Ghost In Red

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“Hey, Syd! Do you want me to drive you to the airport later?” Adam asked as he descended the stairs and slipped in his white T-shirt.    

I looked his way and shook my head.    

“Uh, no. Thanks, by the way.” I replied and looked back at Vidia’s notebook in my hold, where there were lots of numbers with symbols beside them.    

“Oh, okay. So… did you tell your pals already? Do you, guys, know that she’s…?” He answered and asked my friends here in the living room, but Kevin finished his question.    

“Going to Chicago? Yeah, we know, Couz. She told us already.”    

“Uh, no. What I mean is… she’s gay, too. You both are so gonna make Aunt Cleo so upset. You better be ready for our next get-together. But I'm so damn excited to see her reaction, though. And her sisters! That would be so epic! Imagine... Their favorite niece will never have a boyfriend.” My brother, his jerk mode activated, cackled and stopped when Kevin and I just looked at him with blinking eyes and no other expression than not impressed, and he coughed. Karma.    

“Oh, sh*t! You girls know it, don’t you? Vidi? Ems? Sydney is a lesbian. And she's going to Chicago with her girlfriend.” He asked and sabotaged me, and my girl pals snapped their heads to look at me.    

And Vidia mouthed me, "He knows? About the ghost?"    

Then I nodded and shook my head in reply.    

"Yeah, we know. Thanks for telling, Adam." Emma answered him, and he laughed.    

Can't he just go on with what he was supposed to be doing? Or did he just come here to be a damn a**hole? I bet it's the latter. And, of course, I already told these people. Because even if I didn't tell them, they still would know because of this jerk.    

"Ah, the "friend" you were referring to last night whom you'd help is your girlfriend. Right, sissy?" He assumed, and I just nodded my head so he wouldn't ask me more and more questions.    

"Damn, I am so f*cking right! Did you hear that, Honey? Now, gimme three hundred! Oh, I can finally buy those new shoes~" He rejoiced and called out his wife, and we all went looking at each other with wondering looks on our faces.    

And OJ, who's sitting on the headrest of the couch, laughed when she must have realized something. "They are betting, Syd!"    

"What? I didn't hear anything! Is it true, Syd? You're going with your girlfriend there?" Wendy walked out of the kitchen, and I looked her way and just smiled. I'm so sorry. I didn't know they were betting on me.    

"See? I am so right about it!" Adam confidently claimed, and we all just observed them.    

"Okay, Hon. It's your money, anyway. But… you are sleeping on the floor tonight. You're getting no job from me. F*ck your shoes, instead." The pregnant woman asserted, quite angry.    

And when I looked at my pals, they all cracked out laughing. Even the ghost in red.    

I turned to my brother and saw he sighed, and he went close to the woman and trapped her in his arms while trying to kiss her.    

I got my mouth hung open while my friends were cheering on them, and I let out scoff of disbelief.    

"You, guys! We are in the middle of a study session here! For the freaks' sake! Get a room! Gross!" I belted and turned my gaze to the thing in my hold with a mathematical equation that I had been trying to figure out for a while now.    

"Ooh, look at how she's disgusted with romancing, yet she's going to go bang her girlfriend on their excursion." Adam taunted, and I shot him a death glare while my friends were trying to hold their laughter.    

"No! We are not going there for… ugh, can you just shut the hell up? We are trying to… I mean, they are trying to study. And I'm helping them. Mind your own stuff, will you?" I yelled and heard Vidia let out, "They haven't even kissed yet. They can't. Or can they?"    

And Emma pursed her lips while her cheeks were blushing so red by holding her laugh.    

"Oh, no. Trust me, Cousin. She can't kiss her on their vacation. Not even a touch." Kevin butted in, and they all went laughing.    

And I was about to talk when OJ admitted something, "Oh, we did! I mean, I have kissed her. In her sleep. Yeah! I can be the one to kiss her if she doesn't kiss me. And trust me… it feels just like a real kiss! The feeling is there. The butterflies! It's like… real. Very real. I can feel her touch, same with how she could feel me."    

I looked at the ghost with my eyes widened in shock, and she just winked at me while grinning.    

What the… heck? She did what?    

"No kiss? No touch? I'm gonna bet on that. That's impossible!" Adam laughed, and my cousin told him he was so damn sure about it.    

"You know what? I'm done here. I'm going to double-check my baggage upstairs. You can ask Emma about all of these. Or OJ. If she's gonna give you some answers." I contended and stood up, putting the notebook on the glass table as calmly as I could be.    

"Oh, come on, Syd."    

"We were just kidding."    

"Sorry."    

"Don't be upset."    

I went to climb the stairs without listening to any of their whines and apologies.    

I opened my bedroom door, went inside, and locked it up.    

I deeply sighed and walked to my bed to sit down, and I looked at the door when I heard a voice.    

"Hey, Syd! Can I come in?" She called, and I didn't say anything, yet she still went inside, passing through the closed door.    

"Are you okay?" OJ asked me with a soft voice, and I looked at her and nodded my head.    

"Yeah. I'm fine." I replied and stood up to go to the couch, and I sat there while looking out the window.    

There was silence, and I saw in my peripheral vision that she was going near me.    

"Hey… um, about earlier… with what I said… the… the kiss thingy. I, um, I'm not sorry that I did… kind of… steal one. Just one… this morning. But I am sorry if you feel mad at me." She stuttered while explaining, and I chuckled softly.    

"No, I'm not mad at you. Or at anybody. I seriously just want to… be alone for a moment. And no, it's okay if you are here or with me all the time. I mean, I want to be away from lots of people where I am the center of their attention. It's one way to get their sh*ts together and be serious about what they should be doing. I guess you know me better now that I am a killjoy most of the time, even with my friends and family. Well, there is time for messing up or being serious. And yes, I am a boring person to be with." I explained and looked at her, and she smiled warmly.    

"No, you're not boring. But I get it. I know you are sometimes… mostly cold at times. They know that, too. I presume. But they are still with you and happy being with you. Even if how sh*tty your personality is. You are being true to them, and they are honest with you, too, and… they love you. You are amazing the way you are. And I like it that you are somewhat mysterious and complicated. We all are. But you are sure to be the type that takes most things very seriously, and… you want it all to go well. And I adore you more for that, Ice Queen. But do you mind if I'm going to melt you slowly? Because I love seeing you smile and hear you laugh." She said, looking me in the eyes, and I couldn't help but smile as I heard her incredible words.    

"Look at that smile! You are so beautiful, Sydney. But I'm not gonna lie. You look so hot when you're upset." She laughed and quickly walked away from me, and I certainly didn't know how to react. This biatch…    

"Haha! Funny!" I sarcastically replied, and she just went laughing more.    

I stood up and took her phone from my study table. And I unlocked it with the pattern she told me, and I opened the camera. Then I took a photo of myself.    

When I saw the ghost lying on my bed and seemed to have composed herself from her hysterical laughter, I pointed the camera at her, and the girl posed like crazy. Admirably crazy.    

I looked at the pictures I took, and it did capture her but faintly.    

"Oh, let's take a selfie together, Syd! Come here. That's going to be good proof that I was here with you, and as a remembrance that we got together today. Come on. Take one with your phone also." She cheerily suggested and motioned me to come close to her on the bed, and the look on her face was of pure joy.    

Oh, I'd give everything just to see that look on her face always.    

She scooted closer to me as I sat on the edge of the bed, and I finally took lots of pictures of us together. Some were silly poses, while the others were casuals.    

And then, I suddenly felt something warm on my right cheek, only to realize that she kissed me.    

Oh, girl! She kissed me on the cheek!    

"What?" She asked, smiling so wide as if nothing surprising had happened, and I couldn't find the perfect word that I should say.    

She got out of the bed and was about to leave my room, and she looked back at me.    

"Get your sh*t together, Syd. You seem about to explode. But you look so cute when you blush super hard. Come on. You need to eat lunch early and prepare for our flight." She said and held out her hand for me, and I took it. Though I couldn't hold it, I could feel her.    

She's right. The feelings are real, and the butterflies, as well.