Ghost 💀

"Whatever." I say to my dad.

I never get in trouble for talking back. Why?

Because I'm a ghost.

Three years ago, I was nineteen, and I saved some kids from a fire, but I died. For some reason, I'm here.

I don't know why, but my family could see me.

Sometimes I can let other people see me, but not usually.

When I was younger, I could see a ghost. I thought he was real, and, that freaked my parents out.

My dad ignores me, and turns back to his breakfast. I sigh, and float through the celing to the attic.

There's nothing up here, other then dust and boxes stacked in a corner. There's also a big mirror hanging on the wall. I look at myself, and wrinkle my nose.

I have curly hair, and I'm really skinny. I'm a a pasty white color that I hate. I'm stuck wearing the pajamas I died in.

My name is Marco Danledge. I have a baby brother named Deigo, and a mom and dad.

I float out the window. I'm heading towards the hill by the lake. I glide over people. Suddenly the big clock chimes and I speed up. I get there two minutes later.

"Your late." Quinn Loden notes, as I land beside her. Quinn is my only friend. We both died around the same time. I found her on this hill, and we've been friends ever since. She has long hair, and freckles. She died saving her brother from a gunshot.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, okay."

"What held you up?" She asks.

I lay down. "Dad's still bothering me about the gift."

"Why? Didn't you say you'd do it already?" She lays beside me.

I nod. "He's not patient."

My dad wants me to give something to Deigo for his second birthday. Since he wasn't alive when I was, he can't see me.

"What are you going to give him?" Quinn says.

I shrug. "I don't know yet."

"Well you'd better find something. His birthday is next week, right?"

"Yeah."

She knows I don't want to talk about this, so she changes the subject. "Logan's wedding is this Friday.."

"Wait, really? Are you going?" I ask.

Logan is her brother, and Brian is his boyfriend. Quinn's been waiting for the wedding for years.

She starts telling me how she's still deciding, but I get an idea.

"Quinn," I interrupt. "You can let Brain and Logan see you, right?"

She looks mad, probaly because I interrupted her, but nods. "Yeah, why?"

"Why don't you?" I ask.

"I don't know."

"They'd be really happy to see you."

She nods. "I know, I just don't want to mess up their lives. He's finally gotten over my death, I don't want him to be upset again."

"What if you talk to them and tell them what happened?" I suggest.

"Maybe."

"And first you can give them a present with a card from you, then appear."

"Thats actually a good idea."

"Yeah, I know."

"Shut up."

I laugh.

"Alright. I'll do it. But your coming." She says.

💀

Two days later, we're waiting outside of Logan's house. Quinn's freaking out.

"Just GO." I say, pulling her through the door.

For some reason, we're able to hold plants, which includes paper and pencils, so she got Logan and Brian their favorite flowers, and wrote a note. They can't see the plants until we put them down.

"C'mon, they're in here." I say, dragging her to the kitchen.

Logan's sitting at the table eating a big plate of pancakes. He has short black hair, peach skin, and glasses.

Brian is pouring a glass of milk. He has brown hair, and tan skin.

Quinn stands there until I kick her. She glares at me, but when Logan turns, she places the flowers and note in front of him.

He goes to pick up his fork, but sees the note. Quinn looks worried.

"Brian...." He says, reading it. "Did you do this?"

He walks over. "No, where was it?"

"Here by these flowers."

Brian looks around, confused. I nudge Quinn's arm.

"Go ahead." I tell her softly.

She takes a breath, and slowly starts to appear. Brian makes a strangled gasping sound. Logan's eyes widen, and he stands.

"Quinn?" He asks, his eyes filling with tears.

"Hi, Logan."

"How?" He asks.

She smiles sadly. "I'm still dead."

"But....?"

She explains the ghost thing. Brain gets it first.

"So you've been here the whole time?" He asks.

She shakes her head. "No, just sometimes. Usually it makes me too upset."

"I can't believe this." Logan says, shaking his head. "I never thought I would see you again."

She smiles again. "I thought you'd be really upset."

"Why would I be upset?" He asks.

She shrugs. "I don't know."

They keep talking, and I'm suprised at how well they take the news of her being a ghost. My family freaked out, and it took about a month to convince them I was real.

"How are Mirra and Josh?" Quinn asks.

Logan bites his lip. "Engaged." He says quietly.

"To each other?" Quinn asks in suprise.

He nods. I see him and Brian tense up. Josh was the boy she fell in love with, and Mirra was her best friend. When she was fifteen, her boyfriend had cheated on her for her bestfriend.

I float beside her, waiting for her reaction. She looks mad, but it slowly changes to a smile.

"Good." She says. All three of us sigh in relief.

They talk until Brian says they have to go. Quinn promises to be at the wedding.

💀

I look for Deigo's gift during the wedding.

I want it to be something that means something to me, and will be helpful for him. I wish I could help him see ghost, because then, I would try to always be there for him. Like an invisible friend.

I had an invisible friend until I was twelve. His name was Axel. Nobody else could see him, but I hadn't thought it was weird. I thought everyone had an invisible friend. He had the shortest attention span, and for some reason, loved to put my hair in little braids. He always knew what I was thinking. His hair changed color all the time.

I don't know why, but he dissapeared.

I wonder if he's still here. Could he be? I never thought to look for him. I wondered where he went for years, but eventually forgot about him.

I glide inside the house, scaring my mom.

"Jeez, Marco!" She screams. My dad glares at me, and before he says anything, I float upstairs.

I stop at the door of my bedroom. I've been in there once. I just couldn't take it. But if I'm going to look for Axel, this is where to start. I take a deep breath, and go through the door.

And...he's in the air above my bed.

"Seriously?" I say. He grins at me.

I'm pretty sure he's the same age I am now. He currently has messy purple hair, and big green eyes. He's not the same white color as I am, he's got light skin, and looks alive.

"Finally." He says.

I roll my eyes. "You could've just come find me."

"Where's the fun in that?" He asks.

I walk around my room. "Well, I hope you had fun staying in here."

"Still with the sarcasm?" He asks, floating by me, reaching for my hair.

I push his hand. "I'm pretty sure I got that from you."

"Me? No way." He grins.

I roll my eyes again, and open my closet. "Wait, can I wear these?"

"Yep." He says.

"This would've been helpful information." I mutter.

He shrugs. "You didn't ask."

"I didn't think to ask." I correct.

"Your fault."

"I hate you."

"If you hated me, you never would've looked for me."

He's always right about me. It's annoying. "Whatever."

"Actually, I think it's the oppisite of hate."

I yank my pajama shirt over my head. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

"I knew it!" He cackles, his hair turning yellow.

I look at him. "What?"

"The opposite of hate is love." He says.

I roll my eyes. " I didn't say I loved you."

"You didn't not say it."

I mean, he's not wrong. I have always been kind of in love with him. I don't say anything, and look through the shirts.

"See?" He grins, floating in front of me. He pokes my chest. "You should work out more."

I pull a shirt on. "I'm dead, Axel."

"Doesn't mean you can't work out, bones."

I look at him. "You look like the cheshire cat."

That's always gotten to him, and it works. He crosses his arms, and lands on my bed, his hair turning black. I pull on a pair of jeans, and sit by him.

"Are you mad at me?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No. I'm thinking about what your going to give Deigo."

"Can you read my mind?"

"Yes."

"What am I thinking about?"

He stares into my eyes for a minute. Finally, he says. "You want to know if I'm ever going to kiss you."

I blush. I was thinking that. "I was not!"

"Yes, you were." He replys as his hair turns pink.

Why is he so annoying? "I was not!"

"Fine, deny it. But then you'll never get a kiss from me."

I blush again, which makes him laugh. I still don't know how a ghost can blush if we don't have blood, but we can. It's weird

"Whatever." I mutter.

He floats around my head. "So? What's your gift?"

"I don't know." I sigh.

He's looks at me. "Yes you do."

"Stop reading my mind." I tell him. "Besides, I can't do that."

He shrugs. "I did."

"What? How?"

He lands in front of me. "You were the first person still alive to actually see me. I decided to watch you. Then, when you were learning to talk, you started talking to me."

"That's it?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No. I don't know how, but got a blanket that was mine. Until you got rid of the blanket, you could see me."

"So if I give Diego something of mine, he'll be able to see me?"

He shakes his head again. "It has to be something you love."

"Like..." I look around. "The dog?"

Axel nods, and I sigh. It had been a gift from my grandmother. It's a brown dog. I loved it, and refused to let my parents give it away.

"One more thing." Axel adds. "If you give him the dog, then you won't be able to appear for your parents or sister anymore."

Oh. "Really?" I ask softly.

He nods. "Yeah."

That makes this harder. I mean, I don't think they even want me here, but I don't want them to never see me again. Right?

Axel can probaly tell I need to think about it, because he grabs my hands.

"C'mon. I want to meet Quinn." He says, pulling me towards the window.

"Stop reading my mind!" I yell. He just laughs, and drags me outside.

We fly around for a while, still holding hands. "Wait." I say. "I don't even know where she is."

"She's probaly at the wedding."

"Stay out of my head, chameleon."

His face lights up at the old nickname, and his hair turns yellow.

"What's with your hair?" I ask as we fly to the church.

He shrugs. "It's done that ever since I became a ghost."

I'm pretty sure that his hair is like a mood ring. I want to test it.

"Axel, wait." I say when we're in front of the church. Before he can read my mind to figure out what I'm going to do, I lean in and kiss him.

When I back up, his hair is bright pink. He's shocked, which is a look I've never seen on him, and I start laughing. When he realizes I'm laughing at him, his hair turns red, and he races after me.

I tumble out of the way, but he grabs my wrist, and yanks me towards him. I'm still laughing, but I stop when he presses his lips aganist mine. I close my eyes, and he wraps his arms around me.

We kiss until I hear someone clapping. Quinn's sitting on a bench under us.

I blush, but Axel laughs. We float down to Quinn, and when she sees me, she gasps.

"Marco, your skin..."

I look at my arm. It's the same tan skin I've had my whole life. What's wrong with it? Wait..

I run to the window of a store. I look like me again! My hair is dark brown again!

I turn to my friends. "What happened?"

"I think it happened when you kissed this guy." Quinn says.

I look at him. His hair is purple now. "Is that what happened?"

"Maybe. It happens when something really good you want to happen to happens." He says.

Quinn grins. "I guess he really wanted to kiss you."

"Shut up." I mutter, blushing.

They both laugh, so I float up to the top of the church. They follow me.

"So who's the chesire cat?" Quinn asks.

I laugh as Axel's hair turns red. "That's Axel. My...." What is he? My invisible friend? Friend?

"I'm his boyfriend."

I look at him. "Since when?"

"Since you kissed me."

"Don't I get a say in this?"

"Nope." He says, his hair turning purple as he pulls me to his side.

I roll my eyes. "Whatever."

"So he's your boyfriend?" Quinn asks.

I cross my arms. "Apparently."

"Nice." She says. "Did you help him get Deigo's gift?"

He nods. "Yeah, he's going to do the invisible friend thing."

"Oh, that's a good idea. Did he come up with that?"

I wave my hand in their faces. "I'm right here, remember?"

"Yeah, he did." Axel tells her.

I sigh, trying to move, but Axel won't let go. I sigh again, and listen to my friends.

💀

TWELVE YEARS LATER:

"Axel! Let go!"

He ignores me.

"Quinn! Help me!" I demand.

We're in Deigo's room. He's not here.

"Axel, if you don't get off, I'm breaking up with you!" I tell him.

He looks at me, his hair turning green.

"You said that last week when I threw you in the lake." He reminds me.

"And I did!"

"For an hour."

"It was two hours!"

"No, it wasn't."

"Get off!"

"Fine."

He sits up, and I roll of the bed.

"Thanks for your help."

"I'm not getting between you guys." Quinn says. She changed back to her old self when she got over Josh. She has long black hair, light skin and brown eyes.

I hear Diego coming up the stairs. He pushes the door open, and I smile at him.

He has shaggy green hair, and tan skin. He's tall and skinny.

"Hey, Marco." He says, throwing his bag down.

I told him about the ghost stuff, and he swore not to tell dad. He doesn't know I'm still here. Mom died a couple years ago.

"How was school?" I ask, floating around him.

He collapes on the bed, and Axel has to scramble out of the way, which makes me snort.

"Boring. Are Axel and Quinn here?" He asks. He also knows about them.

I nod. Axel appears beside him, Quinn on his desk.

We talk until he gets called downstairs. Axel pulls me down from the air into his lap. I don't resist. He's stronger then me.

"Marco, you know you have t tell Deigo, right?" Quinn says.

"I know."

I can't stay here. He finally made some friends, and he doesn't need me anymore.

Axel messes with my hair as I talk with Quinn about a ghost she befriended. Quinn tells me he's outside now, and I tell her to go talk to him. When she's gone, Axel kisses me.

"What was that for?" I ask him.

"Because being so adorable must be tiring."

"Then you must be exhausted."

His hair turns bright pink, and I laugh, which just makes him kiss me again.

"Gross, not on my bed." Diego says.

I stick my tounge out at him.

"You're very childish for someone who is nineteen." Deigo tells me.

"I know, right?" Axel agrees.

I smack his arm, and he laughs.

"See you later, cutie." Axel says, drifting towards the window.

I make a face at the name. "Whatever."

When he leaves, I float by Diego.

"So, you know I have to leave soon, right?" I ask.

He nods. "I know."

Deigo hates showing his emotions, but I know him well enough to know he's upset.

"Do you want me to go?"

He shrugs. "I want you to be able to do what you want."

"Would you be okay without me?"

"Maybe. I don't know how to handle dad." He admits.

Dad has been really upset ever since mom died. I haven't seen her.

I nod. "Yes, you do."

"But what if I can't?"

I sit beside him. "You can. I haven't had to help you."

"But-"

"You'll be fine."

"Will I see you again?"

"We'll come back every once in a while."

"Okay."

"Alright." I say.

Dad calls again. We stand, and I smile at him. Suddenly he hugs me. I grin, and hug him back.

"I love you, Marco." He whispers.

"Love you too, little brother."

He goes down stairs, and I grab the letter I wrote a while ago, and put it under his pillow. The I float out the window towards Axel.

"Hey," He says. "How'd it go?"

"Fine." I say.

Quinn comes up beside us. "Ready?"

I take a last look at the house, and nod. "Let's go."

💀