Unlikely Friends

Carefully, Rose makes her way through the seats in the empty theatre. It's almost midnight on a Wednesday night, but she's there as every other Wednesday. The small neighbourhood theatre plays only old-timey movies on Wednesdays and almost no one goes, especially at night, which is perfect for Rose. She doesn't have friends to go with, too shy and socially awkward to make friends with her classmates. Moreover, everyone thinks she's weird for always laughing at herself at whatever clumsy accident she has. It's just a defence mechanism she developed as a child, laughing at herself first instead of letting others do it, which would be more humiliating. By now, it comes naturally every time she does something embarrassing.

The room is literally empty, which is great; no other person to make her self-conscious for crying or laughing too loud at a movie she's watched a billion times. Once she reaches the middle seat in the middle of the room, she makes herself comfortable.

"You're earlier than usual today," someone says next to her.

It doesn't startle Rose, it happens every time she sits at that theatre. Instead, she just shrugs casually.

"Mom finished dinner earlier, and I had a bad day at school," she replies, turning to look next to her to the girl by her side. She is barely visible, as if she was part of the dim light or the room itself, which she is. A girl who died in a very unlikely accident, almost forty years ago. She's been stuck in the theatre since then.

Another reason why Rose is awkward and has trouble speaking to people is because she's always seen ghosts, and sometimes it can be hard to distinguish between a person and a ghost. There's more to why people think Rose is weird.

"It's The Breakfast Club today," Alicia, the ghost, comments. "Again."

"Never complaining about that," Rose smiles.

The first time Rose came to the theatre was because she just wanted to be alone but not completely alone, so she chose a movie to keep her company. But Alicia sat by her side the entire movie without saying a word, which was... nice, comforting somehow. By the end of the movie, Alicia said: You should come again next week, it's better than watching movies alone. No one ever comes to Wednesday's show.

Okay, Rose replied, surprising Alicia and herself.

From that day on, it became a thing, to go every Wednesday and watch whichever oldie together. Eventually, Rose started to come earlier and talking to Alicia, getting to know more about the girl who passed years ago in that very theatre.

In that dimly-lit room, they found comfort and companionship in an uncanny friendship.

"Never complain about it," Alicia replies with the same type of smile, looking a bit more alive, a bit more real, and entirely grateful to have a friend, even as a ghost.