My Bully Frenemy... is a Ghost?!

I guess I never thought I’d said life is good while staring at the chaos right in the face.

If you look at the picture, you will find me with my dress drenched. The whole venue for my Quinceañera party is flooded. The cake, the food, and some presents are done for good. But here we are, dancing under the lights like nothing happened, listening to “Party in the USA” and moving our hips. The good people I want and need are here: my parents, my best friend Mary and my newfound friend… frenemy… uh, I… I don’t even know how to name it. One, because it used to be my bully for years. And two, because it is a ghost-spirit, something not human. I guess I can temporarily call it Shady while I find a better name for it.

Now, I know from the outside this looks bad. But it’s a win in a way. A war of twelve years is over, or so I hope. At least things should be better now that Shady is on my side. Here’s to say what happened here today will surely destroy my high school reputation. Not that I’m particularly interested in being a queen bee or a popular girl, but I guess I can hold my head high and embrace being the queen of freaks. What? I’m fifteen. You and I know best, we all love attention. It’s fun, and I’m tired to pretend that it’s not. Well, except for the time they almost exorcized me. I don’t recommend it.

It’s ridiculous now that I think about it, how to witness something changed my life forever. I mean, what are the odds you will find a ghost on the Sunday mass?

In the year of the new millennium, 2000, on a Sunday morning, little three-year-old me was forced to go to mass. One thing that’s scarier than my luck is my ma. Not even my dad, the “manliest” man alive, dares to go against her judgement. He just won’t say that loud because he’s a guy. So, you can imagine why I was at seven, sat on a bench while fighting the urge to sleep. To avoid my eyelids to fall, I looked everywhere for a distraction, ever-so-slightly to not alert my ma and have her scolding me when we returned home. That’s when I saw this kid, close to the pulpit, blowing candles. At least from my point of view and from my younger eyes, it looked like a kid. It wasn’t.

I guess it noticed I stared for too long and when it turned to see me, we both froze and stood still for a long time. The kid had no face, body, or a human trace. The pair of grey eyes stared at me with panic. I let a small gasp out. Big mistake.

I heard ma’s voice, but not what she said. I was busy screaming at the top of my lungs with a finger pointing at nothing in everyone else’s eyes. Nothingness turned into a gale, burning candles falling to the ground, flowers scattered and magnificent chaos. It was a hell of a Sunday. Literally, the chapel burned badly. It took about three months to repair it.

Since I was the only one who knew what happened, things didn’t look good for me. People swore I was the devil reincarnated, others said I was a witch. My ma scolded me, as expected, but she also asked me what did I see. I told her about the big, dark mass with grey eyes, she assumed immediately it was a demon. And not only that, she went to every person she believed could fix the situation.

She would have brushed it off and think I was lying to save my arse, but Shady apparently didn’t take well that I saw it and followed me home to scare me again. But unlike the church thing, what happened at home was pathetic. My ma was already scared, so when the lights flickered and the mop on the corner magically fell, she took me and my dad out of home. From then on, we have been on the move. Shady is a lousy loser, so it came along with us to finish what it started.

For several years, my life was filled with foolish pranks. You know, things like the table and my bed moving on their own, my shoes appearing in random places or disappearing. My dad’s stereo playing at night when everyone was asleep was the worst part. Shady it’s not the friendly ghost that movies show, this one was an annoyance. Prank after prank, I stopped caring and just roll with it. When it noticed this, Shady tried a direct approach, you know, scaring me in the face. It didn’t work, I knew the tactics already. I probably hurt its ego, now that I think about it. Maybe that’s why it was so obsessed with me. In my defence, you expect spirits to be scary, horrible. To send shivers down your spine. Shady was pitiful.

The last drop came when I was twelve and Shady decided to destroy my carefully crafted CD collection. My discman was worn out and listening to music was a hard task. With the CDs scratched, now it was impossible. I snapped, especially when I saw Shady destroyed the mix Mary did for me. Finding friends at school was hard, with weird things happening to people who came to talk to me. I had a poor reputation before; now at school, they call me a walking hazard. Listening to music at school made things easier, Shady deprived me of it. Tired of the situation, I went to my bedroom and screamed at the top of my lungs.

“You’re a little pathetic ghost!” I told Shady. It had a doll in his hand, ready to decapitate her. It might not have a face, but it looked surprised when it saw me. “You could do much better somewhere else, scaring big fish than me. I already know you and your tricks. You’re boring me.”

The doll fell to my feet and Shady faded. I knew it was still there thanks to the coldness in the room.

“Don’t disappear like that! See what I mean? You’re a toddler! Very pathetic! I’m tired of people calling me names because of you! I’m tired of having things ruined because of you! Why don’t you go and make yourself a useful ghost?” I might have said one or two things ma would say to dad when she’s mad. The room grew silent, and the heat came back to normal after a while. I felt proud for standing against my bully. But I ended up crying bitterly for all the hours that went to waste with what Shady did. Burning discs with the perfect selection weren’t easy or cheap. Shady didn’t respect my things at all. It was like I had a little, destructive brother and I hated it.

Our talk helped a lot. Shady actually heard me, and for three years, things were good. No more lost stuff, no music at midnight, no weird things. Ma and dad were actually happy that things had settled and so was I. I had finally time to focus on vampire novels, the MTV reality series, music, and rebuilding my reputation at school.

For several months, Mary, my dearest emo friend, who can’t accept her favorite band makes now pop songs, was the only one who talked to me fearlessly. Other kids came along and stopped fearing me thanks to her. They noticed I was a good kid… or was it maybe the book collection I had? Anyway. I was enjoying school a lot. And my freshman year even more when I saw the dreamiest guy ever, Josh. The best part of it? He didn’t run away from me.

With things being this good and with Shady out of the picture, and inspired by My Super Sweet Sixteen, I asked ma if I could have a Quinceañera party. With no events happening or the fear of another social celebration ruined by magically burned turkeys, missing bottles of wine, table cloths burned, puddles of water from open taps or lamps with flickering lights by misplaced light bulbs, she said yes.

Mary helped me with the planning, but wasn’t joyous when I told I had asked Josh to come.

“He gives me the creeps,” she said. I should have listened, but I was too lost in my cloud nine.

“No one can beat Shady.”

“I liked the little fella. I always thought it was a funny weirdo.”

No surprise to hear she likes a ghost. Good thing Shady seems to like her too because his pranks to her were too cute. Stuff like throwing little paper balls or moving her markers to get her attention. Pathetic.

With me deciding to ignore the signs, I kept on planning the best birthday party ever. At least with what was budget friendly. My family was not giving me a car at the end of the celebration. Shady was nowhere in-sight, so I was relaxed. Nothing was going to ruin my first proper party in years.

Now, you might be surprised to learn the reason the party ended up in chaos wasn’t Shady’s fault. At least not directly. Josh and co had thought it would be fun to make a reenactment of that scene in Carrie during her prom. The worst part is I was almost Tommy in this awful prank. My parents didn’t know about this, they were too stressed screaming at the poor lady in the catering section.

Shady appeared and of course, my first reaction was to take off one of my sandals and wield it like a weapon, ready to throw it if needed. But by the way it moved, I knew it was trying to catch my attention. We might not be besties, but I knew a lot about Shady just by observing. I hesitated for a good minute, but followed it as soon as it moved swiftly among my guests. After some long steps, I ended up behind the mock stage where the cake was waiting. Ma wanted me to make a great dance entrance, so they did this to make sure my chambelanes and I give the show of our lives.

Josh looked at me, amused. His friends encouraged him to throw whatever it was what they had on that stupid bucket. A look from me was everything Shady needed to show itself to the bunch of idiots. Shady wanted fun. I wanted sweet revenge. We finally were aligned with our wishes.

All it took was Shady stretching its body and the bunch of boys stood there, frozen. It would have been a perfect payback, but I took for granted Shady had learned better tricks to scare when I saw its overconfidence. Guess what? It was still the same lame, clumsy ghost buddy. My frenemy took a candle of the cake and light it up, don’t ask me how. I have the impression it must have been an arsonist in his past life. That was an actual cool stunt and I assure you those guys will never forget how they surely peed their pants. It didn’t last long. The flame went off and the secondhand embarrassment was too much to handle. Shady lit the candle again and this time, it went off the charts.

Josh's jacket ended in flames; he took it off him and sprinted for his life but tossed it on the table with the cake and the special candles. The whole thing set on fire and the alarms naturally went on. The false rain fell upon everyone and a bunch of kids, worried about their fancy clothes getting wet, ran wildly through the venue and leaving without saying goodbye or even worried I was in danger. My best friend, in her drenched black and purple dress, was the only one who came with a smile.

“Is this thanks to your ghost friend?” Mary asked me as soon as she met me on the dance floor. I assented, she giggled. “Cool.”

My parents tried to make damage control, but everything was a chaos by now. My ma looked apologetic. I smiled at her to assure her I was fine. I was not mad at Shady. I was thankful.

“I know you and I have a hard time understanding each other. But you had my back even when I treated you bad. Thank you.”

Shady smiled at me. Or so I want to believe. It doesn’t have a face, so I always imagine its expression for the sake of emotion. “Just don’t touch my stuff, and we’re even, alright?” I warned.

With the hopes of a normal party shattered, I ended giggling loud. It was a mess, but I was thankful for it. And I had to make the most of it. So, with the help of my phone, I played some music and danced. Ma and dad probably think I have lost my mind, but I guess they’ll take me to the Vatican tomorrow. Today’s my party and we’re celebrating.

I guess my bad fame is something I have to live with. But I’m proud of my peculiar life. What I’m not proud of is of Shady’s scare skills. They’re so pitiful. I have a character grow and it can’t? No, I can’t take it. So I have decided I will help it to become a better ghost. You know? To repay my debt, not for using it for future bullies…