Three Idiots and a Ghost

When a ghost finally learned something about herself

"I thought we were going for pancakes and sausages," Alex said, looking through his menu.

"Oh, well, you see, I just suddenly started craving Mexican food," Archer—really Rags—replied. However, the true reason was due to the fact she had no idea where Archer originally planned to go and had to pick the closest restaurant in sight. "I hope you're okay with this."

"Yeah, no worries. I'm fine with eating anything."

Soon, the two of them had placed their orders and were quietly waiting for the food to arrive. Rags found this the perfect opportunity to do some detective work.

"So, Alex, do you mind if I ask a personal question? I want to get to know you better."

"Alright, ask away."

Rags had set up a mental checklist of possibilities on how she could have known this person in front of her. She would begin with the most obvious. "I know you're gay, but have you ever dated any girls before?"

Alex smiled. "You're really that suspicious of me? I already told you I've only been with guys before."

"Ah, right! I must have gotten a little too drunk last night and forgotten."

"But I thought you only had one bottle of beer."

"Really? I-I mean, yeah, I'm a bit of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol—I am not!" Rags covered her mouth the second she knew Archer had momentarily taken over. And he did not sound happy. "Uh, what I meant to say is that I am sometimes, especially when I'm around cute guys..."

For some reason, stating that Alex was cute made Rags feel a little sick inside. But at least that calmed Archer down enough to pull him back to his sleep state.

Alex reached across the table to stroke Archer's hand. "You're pretty cute yourself, you know that?"

Rags just stopped herself from gagging. Even though she wanted to pull her hand away, she endured this moment for her friend's future. She certainly did not want to be held responsible for ruining a potential relationship.

Rags was eventually freed from her hold once the two plates of Mexican breakfast had arrived. Even whilst eating, she did not waste a minute of getting more information out of Alex. She went on to ask him about his friends from both high school and college as well as any coworkers, having then to make up a vague yet plausible reply for Archer when the question came back to her. She hoped she'd gotten at least half of the answers right or Archer would be in for quite an awkward second date if there was one.

Unfortunately, despite having learned about most of the girls in Alex's life, which wasn't all that many, none of them sounded like it could've been Rags. She just didn't feel anything close to the strong connection she got when she'd first met him. At least that was the case until she brought out the last item on her checklist.

"Can you tell me about your family?"

For a short moment, Alex showed discomfort at a certain memory that came to mind. He contemplated on whether he should tell Archer and decided it'd be nice to talk to someone about something that had been bothering him for over a month by then. "Well, I have a sister who's two years older than me. We used to be really close."

"Used to?"

"I moved in with her last year to get closer to college. We were fine until late February."

"What happened?"

Alex sighed with regret, looking down at his nearly finished plate. "It's so stupid the more I think about it. I got a little too drunk one night and ended up sleeping with a total stranger. She got so furious about it the next day and I got the beating of a lifetime. That only made me angry too. I was really angry at myself more than anyone, but I took it out on her. I said something hurtful and left that very night to go live with a friend. I haven't gotten in touch with her since."

Yeah, whatever. You're such a buzzkill, sis'!

Rags heard that voice in her head again, and everything seemed so clear for once. She had learned the first meaningful thing about herself. Alex was her younger brother. This revelation didn't trigger any memories from her past but at the moment knowing just this much was enough. Now she understood why she felt so sorry. She would never be able to resolve this matter with him. She was already long gone.

"Hey, Archer. Why are you crying?"

"I'm sorry..." Rags quietly said under a napkin she was using to wipe her tears. "I shouldn't have made you talk about something so sad. If you're done eating, let's head out. We have the entire day together, so let's spend it only feeling happy from now on."