What Ghost? (Complete)

Chapter Nine: Practice Makes Perfect

As soon as Billy was out of earshot, Becky turned to John and grinned. "Okay, so let's go have some fun with the paranormal geeks!"

John's jaw dropped. "But you just promised not..."

Becky chuckled. "That's right...I just promised I would be a perfect angel. But nobody said you couldn't have some fun while I watch! Besides, you need the practice." Her eyes were full of mischief as she floated over to where the Paranormal Club geeks sat near the basketball courts.

A young, skinny, blonde haired kid was almost jumping out of his skin with excitement. "I'm tellin' you Brad, it was definitely a ghost! There was no wind, but the doors suddenly just slammed shut. And that new guy who just left was lookin' real uncomfortable about the whole thing."

Brad, who had to be the chunky guy with dark, curly hair, was rubbing his chin as he watched Billy heading into the dorms. "Okay, so we'll keep an eye on him. If the ghost is attached to him, weird stuff will keep happening around him. When we're sure, we'll set a trap!"

John looked in horror at the kids sitting around the table and then at Becky. "Did you hear that? They know about you already. Billy's right...we need to avoid these guys like the plague."

Becky pouted. "Don't be such a party-pooper. You sound just like Billy! And speaking of Billy, the best thing we can do to throw them off the scent is let them know we're around when he's not. So whadya think? It would be good practice..." Her eyes had that mischievous twinkle again.

John grinned and she knew he'd been convinced. "What the hell...why not! I haven't had fun for so long I can't even remember what it feels like. So what's the plan?"

Becky clapped her hands in excitement. "Okay, see that can of drink sitting next to Brad? See if you can move that."

John frowned, his eyes zeroing in on the unsuspecting can of drink. His eyes widened as it started to wobble. Becky watched him closely, resisting the urge to just reach out and kiss him. She knew he was enjoying himself, but she also got a warm fuzzy feeling that he was trying to impress her. And then the can flew off the end of the table and hit the ground, bouncing a couple of times as it clanged against the concrete.

John's face lit up like a kid in a candy store. "Did you see that? I did it! That was a hell of a lot easier than the basketball." John was grinning from ear to ear.

Becky indicated towards the four boys sitting at the table and grinned. A deathly silence hung in the air. The blood had drained from their faces, and their eyes were darting all over the place.

Brad looked at the skinny blonde kid with a frown. "Derek...did you do that? Look, I get that you want us to believe that what happened in the dining room was caused by a real ghost, but that was really lame."

Derek was white as a...ghost...and looked ready to throw up. "It...it wasn't m-me. I th-thought you must have d-done it!"

John's excitement was so cute she got the warm fuzzy feeling again. Damnit, everything about the guy was starting to give her the warm fuzzies. Were ghosts even supposed to be able to feel these kind of emotions? She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Too bad if they weren't, 'cos she was loving every minute of it!

John's eyes were still glued on his victims, the mischievous sparkle in his eyes making her giggle. "Hey Beck, I've got an idea. Watch this..."

His face went back into total concentration mode again, and suddenly the hat Brad was wearing was flicked off his head and landed on the table in front of him. Becky burst out laughing as the four boys jumped up from the table, totally freaked out, and ran for the dorms.

John's eyes found hers and she felt like her insides were melting, although she'd never really even thought about whether she had insides or not. "Too much do ya think?" he said, his eyes dancing with mischief. "Damn, I was just getting warmed up!"

Becky hadn't had this much fun since she'd upended a bowl of porridge over the head of Billy's stinky friend Mike when they were nine years old. But the little worm had deserved it! Mike had stayed overnight, and Becky had caught him pocketing a couple of Billy's best baseball cards.

Still laughing, she held up her hand for a high-five. The brief contact with his hand made her tingle all over.

"Wow...who knew it could be this much fun being dead?" He sobered and reached for her hand, looking at her with a weird look on his face. She'd seen that look recently. It was a lot like the expression Billy had worn when he'd looked at Kate earlier. "Seriously Becky, I can't thank you enough for making me snap out of the miserable existence I was stuck in."

Becky grinned sheepishly. "See, I told you sometimes annoying can be good."

John threw back his head and laughed. "You can say that again!" And the next thing she knew she was crushed against John's broad chest, wrapped in his arms in another one of those awesome hugs. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he whispered into her ear. "You have no idea how good all this feels."

Becky thought she might just have an inkling of how good he was feeling; if it was even close to what she was feeling at that precise moment. She'd had no idea anything could feel quite so wonderful as John's arms around her, holding her close. All those years of watching other people hug, and now she finally knew what it felt like! She giggled; surprised people didn't just do this all day, every day.

John finally took a step back, his hands still on her shoulders as he held her at arm's length. He gave her a sheepish, embarrassed smile, but the intensity in his eyes made her shiver. Surely it wasn't possible for ghosts to feel and act like this? She'd always thought only the 'alives' got to do this. "Sorry, I may have gotten a bit carried away there for a minute. I hope you didn't mind too much?" he said softly.

Becky smiled and waved her hand, her head spinning from the emotions surging through her. "Hmmm, let me see...fifteen years without any physical contact whatsoever and suddenly a very cute guy wants to hug me? I'm sure I'll..."

John's face moved closer as she spoke. And then his lips touched hers softly, cutting off her flippant reply. Wow...and she'd thought hugging was awesome. This kissing thing was absolutely amazing! It was almost as if they were touching each other's emotions. Becky had never felt this close to anyone...she hadn't even known it was possible to feel like this!

John lifted his face and gave her a lopsided smile. "So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume that was another first?"

Becky knew her eyes must have looked like they were about to pop out, and she couldn't have cared less. "Ummm yep...and wow, who knew eh? Oh, and just so you know, I'm ready for seconds and thirds whenever you are. Remember what I said about practice making perfect?" She winked cheekily as she snuggled against him, happier than she'd ever thought possible.

"Duly noted," John said against her ear. "But only because you insist!"