What Ghost? (Complete)

Chapter Six: Being the Newbie

Billy stood behind Lance in the queue for dinner, scanning the dining room while they waited. He spotted the new girl he'd seen in the foyer earlier, and noticed she was sitting at a table alone.

He nudged Lance and tilted his head towards where the girl sat. "Hey, she's a newbie too. I saw her in the foyer when we were filling out paperwork. She looks kinda lonely, don't ya think?"

Lance pushed his glasses up with his finger and grinned. "Then I guess it's our duty to see if she wants some company. Besides, she's hot!"

Billy looked at the girl again. He hadn't noticed how cute she was earlier, probably because she'd spent the whole time staring at her hands. She had the most gorgeous green eyes he'd ever seen. His face burned when he realised she'd caught him looking at her. He turned back to the servery and started piling food on his plate. He really was starving.

Lance had finished loading up his plate and was making a beeline towards the girl's table. Billy followed him, Lance's obvious eagerness making him regret he'd ever pointed her out.

"Hey there, first day eh? I'm Lance and this is Billy. Mind if we sit?" Lance was pulling out a chair opposite her and sitting down before she'd even had a chance to answer.

She shrugged. "Kate... feel free." She nodded at them then went back to eating her dinner.

Lance seemed totally oblivious to her icy demeanour. "Sooo, Kate, where you from?"

Kate looked up and heaved a sigh. "Look Lamp, or whatever your name is, I don't wanna be rude, but I was enjoying the solitude..."

Lance's face flushed scarlet. "Oh... sorry... we just thought you looked lonely... and being your first day... yaknow?" He shrugged and returned to his meal, looking like he wanted to melt into the floor.

Billy frowned at Kate. Lance had only been trying to make her feel welcome. "Look Kate, we didn't realise you wanted to be on your own. Lance was just trying to be nice. We'll move to another table and leave you alone. C'mon Lance."

He stood up, about to pick up his plate when Kate looked up from the table, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"I'm s-sorry... you're right, that was really rude. I'm having a bad day and I took it out on you Lance. Please stay?" Lance's face lit up like a Christmas tree, so Billy shrugged and sat back down, avoiding making eye contact with her.

"I'm from Sydney, Lance. How about you?"

Lance waved his hand. "Oh, just a crappy little town about 100 kilometres from here, but Billy's from Sydney too."

Billy felt her eyes boring into him as he continued to concentrate on his dinner. "Really? What part of Sydney Billy?

"Northern beaches," he muttered without looking up. "You?"

"Cool, I'm from the Eastern suburbs, but I always wanted to live on the Northern beaches."

He looked up and almost fell off his chair when she smiled. She wasn't just cute... she was stunning. Her gorgeous green eyes were set into the face of an angel, framed by an unruly mop of strawberry blonde curls that tumbled down her back. Which, of course, rendered him totally tongue-tied. It was his turn to wish the floor would open up and swallow him.

And then, just to add insult to injury, Becky popped up at the end of the table. "Hmmm, I leave you alone for five minutes and you end up a blithering idiot." She groaned and looked from him to Kate. "Already? Seriously? We just got here, and you're already acting like a lovesick puppy. Billy, snap out of it!" she yelled.

Billy cleared his throat and hoped his voice would come out normal. "Ummm... so how come you ended up here Kate?"

He could have kicked himself when he saw the tears well up in her eyes again. She shrugged. "Family stuff... mum and dad are getting a divorce, so I'm here while they settle into their new lives and fight over who has to have custody of their one and only offspring... me. Couldn't you just feel the love between us in the foyer earlier?"

So she had noticed he'd been watching her. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and looked back down at his plate. "Yeah, you did all look pretty miserable. Sorry about the parents' thing Kate, that sucks big-time."

Lance chimed in with a big smile. "Hey, at least you don't have to put up with annoying brothers and sisters. I have six of them! Four sisters, three older and one younger, and two brothers, both younger. What about you Billy?"

"Yeah, I'm an only child as well. I had a twin sister... but she died at birth." He looked sadly at Becky sitting at the end of the table.

Becky winked. "Yeah... but at least her ghost stuck around and grew up with you. Even if you're the only one who can see or hear her."

"Oh Billy, that's so sad. I've heard there's a special bond between twins. Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if she'd lived?" Kate said.

Billy sighed. "Pretty much every day. I even sorta think I know what she would have looked like. Some days, I even feel like she's still around."

Lance chuckled nervously. "I hope not... no way I'm sharing a room with a ghost!"

Kate laughed. "I don't think that's what Billy meant Lance. Everybody knows ghosts don't exist!"

Billy's eyes flew to Becky, but he already knew he'd be too late. A gust of wind sprung up from nowhere and slammed all the doors to the dining room shut. Billy groaned... Becky hated it when people said she didn't exist!

"Ummm... wh-what was that?" Lance's eyes were darting all over the room, his face pale.

Kate shrugged. "It was just the wind Lance. Don't tell me you think it was a ..."

Billy jumped up from his chair. "Hey, so what does everyone around here do after dinner?" His face was burning again - the stunned looks from kids sitting at other tables telling him he'd yelled.

He groaned and slumped back into his chair. "Sorry, I was just trying to change the subject... didn't mean to yell."

Kate waved her hand and smiled at them both. "Don't worry about it, I get it. Well, thanks for the chat guys. Sorry I was such a witch... won't happen again. See ya later." And with that, she stood up and left the dining room.

Lance was looking at him like he'd grown a second head. "Okay, that was definitely weird."

Billy shrugged. "Bit of a touchy subject. I'm gonna go watch a movie on my laptop. You coming?"

Lance jumped up with a grin. "Sure.... as long as it's not The Sixth Sense or Ghost or something! I'm totally over spooky for today."