chandler the non-binary ghost (discontinued)

chapter two - boo!

         clickity, clackity is the sound that fills my dimly lit living room. online classes were moving quickly and i find it so easy to fall behind. my typing grew impatient, the sound of my fingers hitting the keyboard growing louder by the second. i was focused. i love when that happens. when my mind just fixates on what i'm doing and the words just flow from my brain and into the document i'm typing in. as i was finishing up the last sentence of my essay, my laptop suddenly shut off.

         i swear, it was charged, i thought, and it's plugged in. the only thing that stopped me from panicking was the fact that no matter what happened, google docs saved your work automatically. i held down the power button until the screen lit up. it wasn't long before the screen went black again, "what the hell?"

         i powered it on again. thank god, it worked. it was mildly suspicious, how much it was acting up, but it's a computer. what more can you expect from something that's inanimate but also smart enough to answer almost all of your questions. on a totally unrelated topic, or so i thought, the room grew colder. like, so cold it stung my skin. i reached down to touch the spot next to me on the couch, remembering i had a blanket next to me. but when i felt the coldness of my leather couch instead of a soft warm blanket, a chill went down my spine. of all of the events that had happened, this was the weirdest. i always had my yellow blanket susie with me. since i was tiny. i looked around the room. even despite the coldness, i was sweating. my stomach filled with dread. everything about the current circumstance was chilling to me. i looked back to my laptop. In big, bold letters i saw the words 'hey, cutie ;)'. my heart began to race. i wanted to reach up to close my laptop but i was petrified. i heard the oh-so familiar tapping of my keyboard and saw the keys quickly bouncing up and down as if they were being pressed. i didn't even realize i was holding my breath until i looked at the freshly typed up words on the screen. 'look behind you,' it said. i slowly, and shakily, turned my head to look behind me. there susie was. draped over the arm of the couch. i was barely able to process the bright yellow glory of my favorite blanket before i heard a glass crash from behind me. shit, i thought. that was definitely my laptop. i felt panic wash over my body. i turned around to face the arm of the couch my laptop was sitting on and came face-to-face with someone i'd never seen before. i wanted to scream but i didn't want the neighbors to question me. i clasped my hand over my mouth.

"hey, hey, cool your jets, babe," the bizarre human-like life form said in a cool whisper, "here, lemme help you with that," and with a sudden graceful flick of their wrist, their hand detached from their body. i was nauseous. this had to be a dream. with the severed hand, they lifted up my laptop and set it next to me on the couch. all of my attention was shifted to my laptop.

"n-no, no, you're wrong," i protested, still rather shook.

"excuse me?" the stranger chuckled, their hand reattaching to their wrist.

"this broke, i heard it break,"

"what broke?"

"my laptop,"

"hm, doesn't look broken to me,"

i looked down at my laptop and ran my finger across the screen. how was it possible? not a single scratch. it was just the way it was before, and maybe even better, "are you a witch?"

"a witch," they laughed, "no, sweetheart. i'm a soul. a lost non-binary soul, looking to crossover to the other side. a non-binary ghost, if you will."

"cheryl?"

"chandler,"

"chandler," i repeated, taking a moment to process and memorize every feature. they were devilishly attractive. they wore a green and turquoise striped tie. it was the cutest shit i'd ever seen, despite being incredibly ugly, "i like your tie."

"thanks, i find your face incredibly tasteful," they winked, levitating off of the arm of the couch. they picked up susie and wrapped up in her, "this blanket smells like you."

i felt my face heat up, "excuse me?"

chandler glanced down at me, hovering directly above my head, "you heard me."

their grin gave me chills and the way they were so nonchalant had me wondering what their real intentions were. what could a ghost want with me? usually, i could read someone like a book. i'm far from naive. but their eyes were so deep and mysterious. they looked like they were thinking and questioning but they already knew the answers to all of their questions. fear was definitely hanging over me, but, this adventure was only just starting and little did i know, chandler was much more than meets the eye.