, grateful for a familiar face. "I, uh, came to see you."

He motioned for me to join him. I hopped up the steps as gracefully as I could manage (I was very proud that I only tripped once) and stood before him. It took everything I had not to touch him. My curiosity was piqued, and my imagination was running wild inside that wacky brain of mine. Would my hand go right through his body? Of course not, I kissed him last night and he felt solid!