chandler the non-binary ghost (discontinued)

chapter one - genavieve

i don't like how quiet it gets when i'm home alone. i've always been told by people that my apartment was cursed by witches thousands of years ago. people say that a witch named cheryl was hung in this very spot and, ever since then, there was a curse or something. i find it dumb. it's not that i don't believe in supernatural stuff or anything. i just need some sort of proof. or a better backstory than "she was hung here." it just seems unlikely. now, if someone told me a kid they went to school with, say... committed suicide in this apartment a couple years ago and now their ghost roams this house, i find that more believable because, well... i could just ask for a picture in a school yearbook and there's always the internet to give me news about the teenage suicide. and i think it's very close-minded to believe that there's nothing supernatural roaming the face of the planet. i mean, you look in outer space and remember, a long long time ago, people didn't know this stuff existed and didn't even dare to think about it. i think it's more unlikely for there not to be anything weird going on in the world.
but, aside from that tangent, i don't like how quiet it gets when i'm home alone. i'm not worried about ghosts or ghouls or long dead witches. i'm worried about the living. my boyfriend jared, specifically. i don't want him to call. i don't want him to come over. i'm defenseless when he's around. i know i could just tell him to leave but he's scary. he's not even abusive or bad. he's just... not what i want. i just don't know how to tell him that.
silence rings through my ears. it graces the whole house. it's deafening. i grip my pillow closer to my chest, my eyes drifting down to my phone. i stared for what felt like forever until i hear it buzz and the screen lights up. i feel my heart sink. i read the words on the screen and process them. it's just jessie.
'hey, cutie pie, what'cha up to?' was her simple way of flirting with me. i like jessie. she's cute and i know i could fall in love with her if i let myself but... jared would never leave me alone about it. he'd hold it against me and make fun of me forever. because i broke up with him to "appease my lesbian fantasies". maybe, someday, i'll find someone who really truly loves me. and understands me.
"please, god," i say, aloud, "if you're really up there, send me the sweetest angel of a partner. i can't deal with jared anymore."
i let what i had just done sink in. i couldn't help but giggle at how crazy i looked. maybe there is a witch in my house. maybe a teenager did commit suicide in here and i'm lying right next to them on the couch.
my eyes begin to feel heavy and i feel myself slowly drifting away from reality. but the feeling of cold fingers on my face sent shivers down my spine and jolted me awake. i lie there, petrified for a moment. my vivid imagination must finally be getting to me. but i still didn't breathe. i picked my head up and glanced around the room. when i saw no one there, i let my head fall back onto my pillow. not too long after, i fell into a deep sleep in the warm embrace of my living room couch.