Finally Free -- JATP Luke x MaleOC

Chapter 21

Jay, only a twelve-year-old boy, was walking quietly at the skate park by himself. His twelve-year-old form was small as he was significantly shorter than he is at seventeen. The accident that took his parents from him happened about two months ago and had left Jay scarred for life. He was placed in the foster care system for a brief moment in time before they found living family on his father's side, who took him in about a month ago.

The living family, his father's brother and his wife, were currently shopping at a nearby store for groceries. They had dropped Jay off at the skate park to play while they shopped even though Jay no longer had a skateboard.

He had settled for walking around the park instead, watching the other kids and teenagers on their skateboards, rollerbaldes, and bikes. Jay had asked to be dropped at the Molina's house, where Rose and Ray and Julie and Carlos were, but was denied the opportunity.

Jay wasn't paying attention to the pavement in front of him, so he didn't see the skateboarding boy that passed through every obstacle in his path.

"Passing through!" the boy said with a laugh as he went through a hotdog stand.

By the time Jay looked up, the skateboarder was only a few feet ahead of him. He instinctively brought his arms up and squeezed his eyes shut, brancing himself for the impact that never came.

It took him a moment to realize that he was perfectly safe. He slowly opened his eyes and lowered his arms, looking around. No one had noticed the collision. No one was nearby.

"Hey, you okay?"

Jay turned around to see the tall man who had skateboarded through him earlier, although at the moment he hadn't realized that.

"Sorry about that man, I didn't think you could see me," the other man said, taking off his helmet and letting his hair fall. "But you're not a ghost, are you?"

"A ghost?"

"Yeah, we're..." the man trailed off, looking around him. Jay copied his movements and realized that he had captured the attention of several bystanders.

"Let's go somewhere else," the man said, walking away, holding his skateboard under his arm. Once he realized that Jay wasn't following, he turned back and called out. "Come on! I know a sweet place."

Jay still refused to move, frozen in place by a multitide of factors. His brain had just registered the events that just happened. The confusion of a man passing through him without, the fear of following a stranger somewhere, the gazes and whispers of several bystanders, it was all too much for him.

"Hey," the man said, running to Jay and leaning down to his level. "Hey, look at me. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? You're confused and scared, I'm just trying to help you with that."

Jay slowly nodded, choosing to follow the man. At the moment, he wanted to leave the skate park as fast as he could. He still heard everyone's whispers following him as he left, following the man as he led him to a bench in the park. The area was more secluded than where he was earlier, which Jay appreciated.

"Better?" the man asked when Jay sat down and took a few breaths. Jay nodded bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging himself on the bench as the man stood in front of him. "You here by yourself kid?"

Jay nodded his head.

"Where are your parents at?"

Jay's eyes fell to the floor and he hugged himself tighter. He felt the tears immediately come to his eyes, but forced them down by pressing his closed eyes against his knees.

"Okay, you don't have to answer that."

Jay gave no response and the two boys remained in silence, the noise of the skate park only a few feet away. To Jay it seemed distant, as if he were a block away.

"You're a ghost?" Jay asked, bringing his head out of his knees to look at the man sitting next to him.

"Yeah," the man said, apparently surprised that Jay was talking to him. "I'm Willie."

"Jay."

There was more silence and Jay began to fiddle with his pants.

"Why can no one else see you?" Jay asked eventually.

"Well, ghosts are invisible to Lifers. People who are alive," Willie added quickly at Jay's questioning look. "Most of the time at least. I'm not sure why you can see me, I mean..you're alive, aren't you?"

"I shouldn't be," Jay said before he could stop himself. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he clapped a hand over his mouth. Willie shot a concerned look at Jay that he wished he couldn't see.

"What do you mean?" Willie asked.

"Nothing," Jay said too quickly. "Nothing."

"Hey, I'm not here to judge," Willie said. "What can I do? I'm already dead."

Jay shook his head, not wanting to continue a conversation on this topic.

"Okay, okay," Willie said, sitting back. "We'll drop it."

"Tell me about ghosts," Jay asked instead. "Are there more of you around Los Feliz?"

"Oh, yeah, there's loads of us everywhere," Willie answered. "What's awesome is that we can basically teleport anywhere we want, whenever we want."

"No way," Jay said, his interest piqued. "Show me."

Willie smiled and disappeared in a poof of light. Jay broke out of his previous position and sat normally on the bench, looking around for Willie. A few moments passed before Willie reappeared in front of Jay, the same lopsided smile om his face.

"Cool," Jay said, the corners of his mouth tugging at a smile.

"Right?" Willie asked. "We can also do this."

Willie waved his hand at a nearby car, making its alarm go off.

"That's so cool," Jay said in awe.

Jay and Willie kept talking about ghosts in Los Feliz until Jay's uncle and aunt had finally arrived to pick him up. As Jay left with his family, Willie followed closely on the skateboard.

"If you wanna hang out again, I'm usually around here in the afternoons," Willie said. "You're a cool dude Jay. See ya around."

Jay responded with a smile as Willie poofed away. After that day, Jay tried to come often to the skatepark to meet with Willie, and he continued to do so until he entered high school. After then, Jay had found himself with less time to go to the skatepark and instead spent more time at home due to his uncle and aunt pressuring him to study and keep his grades up. His grades were most important to him now, but he would never forget the ghost that skateboarded right through him soon after the accident that took his parents from him.