Hello, Mr. Ghost

An Unlikely Friendship

I lunge up from the floor, taking a couple of steps back.

"Yes I can see you! You're standing right there!" I point at him. "But you're supposed to be dead! You're on the news!" I now point at the screen.

"No one else has been able to see me!" He grins, obviously getting his priorities mixed up at the moment. "You're the only one!"

"You're transparent!" I still shout, unable to snap myself out of my shock.

"Well, yeah!" He shrugs, his curly hair bouncing. He still has his bright smile on his features. "I'm a ghost!"

My eyes get even wider. "G-Ghost?" I ask. "That's impossible, ghosts aren't real!"

"If ghosts aren't real," He starts, walking through the coffee table completely and heading towards me. "Then how am I here?"

I scoot away from him and run a hand through my hair. "I've gone crazy..." I mumble. "Finals have finally gotten to me. I've gone insane."

"You're not insane," He shakes his head, motioning over to Muffin who is quickly trying to scurry away into the next room. "Your cat sees me, too."

"I've actually got a bone to pick with you." He says, eyes turning darker as he begins walking towards me again.

"With me? I don't even know you.  What business do you have with me?" I lift myself up from the floor, putting my hands up in front of me to stop him from walking any further. He arrogantly rolls his eyes and walks into my hands, them going inside his clear body.

A sudden chill erupts on my palms, spreading up my arms. I stumble back farther until I reach the edge of the table, no where else for me to go.

He leans in so close that I have to lean backwards or we'd be touching. His eyes are tinted with a blue tint as he stares at me coldly. "You watched me die." He grits out, not daring to break the eye contact. "You saw me on the street, but you did nothing."

"I'm sorry!" I squeak out, not wanting to die. My hands come up to partly shield my face from this poltergeist. "I thought you were drunk! If I thought that you were in danger, I'd have totally helped you!"

"Really?" He asks, calculating eyes watching me closer by the second.

"Yes, really! I promise!" I shout, giving him a honest and meaningful answer. It seems to satisfy him as he backs away and sits on the coffee table.

"Why," I start. "I mean- how are you here? Why am I the only one who can see you?" 

"Well, I'm kind of new to this 'dead' business," He states, using air quotations. "But if I had to guess, I'd say it's because you were the last person I saw before I died."

"Do you think that we're..." I move my hands in the air, trying to rationalize our situation. "I don't know, connected or something?"

He nods. "Probably."

This whole situation should have me terrified and running out the door, but instead it has me curiosity burning.

"How'd you die?" I ask, walking closer to him to examine his ghostly state. 

"God," He looks at me like I'm crazy. "You don't beat around the bush, do you? I wouldn't think you'd ask someone how they died so easily!"

I look around the room, unable to come up with an answer. "Sorry, I was just curious."

"I was stabbed." He states calmly, running a hand over his abdomen. "Right here." 

"Did it hurt?" I blurt out, my curiosity getting the best of me.

He narrows his eyes at me, eyebrow twitching. "What do you think?!"

"Don't yell at me!" I bark at him, defending myself. "I've never been stabbed before, so how would I know?"

"That could be arranged." He threatens, standing up and towering over me. I roll my eyes at him.

"How? Ghosts can't touch people. How are you going to stab me?" I cross my arms, a smug smile breaking out over my face, and me very content with my answer.

"Ghosts can touch both humans and objects," He answers. "Don't you ever feel a cold breeze? Or what about when a door suddenly shuts? Or maybe it's when something falls off your counter. Those aren't accidents, sweetheart, those are spirits."

I stare at him. I felt a breeze when I came home today. Was that a ghost?

"Or maybe it's when this happens," The lights in the room suddenly begin to flicker, turning on and off again. "Its not the lightbulb." He gives a satisfied smirk.

I swallow, a small clump of fear building up inside me. Could he kill me? What does a ghost's power consist of?

"What do you want, then?" I ask. "Why are you here? Are you taking revenge on me for not helping you?"

"Nah," He says, a small grin coming onto his features. "I figure you can help me become human again! Most ghosts shoot on to the afterlife, but I'm stuck here. Maybe there's a way that we could get me back to normal?"

"I don't know anything about that, though," I shake my head. "I'm just a college student. I don't know how to turn you human."

"Well, I guess you're stuck with me then," He grins. "I'm glad I've at least got someone pretty to talk to! Oh, but I guess you've got a boyfriend."

His expression changes to a sad one. "Are you flirting with me?" I ask him, not believing what I'm hearing. "And for the record, I'm single!"

"Listen, sweetheart," He smiles charmingly. "I may be dead, but I'll still chase girls around! I mean, my name's Chase for a reason, right?"

"Figures," I roll my eyes, putting my hands on my hips. "Of all the ghosts I could have got stuck with, I'm with a frat boy who loves to flirt."

"Hey!" He defends, his cheeks puffing out. "I'm not a frat boy! I'm a good boy! I don't drink or go out to parties or anything like that!"

"Well, you couldn't now if you wanted to," I mutter, my eyebrows rising slightly.

"Very funny, Miss Jokester," He huffs. "Make fun of the dead guy, why don't you?"

"Didn't mean to," I say, hoping that he doesn't get angry. "Sorry."

"Ah," He sighs. "Relax some. I'm not going to hurt you or anything. In fact, I want to be friends with you. How about that?"

I shrug. "I guess so," I answer. "Since I can't get rid of you anyway."

A smile lights up his face and his hair bounces some more.

"That's great!" He holds out his hand. "I'm Chase! What's your name?"

"Stella," I look down at his hand, unsure of whether I could actually touch it or not. "My name's Stella."

He puts his hand down in realization. "Oh that's right you can't touch me," He nods. "Well, anyways. Nice to meet you, Stella!"

"Hello, Mr. Ghost," I slightly smile down at him.

Did I just befriend a ghost?

I think my life is going to get a lot more interesting from now on.

A/N

I really hope that everyone reading is enjoying this and having a good time!

-Hannah