Ghost In Red

---    

"You don't know your mother's phone number? What kind of...? Ugh! Never mind." Sydney asked, on her way to give me another shot of insult but dismissed it, and I just nodded my head in response with an apologetic smile on my face.    

I looked around the busy street, and I noticed that the people on the opposite side of the road from us had been giving weird looks to my companion here.    

“Well, that’s not a problem. Do you think Grace has her contact number? We could go back to the party. Or if she doesn't have it, we could make her call your dad and ask him for your mother’s number. What do you say?” She answered and was about to head back to where we had left, and I stood up from sitting down on the bench to explain it better to her.    

“No. It’s not like that, Syd. It’s… Uh, I… I don’t have my mother anywhere close. I don’t even know where she lives… right now.” I confessed and noticed she looked at me with a baffled face.    

“What? What do you mean?” She asked and wetted her lips with her tongue while looking at me to search for answers.    

“Mom and Dad divorced eleven years ago. And, I don’t know where she exactly lives other than knowing that she’s in Chicago. I know that you don’t know that.” I told her, sounding sad, and she just stared at me intently with her blinking eyes.    

She let out a deep sigh and muttered, “Very well then. I guess… I better prepare a speech for you. It better be emotional.”    

I got my mouth hung open as what she had said sunk in my nervous system, and I glared at her.    

“Sydney! You don’t mean that!” I whined and playfully slapped her left shoulder, but my hand just passed through her body.    

“I mean it, b*tch!” She asserted, but I am not convinced even a bit.    

“What happened to the other twenty-five letters? There are still twenty-four left, moron. Come on, Roswell! Think of another plan.” I argued, and she began walking in the direction of her cousin’s house.    

“Nope. I don’t have any other plans in my mind right now. My brain has dried up.” She replied as she kept walking, and I followed behind her, my shoulders down.    

I sighed and didn’t bother to say anything to her. I actually don’t have any idea what to do anymore. Perhaps we really have no other choice but to accept my fate. It's sad, but we can't do anything about it.    

There was no other sound that could be heard around us but the vehicles on the highway and the shuffling sound of Sydney’s shoes against the concrete pavement.    

---    

When we were about a block away from Kevin’s house, Sydney stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at me. I showed her a what-is-the-matter-? look, and she opened her mouth to say something.    

She hesitated on what to say and ended up licking her lips while looking at me in the eyes, and she waved her left hand, dismissing whatever she wanted to say, and muttered, “Nothing.”    

She turned back around and continued walking.    

That’s weird. But I know better. She has been thinking lots of things right now. Maybe I am one of them, or maybe not. Another plan, perhaps? Oh, how I wish, though.    

After she had told her relatives where her cousin was and that she would go home now, she took her brother’s motorbike out of the garage.    

She put on her helmet, hopped on, and went to rev the bike, ready to go.    

Damn, this b*tch’s so damn hot and cool at the same time. Shimmie, yeah, I can’t believe I am having these gay thoughts about her. Like, hey, there’s nothing wrong with crushing on a person of the same gender as yours, right? I mean… we have the freedom of our preferences. It’s just recently that I have seen her as someone so adorable. My head has been so jumbled up since I had spent time with her. Plus, well, I had seen her… all. Lovely. Mhmm. She’s so pretty. I wonder how she maintains having a body like that. Workout? Oh, I remember. She has martial arts training with her brother. I guess that’s why.    

“Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it. It’s spooking the hell out of me.” She let out, making me come back to reality, and I just noticed that she could see through her helmet’s tinted face shield, then she opened it.    

Ooops, that’s embarrassing. She had caught me looking at her from head to toe and her overall features. But, my bashful ass had been left behind with my body there in New York City. So, no, I don’t give a sh*t about what she thinks of me.    

I’m about to die, so why not live like every second I have left as it’s my last, right? Though, it certainly will be my last. I'll be living my best then—no shame, no regrets, no guilt, no problems, no hate, all just happiness.    

“What are you talking about? I’m not looking at you.” I replied, denying it like heck, and crossed my arms on my chest, but she just raised an eyebrow while smirking. Oh, she doesn’t believe me, huh?    

“Fine. I’m gawking at you. Happy now?” I affirmed and looked at her the way I did earlier one more time, and her smirk turned into a bright ear-to-ear smile.    

“Super happy.” She answered, making me blink my eyes in disbelief when she had winked at me, and she proceeded to keep the kickstand of her motorbike while her gaze shifted ahead. What did… wow! Okay. So we are this now, hitting on each other, from being enemies almost all years of our lives? Perfect!    

“Do you still want to come with me? Or... where are you gonna go?” She asked, turning her head left to look at me again, and her question seemed to change the atmosphere around us to something down.    

“I… I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just… I…” I began but paused. I don’t know what exactly to say, and I am feeling so heavy as I knew that if we part ways now, it will be the last time that we can see each other.    

“Hey, don’t cry, Oj. You would look so ugly. Cheer up!” She told me with a half-smile on her face, showing one of her charming dimples. She might have noticed my vibe, and I let out a soft laugh. I just find her new nickname for me so different. I feel it’s special because it is from her. And I am happy being with her.    

“I’m not crying. I don’t shed tears, Sydney.” I replied and let out a deep, sad sigh.    

“Oh, sure you don’t. Come with me.” She answered and told me, which made me show her a question mark face and asked her, “Why? Where?”    

“Just somewhere. I want to tell you something.” She answered, and it just made me more curious.    

I thought for a while but didn’t get the chance when the fussy, bossy Sydney whined, “Are you gonna come or not? Hop on before I change my mind.”    

“Wait, I will come with you.” I agreed and went to ride her motorbike.    

Oh, I so damn love the feeling of sitting closely behind her, just like earlier when we headed here. She feels so warm, and it makes me feel so weird. However, I never knew I could feel something while I am a ghost, but here she is. I could feel her, and she could feel me. She really is so extraordinary.    

---    

After driving about ten minutes and turning to lots of road intersections, Sydney finally parked her motorbike in a convenience store’s parking space.    

“Are you going to buy something?” I asked as I followed her inside the establishment.    

“Nope." She replied, and I just shrugged my shoulders. Isn't it obvious? Silly me.    

"Hey, Sydney! It's been a long time!"    

I snapped my head to the cashier when he called out the girl's name. Ooh, interesting. He seemed to know her. Who the heck are you, dude?    

"Yow, Fuller! Yep, I got busy with school sh*ts. The usual, by the way. The change is for the usual also. Thanks!" Sydney greeted the dude and handed him a dollar bill, and he gave her something he wrapped in a paper bag.    

Hmm. It can't be drugs, right? Oh, why am I thinking such? For one buck? Drugs? Who knows, right?    

"Here. Don't worry. Your baby's safe with me." He told the girl, making my eyes widen in bafflement and shock, and I can't help my nosy ass ask Sydney. "What baby is he talking about, Syd?"    

"Alright, thanks! See you, Fullerton!" She bid goodbye to the jerk-looking dude by the counter, and I just don't know what the hell is happening or what they are talking about.    

"Who is it? What baby? You haven't answered me." I asked her again as we went out of the store, and she just chuckled in response. Oh, don't dare she just laugh at me!    

"It's the motorbike. I'll leave it here for a while. We'll walk from here." She answered and took her phone out to open the flashlight, and I nodded my head in understanding. It's the bike. How dumb am I to think of something else?    

"Okay. Where are we going to go, anyway?" I replied and asked her, and she crossed the road where there were only a few streetlights.    

"Just somewhere." She answered and turned left to an intersection, and I just let out a breath. She loves surprises, eh?    

After walking about a few blocks, she walked into a place where I didn't expect her to bring me.    

"You are not planning to murder and bury me here, are you, Syd?" I uttered as we walked on the pathway where there were lots of tombstones on each side.    

"Well... It depends. Come here." She answered and led me to somewhere at the very far end of this cemetery.    

---    

"You know what, Syd? For a girl who freaked out seeing me—a ghost, you seem not scared of going here while it's dark, and you are all alone." I remarked, making her let out a soft laugh, and she turned to look at me.    

"I never saw a ghost my whole life other than you. And here? I don't feel anything unusual or see anything spooky." She replied and flashed me a bright smile, and I lightly nodded my head. Cool!    

"Okay. I guess you aren't aware that there are four other ghosts around here. There they are." I told her as I pointed to the other entities around the place, and she just shrugged her shoulders in response.    

"That's why I don't get scared." She said and opened the paper bag that she bought from that Fuller-dude at the convenience store.    

I noticed she bent down and lit up some candles; then, she placed them on each side of the tombstone before us. And I just noticed the names written on it.    

These are her parents.