The Player

Chapter 25: A Smiling Ghost waits for me at the library

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

                - Vincent Van Gogh

Pookie bear: go get some sleep.

Me: I don't wanna

Pookie bear: don't you have detention tomorrow morning?

I scowled deeply at the message that had popped up on my mobile's screen. Pulling the comforter tighter around me I messaged back.

Me:...yes.

It only took half a second for the mobile screen to light up and briefly illuminate my face in the otherwise darkened room. The alarm clock on my nightstand was flashing the numbers 11:45.

Pookie bear: i am sure you would love it since you were the arrogant idiot who went and asked for a detention.

I frowned at the message. After dinner, I was just surfing through some channels and I came across a show 'Ghostbusters'.

Unfortunately, the remote stopped working at that instant. They were trying to find ghosts in a boarding school. And a ghost greeted them softly in the empty abandoned library. A shiver ran up my spine.

Me: i am scared of being alone in the library tomorrow. What if a ghost pops out of the encyclopaedia sections and tries to brutally kill me?!

Another shiver ran through my body and I huddled in my thick comforter.

Pookie bear: I'm sure it would be Abraham Lincoln demanding why you didn't join him in the civil rights movement.

I blinked at the message twice before a giggle escaped my lips. However, the thought of ghosts sobered me up pretty quickly.

Me: not funny.

Pookie bear: no comebacks! Are you all right?

My brows furrowed at the fact that max so easily intercepted me through a single message. I hovered my fingers over the keyboard for a few seconds before finally succumbing and telling the truth.

Me: I have phasmophobia.

I slowly crept to the light switch and turned it on. The whole room was illuminated. It took me some minutes to finally calm my trembling heart and assure myself that there were no evil spirits or ghosts lurking in my room. When I crept back to my bed with the lights still on, max messaged me.

Pookie bear: oh.

Me: what took you so long to message something so short and meaningless?

Pookie bear: I was searching for the meaning of 'phasmophobia'

My mind was preoccupied with listing different ways in which some form of a ghost could come and kill me.

Me: I am scared.

Pookie bear: stop thinking about it.

Me: cant.

For a whole minute, he did not message me back. Then,

Pookie bear: I love your eyes.

It took me a second to understand the message and then my heart started galloping. 'Love'? Max just used the word love while referring to me.

OH MY GOD. Wait! Stop, you idiotic brain. Stop overthinking! He loves my eyes? 'Loves' not 'likes'.

I could feel my face heating up. My lips tugged up into a brilliant smile. I rolled on my back and stared at the mobile while biting my lip.