I find myself sitting on the bench next to them. Spider's hair was black like a stormy sky and ordinary brown eyes hiding under the hair shoved into their eyes. She had a small frame, short enough for their feet to dangle off the bench. Small eyes were darting quickly across the pages of the book they were reading. They seemed oblivious to my presence. I look out to the school's field, ghostly blue figures littering the distance. There was a crowd of them around me, conversing. I could barely hear them, but I could understand perfectly. One was an older woman without her eyes, scolding a younger boy with apparently nothing wrong with him. An older man was leaning on the bench behind me. Spider didn't know they were there because they couldn't. They were nonexistent to anyone but me, I who could hear them and see them like they were physical beings. I knew that if you tried to touch them, it would just feel misty, and kind of cold. I saw a familiar one starting from across the field. I leaned my head back, I could hear his voice already.
"What are you doing?" I assumed Spider was talking to me, and just didn't bother to look my way.
"Not anything. We're supposed to spend like 20 minutes out here right? I'm just bored, and you're the only one I know out here." I reply.
She closed her book and stared forward. I was looking at them but was getting distracted.
"Ayo, Brian!" The ghostly blue figure spoke to me. He looked a lot like me, with curly dark hair and a nose dusted with freckles. The only difference between us is the gruesome hole in his stomach and his eyes. His was a green that you could only find on the dead, mine was a fierce, bright blue.
"What?" I said without saying.
"Why do you even talk to them?"
"Dunno." She seemed like they were trying to come up with an answer. Her face was slightly scrunched up in thought. I was getting tired of the silence.
"We'll need to get back soon. I'm going to go."
"Ay, Brian, how was school? Sorry for leaving" He had gotten distracted by the woods behind the school property and ran off.
"School was fine, and you're not bound to me. You know you are free to leave, right?" He looked kind of off-put, then shook it off with a laugh.
"Yeah, I guess so." I looked over at him. I've always seen things like him, all glowy and blue, but he just came up to me one day and stuck to me.
"What is your name? You haven't ever known my name." I say to him. He looks at me, confused.
"I guess I never had introduced myself. I don't remember my name, but I've always been called Dan."
"Nice to finally know." I smile. My phone buzzes, and I take it out of my bag. It was a message from Abby.
-Wanna come over 2nite?-
Feelings stirred in my stomach. I finally decided to reply.
-Nah, I have too much work .3. Xoxo!- I had a stomach ache. I lied to her, I don't know why.
-bby pls? U can do it l8ter-
-kk see u soon-
-yey ^^-
Abby is what most would refer to as my girlfriend. We met at an art class I took a few years back. I never got any better at art, but she practically mastered it. She's admired by our whole school as beautiful and talented. We were friends until about a month ago. It was kind of out of nowhere. We were talking above a cliffside, sitting beneath the railing with our feet hanging off. Then, she kissed me. I didn't expect it.
I felt uncomfortable. It was probably what they fed us at the school. I had to buy food because I forgot to bring my lunch today.
I drop by a gas station to pick up some snacks. Dan was talking to another ghost as we were walking. It seemed that they were friends. They were talking about me. The other ghost seemed enamored that I could see and understand him.
"You can see us?"
"Obviously. Additionally, I can hear you talking about me."I look forward. He walks a little faster to catch up to take a look at me.
"Woah. I hadn't ever seen that kinda eyes before. So, where are ya goin'?" He inquired. I look his way and reply,
"I'm going to get snacks and head over to my friend's house," I say as I walk into the gas station. I grab a chocolate bar for myself and a bag of fruit flavored hard candy for her. I walk to the counter to a girl around my age.
I was sitting on the edge of Abby's couch. It smells like vanilla and oranges. She came back from the bathroom and sat down close to me. The bag of hard candies sat empty on the coffee table in front of us. The couch was a gross yellow. The obnoxious green walls made me feel trapped. She suddenly grabbed my hand and led me up the stairs. Down the hallway, there were some stairs that she led me up.
"This is so boring. I have a TV in my room, let's watch something. Come on." I walk with her to her room, my whole body telling me to stop. I couldn't think of why, so I kept on. We reached her room. Her room was a soft pink that was almost pleasant to the eyes. I still wasn't fond of the color. The dresser and the bedframe were a matching a white shade. True to her word, there was a small TV on the dresser with a remote, but she didn't pick it up. She sat on her bed, motioning for me to sit down next to her. I sat down on the opposite side of the bed, and she scoots closer with a smile. She leaned over to me, appearing to try to peck me on the lips. I usually tolerated it, but I swerved out of the way today. She laughs, a bit confused.
"Brian, are you alright?" She asked me. The concern was obvious in her expression and tone.
"I... Don't know. I don't know if I- want this." A mix of emotions washed across her face for a brief moment. Anger, sadness, guilt, frustration. I seemed to feel similarly. She looked heartbroken, and I felt guilty. I cross my legs.
"I'm sorry. I never meant to be more than friends I can't-"
She stood up from the bed.
"Go." She seemed to be thinking hard about something. I leave, knowing this would likely have ended in disaster. And it had, worse than I would've thought.
She told everyone. Or, at least, she told one person and they told everybody. I can't entirely blame her. If something like that happened, I can't say I wouldn't want to talk to someone. She likely had good intentions, but bad things had happened because of it. She had a fierce following of people from the school that are part of her troupe
