Dark Beauty

chapter 6

When I got home there wasn’t anyone around, so I just left my bag in my room and watched some TV.
My house was much bigger than the last one. It had even a little library with a corner just for my books and me. I love reading, especially books about ghosts. They always give me some new ideas on how to deal with the dead. Right now though, I was reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. It was an incredible book, but also very sad. Oliver suffers so much. When it seems that he is finally going to have a better life, something happens and he suffers more. It may be a fictional book, but Dickens was describing how many children lived in the industrial period. 
After reading a little, I went to my room and thought about my day. It had been the best first day of school I have ever had. I met Jake, the ghost that I met wasn’t trying to kill me and I had two classes with Lucas on Monday. I know it’s not much, but I always try to focus on the good things, even if they are small. 
    When I went downstairs again my mother was already home. She was making dinner; I could smell her delicious tomato sauce. I went into the kitchen; she was making Spaghetti with tomato sauce.
‘Hello mom.’ I said as I entered the kitchen.
‘Oh hello darling, I was going to call you but I was already late, so I started making dinner. Can you set the table for me please?’ She asked.
‘Of course.’ I said getting the plates.
‘How was your day Leila, made many friends?’ she asked.
I wanted to say yes, I met a super nice guy, a ghost of a girl called Jessica and I have two classes with a super-hot guy named Lucas, but instead I said I had made only one friend.
‘Really, what’s her name?’ She said cutting more onion for the sauce.
‘Actually, it’s a he and his name is Jake.’ I said
‘Jake… and how did you meet him?’ She asked.
‘Well, he helped me find the principal’s office and then Mrs. Cole told him to show me around school.’ I answered.
‘Oh, if the principal asked him to show you around school that means he’s a good boy.’ my mom said.  ‘And does he have a lot of friends?’ 
‘No. He had a friend before, but he moved to Australia.’ I answered.
‘Only one friend? Why is that? He will be very lucky to have you as his friend.’ She started cutting the garlic now.
‘I don’t know why. He seems really nice.’ I wasn’t going to tell her that most people in school thought he was a freak because they thought that he either had an imaginary friend or heard voices. 
‘Maybe you can help him make more friends. You are always so nice to everyone.’ 
I thought about that, but for now, I was fine with him being my only friend. I also didn’t want to be friends with the type of people who bully others just because they are different. 

    I finished setting the table and went to take a shower before dinner; the water was hot just the way I liked it. As I took my shower, I wondered if tomorrow would be as good as today was. I hoped so. 

When I went downstairs, my mom was already putting the food on the table. It had a delicious smell. My mouth was already watering. I loved my mom’s food; she cooked so well. On our family dinners for Christmas or thanksgiving, she was always the one who would make the main dish and even desert.
‘Let’s eat. Your father is going to be a little late, so he will eat later.’ My mom said.
We ate dinner in silence. She would ask a question every now and then, I would answer, but we didn’t maintain a conversation. She asked me about my classes and a little more about Jake. If she knew he could talk to ghosts she might get a little worried. 
When I was a little girl, before I understood my gift, I would get really scared when I saw a ghost. I couldn’t sleep at night and I would ask my parents to make them go away.  They got worried and thought that maybe I had a mental problem or something. For some time, I took medicine and went to therapy, but my mother realized the medicine wasn’t helping me and it was just making me feel bad. I ended up just going to therapy. One day I met a ghost who explained to me why I could see what others couldn’t and everything was easier from that day on.  I stopped complaining to my parents and so they thought that I was okay now. They still kept an eye on me, though.  
It suddenly crossed my mind if Jake’s parents knew that Jake could talk to ghosts. If even the whole school thought there was something off with him and thought he was weird, then his parents might have already discovered something.
After my mom thinking I had some mental illness, I learned to keep my secret even safer, but sometimes she catches me talking to a ghost and gets a little worried. If my parents knew the truth, life would be much easier. I wouldn’t get grounded for coming back late or breaking into places. Luckily, I was caught breaking and entering in places just two times out of the seven. I got caught breaking into a house, back when I was still learning how to break into places properly. I can say I became kind of a pro in breaking and entering. My parents would be so proud of me. 

After dinner, I cleaned the dishes, got a piece of apple pie and went to my room. When I got there, Jessica was sitting on my bed.
‘Jessica, did something happen?’ I asked.
‘Well, I just want to talk a little about Peter. Remember when you said that thing I always used to say to him? Well, he kept repeating it all the time and he started eating less than usual, and he kept calling my name, crying and saying how sorry he was. I can’t take it anymore; he is suffering too much.’ She said in such a low voice that I barley heard her.
‘Look, today was the first day, we still need time to try and make him our friend, and only then we can think about what to say to him. But, we will keep a close eye on him at school and you will keep watching him at his house. If he gets worse, we will think of something riskier to do.’ I said, trying to confront her. ‘You need to be patient.’
‘Thank you. I really appreciate what you guys are doing.’ Jessica said, I could she was trying hard not to cry.
‘Jake and I will try our best, okay? We won’t give up.’ I said
Jessica was going to say something but suddenly she just disappeared, pointing to something behind me.
‘With whom were you talking to?’ my mom asked with a worried face.
OH crap.

‘Um, no one.’ I said, trying to sound convincing. 
‘It seemed like you were talking to someone.’ She said. ‘Are you seeing those scary people again?’ 
‘Mom, don’t worry, it’s been years since the last time I saw things.’ I said. I got up from my bed and put my hand on her shoulder ‘I’m okay.’
‘I’m sorry.’ She said ‘It’s my job to worry about you.’ 
‘And it’s my job to make you realize I’m fine.’ I smiled.
‘Thank you.’ She smiled. ‘Don’t go to sleep too late.’ 

Just when my mom shut the door did Jessica appeared again.
‘Sorry for that, I was talking to Jake. I told him what I told you.’ She said sitting on my bed.
‘What did he say?’ I asked in a low voice.
‘The same as you.’ Jessica said ‘I don’t know why I didn’t talk to him when I was at school. I mean, I wasn’t in the group that made fun of him, but I never really stopped to have a conversation with him.’ Jessica smiled ‘I need to go. I’m going to see Peter.’ 
‘Okay. Go and take care of your love, but remember that you can’t stay here forever.’ I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. 
‘I know. Oh, I almost forgot, Jake said goodnight.’ She said.
‘Oh, could you pass by there and tell him I also said goodnight?’ I asked.
‘Of course I can. Bye.’ She waved and disappeared. 
I made a mental note to get his number as I separated my books for tomorrow.
I glanced around my room. t was still a little disorganized, because we had just moved, but I was working on it. I had already organized my bookshelf and my DVD shelf and all of my clothes were in the closet. I just needed to organize some little details, but I could do that tomorrow. The walls in my room where all painted a light green with some cool drawings in black, pink and others colors. Next to my desk there were some posters and photos of my friends and my family, there was also a photo of my cat, which I hadn’t seen today. 
Wondering where the cat had wandered off to, I went to bed. As I laid in bed I couldn’t help thinking about my day again. It had been one of my luckiest days. It did start as a bad day, because of those three annoying girls. Although, it if wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have met Jake, so I guess I can’t complain.