Three Idiots and a Ghost

Because there's always another chance (Part 01)

Ever took one last look at herself in the bathroom mirror. She was in all black like usual, black skinny jeans with a black oversized T-shirt. This made the red ribbon around her neck drastically stand out. Her friends were sure to comment on it when they saw it. But it would be weirder for her to wear a scarf to cover it up considering the hot weather, not that she owned any scarves to begin with.

"Fuck it," she said, grabbing her school bag and heading downstairs.

Her parents were in the kitchen discussing something. She heard her name being mentioned but decided it wasn't worth sticking around and eavesdropping. She would rather use this chance to rush out of the house before her parents could notice her.

The walk to school was quiet and lonely. None of her friends lived near her. Well, none of her school friends, anyway.

She thought about asking the twins if they wanted to go to school together but ultimately decided not to. After all, she was the one who told them not to act like they knew her at school. While she did have an interesting time with them during the past few days, it was time to return to her original life.

"Hey, Ever!" Janet called out.

Ever saw her and Peyton seated together at the back of their classroom. They saved her a seat. She was glad she didn't have homeroom all alone this year. It seemed senior year was off to a pretty okay start.

"Hi," Ever said with her typical smile.

Janet made a quick scan of Ever's outfit for the day. She was the type of person who noticed if someone dyed their hair a slightly different color, so there was no way she didn't see her bright red choker. Ever braced herself for the comments to come.

"Is black really the only color you own? You make me depressed every time I see you, Ever. Or are you really depressed?"

Ever mentally told herself to keep calm. Janet had no idea about her personal life, so she also didn't know how right she was. She laughed off the remark and decided to just bring up her red accessory before her friend could make another snarky remark.

"Hey, at least I'm not only in black today," Ever said, vaguely pointing somewhere between her neck and chest.

Janet and Peyton looked at her in confusion, with the former stating, "What are you talking about? You're literally only wearing black today."

Now, Ever looked confused. Could it be that her friends weren't able to see it? Thinking back, the only people who took notice of her spiritual collar so far were the twins, their grandma, and Jessie, all of whom had supernatural powers.

But before she could elaborate on that thought further, Peyton said, "Woah, guys, check that out."

The three girls watched as a tall boy and their homeroom teacher, Mr. Wiseman, came walking into the classroom. The two briefly discussed something before the student took a seat at the desk right by the door.

The first thing Ever picked up about him was his extreme dark circles. If she looked depressed in all black, that boy practically had a raincloud hovering over him. He seemed to be bringing down the mood of the entire room.

"That's Malachi Lively," Peyton said.

"His last name's Lively?" Janet snickered.

"How do you know him?" Ever asked.

"My brother's close friends with his. His brother's really friendly and chill, but Malachi always gave me the creeps."

"I mean, just look at him," Janet said.

Peyton shrugged. "You know, he's actually a year older than us. I heard he took a year off last year. But even before then, he rarely ever attended classes. His brother said he had some sort of condition."

"A condition? I wouldn't be surprised if it's demonic possession," Janet remarked with a shudder. "I feel like he'll curse me."

While Ever said nothing, she had to agree that something felt off about Malachi. Just as how some people naturally made others feel happy and comfortable, there were those who gave the opposite effect. Whatever his condition might be, Ever thought it would be best to keep her distance from him.

• • •

Hey, guys. I really wanted to update this story twice a week. But since I'm working on other stuff and have a full-time job, I don't want to overwhelm myself and ultimately have decided on just one update per week for now. If I get around to writing enough chapters in advance, I might go back to two updates a week. But until then, new chapters will go up on Thursday at 10pm (GMT+9).

Happy reading~