Nothing to Lose | Luke Patterson

Chapter Three

The boys and I had been sitting in the attic for a couple of minutes; the three of them were discussing what we should do about the girl while I stayed silent. If it were up to me, we'd scare the girl into leaving our studio; I mean, we're the ghosts; she is supposed to be intimidated by us, not the other way around.

"Are you still here?" The girl from earlier called out nervously; my eyes shot open, and I peered down from the attic. "Whatever you are?" I glanced at the boys and gestured for them to teleport down with me, "I know I saw something; I'm not crazy."

"Well, we're all a little crazy," Luke told the girl as we teleported in; the girl turned quickly and began screaming again.

"oh my gosh," I cringed at how loud she was, "can you stop screaming," I say the last part loudly, and the girl stops, holding a cross in front of her with shaky hands.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my mom's studio?" The girl demands; I shake my head at her and laugh.

"Your Mom's studio?" Luke asks, laughing at the idea; he moves closer to the piano, and the girl holds the cross out, causing Luke to stumble nervously. "This is our studio, trust me," Luke shuffles on the top of the piano, "The grand piano is new, and..." Luke pauses, looking over at the familiar worn leather couch. "My couch." He shouts excitedly, throwing himself onto the old piece of furniture. My eyes travel from him to the six-string hanging on the wall; hm, I don't remember that being here.

"Uh, Luke?" I ask; he looks up at me, confused, "is that your six-string?" I gesture to the instrument hanging on the wall, and Luke glances around, confused.

"Can you give us a second?" Luke asks the girl, moving over to where we're standing; she holds the cross out, and he lifts his hands in defense, "Just give us one second, thank you." Luke gestures for all of us to huddle, "Guys, what is going on? How'd she get her stuff in here so fast?" He whispered loudly; I cringed, knowing she could hear everything he was saying.

"Maybe she's a witch; I mean, there's chairs floating on the ceiling." Reggie proposes, pointing up to the ceiling.

"There is no such thing as witches," I remind him, shaking my head at how ridiculous his idea is.

"Really?" Reggie asks, "cause I used to think there was no such thing as ghosts." Luke turns to look at me and nods in agreement with Reggie.

"He's got a point," Alex shrugs, but I can tell he seems unsure.

"Okay, so we're going with witch?" Luke asks; I groan and slap his arm.

"No, we are not going with witch," Alex whispers; I nod in agreement; there is no way this innocent looking girl is a witch.

"Look, guys, she's just scared," I tell them, glancing back at the nervous-looking girl. "Let someone with a softer touch handle this," I nudge my brother, "Alex, your up." Alex nods his head and turns to face the girl. Out of the two of us, Alex has always been the more sensitive one; if anyone could help this nervous girl realize this wasn't her studio, it's Alex.

"Why are you in our studio?" Alex loudly asks the girl; I cringe and shake my head; I said, use a softer touch, not yell at her. The girl pushes the cross forward, causing her hands to go right through Alex.

"Oh my gosh!" She exclaims, "how did you do that?"

"Clearly, you're not understanding," Alex told the young girl before turning back to us, "I don't think she gets it, Charlie?"

"Fine," I groan, moving over to where Alex and the girl were standing. "Okay, look, we're ghosts, all right?" I speak slowly, gesturing to the boys and I. "and this," I gesture to the studio around us, "is our studio."