Luna's Ghost

11

When I returned to school the next day, I was met with stares from everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. A lot of people had seen my little freak out moment and saw me passing out and falling on the floor. I felt my face burn and tried to block it out the best I could.

Helen kept telling me that there was nothing to be embarrassed about, but I still felt self-conscious. A few people who were in my classes approached me and asked if I was okay, and I assured them I was, but other than that, people just mostly stared. All of my teachers asked if I was feeling better, which was nice of them, but I just wanted everyone to forget what happened and move on.

Helen and Johnny were the only ones that kept me sane throughout the day. I wanted to bolt out of there from all the stares I kept receiving. No doubt, they thought I had some serious mental issues or something.

Meanwhile, to distract me from what was going on around me, Helen told me about how she and Johnny met when they were alive.

I sat there in Humanities, working on my assignments as I listened to her talk.

She told me that she and Johnny went to the same high school, Fairdale High, where I saw Johnny and his friends in that vision. She said she was basically the typical girl next door, getting good grades, joining multiple after school activities, going to and volunteering at her church, was a teacher's pet, was an all around good girl until Johnny was transferred to her school.

He was an all around bad boy, which could be expected since he was a Greaser, and had been kicked out of so many schools in that year alone and Fairdale was his last resort before he'd have to go to an alternative school, though he was beyond caring. He raised hell and trouble as soon as he got there, making the teachers want to pull their hair out and all the girls were drawn to his bad boy charm.

At first, Helen wanted nothing to do with him--she thought he was trouble--and stayed away from him, but he was in one of her classes and he claimed he found her cute and started flirting with her, and she herself couldn't resist his bad boy charm as well. They became a couple shortly after.

The bell suddenly rang and I jumped. I'd been so enthralled in their tale that I completely lost track of time. I looked down at my assignments and was surprised I'd managed to complete every one of them. My teacher was very pleased with that, telling me I was the only person in his class who did any work, and I went off to lunch.

I sat at the usual table I'd sat in since the first day and found myself scanning the sea of students, searching for Jackson. I'd promised Helen and Johnny that I would stay out of what was going on, but I still wanted to make sure he was okay. Maybe his uncle decided to leave him alone and move on? I crossed my fingers that that was the case, but it didn't seem likely. Sinister ghosts clung to you like a parasite.

I couldn't find him anywhere. I watched the doors, wondering if he was just coming into the cafeteria late, but he never showed up. I felt a knot of dread form in my stomach. What if something happened to him? What if the ghost--?

"Who are you looking for?" Helen asked.

Johnny groaned and shook his head at me. "Who do you think? Luna, we told you to stay away from that guy."

I took my phone out of my pocket, put it up to my ear, and said, "I was just seeing if he was in here. Chill out."

"I saw what was on your laptop," he went on. "I saw you looking that guy up. I didn't say anything about it because you had a really bad day but now. . . Why would you want to get involved in something like that?"