Ghosts of a Memory

The boy on the balcony

Clara gulped nervously, trying her best to ignore Alexa's intimidating black eyes. She laid her textbook on her desk and flipped to the required page, bending her head low over her book. 

Had she already managed to offend the other girl? But all she did was introduce herself on the blackboard. 

Was it because she was mute? Did Alexa already dislike her because of that one disability? 

Questions were rushing through her mind. Mrs. Anders' words were like a wordless buzz in her ears as her mind slowly spaced out. 

Soon the recess bell rang. There was a loud scraping of chairs as everyone got up and scrambled towards the door to get to the cafeteria. 

A guy and two girls walked up to Kyle's desk, talking and laughing. 

His friends, Clara figured. 

 "Ah, Clara," Kyle called to her, standing up from his seat. "These are my friends." He indicated to a blonde boy. "Jackson." He then pointed to a girl with a thick mass of fiery red hair. "Maia." 

The other girl, whose black hair was tied neatly into a side braid and whose striking green eyes looked like they could pierce through your soul, stepped forward and offered her hand without waiting for Kyle's introduction. "Jenna. Nice to meet you. Welcome to Springfield."

Clara shook her hand and nodded. 

Kyle cleared his throat loudly to draw the attention back to him. "Anyway, want to join us for recess?" 

Clara was about to type out a reply on her phone when a voice suddenly interrupted, "Clara, right?" 

All of them turned. Clara's eyes widened in both shock and fear. 

Alexa Williams was standing nearby, her eyebrows raised expectantly at her. Clara felt as though every muscle in her body had gone stiff. 

"You're Clara, aren't you?" Alexa repeated, sounding somewhat impatient. Clara nodded. "May I talk to you for a while?" 

Clara shot a glance at Kyle, who shrugged. "We'll wait for you here, I guess." 

She walked towards Alexa, feeling nervous. Had she done something wrong?

Alexa led her outside the classroom. They stood facing each other for a while before the ginger-haired girl spoke, "So you're mute, huh?" This was it, this was the moment she was dreading. Clara stuffed her hands into her jean pockets, keeping her gaze on the tiled floor. 

"Hurry up and answer me. All you have to do is shake or nod your head." Alexa half-yelled, irritation evident in her tone. Clara slowly moved her head up and down in response, eyes still fixed on the ground. 

"And you should look at others while they're talking to you." Alexa continued, still not bothering to hide her annoyance. Clara lifted her head. 

"Much better," Alexa said. "Now, I'm going to ask you this question and you'd better look at me when you give your answer." 

Clara didn't like the way Alexa was bossing her around but, in fear of what the other girl might do to her if she protested, she obeyed. "Do you want to sit with me and my friends for recess?" 

Clara's eyes widened in surprise. Had she heard right? 

Fumbling with her phone for a good minute, she finally managed to produce the following word: 

Pardon? 

Alexa let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, you heard right. Now hurry up, we don't have all day." 

Despite her nervousness, Clara managed to type out a response before Alexa could yell at her further. 

Thanks, but I've already told Kyle that I'll sit with him and his friends. 

"Alright, then. Have fun." And with that, Alexa turned and walked down the hallway, leaving Clara stunned and confused. 

Clara walked back into the classroom where Kyle and the others were still there, waiting for her. "Well, what happened?" Kyle asked, hopping down from the desk that he was sitting on. 

She asked me if I wanted to sit with her at the cafeteria. 

"Are you serious?" Jenna asked, surprised written all over her face. Clearly, Alexa inviting new students to join her for lunch wasn't common. 

Is there something wrong? 

"No," Maia replied. "It's  just that.... Alexa doesn't normally make the first move when it comes to interacting with people. Especially newbies. It's strange but maybe she's changing. And for the better too." 

Clara didn't know what to make of this. She didn't feel special or happy that Alexa chose to speak to her first. She had a bad feeling about Alexa that she just can't seem to shake off. She really hoped that she was wrong and that the other girl's intentions were good and genuine after all. 

"Come on, let's stop talking about her," Jackson said impatiently. "Whatever her reason was for being nice towards Clara, I'm sure it'll come into light sooner or later. If you're really curious, you can just ask her yourself. But right now, I'm really starving so can we please just go eat?" 

Jenna smacked his shoulder. "You really can't shut up about food, can you?" 

Jackson shrugged. "What can I say? Food is life." 

"And that is why we're still friends." Jenna grinned, bumping her fist against his. 

The five of them walked towards the cafeteria. The place was packed with students of all grades, eating and taking time off from being cooped up in a classroom with a boring teacher for hours. The sound of teenagers laughing and chattering were loud enough to be heard two floors up.

The others led Clara to a line. They spooned food onto their trays and carried them to a table in front of a large window. Warm sunlight streamed in through the glass, providing natural light to the cafeteria. 

"This is where we sit," Kyle said. "You can join us whenever you like." 

Clara suspected the others would've objected to this suggestion but didn't dare to in front of her. She was grateful to Kyle for his kindness though. 

The rest of the day flew by faster than Clara expected. She sat through another series of lengthy classes with more teachers droning on and on about things she barely understood. 

She forgot how much she hated school. 

Soon, the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. She sighed with relief as she dumped her books and supplies into her bag. "See you tomorrow, Clara." Kyle grinned, slinging his school bag over one shoulder. Clara nodded back in reply.

Her mother's white Honda Civic was already waiting for her outside the school gates. She got in. Her mother flashed her a smile from the rear view mirror. "So, how did school go?" 

Okay. Clara raised her phone high enough for her mother to see from the mirror. 

"That's good." Her mother responded.

When she finally reached home and ate her lunch, Clara walked upstairs to her room to take a shower in the connected bathroom. 

If she still had her voice, she'd scream at what she saw when she pulled open her bedroom door.

A boy, his form translucent and faintly colored to the point where she could see the entire landscape behind him, was standing on her balcony.