Sleeping In A Graveyard

Marionette walked carefully through the cemetery, her heart beginning to pump faster the closer she got to Lance's grave. This was the first time she had ever been scared in the cemetery, even late at night on Halloween, she was never scared. The cemetery comforted her and made her feel like she was at home, even when she would sit there and watch her mother put make-up and dress up the dead she wasn't afraid. She would even play hide and seek in the parlor with her sister, always finding her sister because she was so afraid of the dead bodies that would come into the funeral home, she couldn't stand hiding behind the coffin for too long. She missed her sister, having no one at home to talk to anymore because her sister left to go to college. Marionette loved her sister, it was the only friend she had ever really had.

When Marionette got in front of Lance's grave she glared at his tombstone. She began to tap her foot against the dirt and bit at her cheek thinking about what she should say. How would this go? Would nothing happen and just prove that she was crazy?

"Hey, Lance. I, uh...saw the article of when you died. I'm sorry it happened that way; I know this may sound weird but I feel like I saw you today. I kept seeing this person and then he would just disappear and-"

"It was me." Marionette turned around to see the guy from before that she had identified as Lance standing there behind her, looking practically see threw, smiling at her. She screamed and ran behind his tombstone putting distance between the two. She couldn't believe it, there he was, and all see threw like a ghost. She wanted to run but for some reason she felt like she had to listen to him.

"Hey, don't be scared! I've been listening to you talk ever since you started talking to me. I just learned how to appear to people, it doesn't last long but I wanted to tell you that I am here." Marionette's legs gave out from beneath her and Lance went to go catch her but then realized he couldn't. He couldn't touch her. Marionette looked almost catatonic staring out past the cemetery and into the horizon. She wasn't really sure what to say to him, what was she suppose to say?

"Marionette!" Marionette looked up and saw that Lance was gone and that from the fence Kaeden was standing there looking worried. She was still shocked from seeing Lance, and wondered where he had run off to when Kaeden climbed over and ran to Marionette, helping her up.

"Are you okay?" She nodded her head and looked around trying to see if she would find Lance but he was nowhere.

"Lance?" Kaeden looked at her confused and shook his head.

"No, I'm Kaeden." She glared up at him and shook her head, dusting the dirt off of her pants.

"I know that. What are you doing here, Kaeden?" Kaeden smiled cheekily and realized he still had his arms wrapped around her. He didn't make the move to let go but she did and looked at him strangely.

"Well, I wanted to see if you were okay. You seemed pretty out of it today in school." Marionette was really confused now.

"Since when does Kaeden Sparks, take notice to me?" Kaeden was slightly shocked by that, knowing that he never spoke to her in the past, but he had always wanted to. Last night he had finally gotten his chance to and he wasn't going to stop just because people in school were going to start to talk which he knew they would.

"I know it's odd but, I would really like to get to know you. I've always wanted to but you seemed to just push everyone away. Then when I saw you in that beautiful dress last night, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to talk to you." Marionette was completely shocked. She never thought that he would ever call her beautiful.

"Oh, uh, well I have to go now. Homework, you know?" Kaeden nodded his head knowing she was just trying to get away from him.

"Listen, would you meet up with me after school? Please?" Marionette looked around thinking about it and then caught a glimpse of Lance standing behind a tree glaring at Kaeden. Her jaw dropped as she nodded her head.

"Uh, yea sure. I'll see you tomorrow." Kaeden smiled and then went back over the fence while Marionette quickly made her way to the safety of her bedroom.

"Hey, sweetie. Dinner at eight." Her mother told her and Marionette made her way up the stairs and to her room. What scared her though was that Lance was there sitting on her bed, his arms crossed.

"AH!" She screamed, closing the door quickly and turning to look a Lance who just rolled his eyes and stood up, while Heather came up the stairs calling out Marionette's name.

"Netty? Are you okay?" Lance chuckled hearing her mother call her that and Marionette just glared at him and then looked at her door.

"Yea, mom, I'm fine! Just got spooked by something!" A freaking ghost!

"Oh, okay." She heard her mother walk back down the stairs and then turned to Lance who seemed to be fading in and out.

"What are you doing in my room?" She whispered harshly glaring at him, walking over to her book-bag and placing her books on her desk.

"You're not actually going out with that creep right?" She looked over at him like he was crazy, wondering why he would care in the first place.

"Lance...understand...I'm talking to a dead person...one of the most popular guys in school just asked me out, and you, a ghost is talking to me. DO YOU SEE HOW CRAZY THIS IS?" Lance was shocked by her response and saw how frustrated she was, how afraid she was. It freaked her out which was odd because nothing, nothing ever freaked her out.

"I'm really not any different than you, just dead. What, would you like it better if I didn't talk to you?" Marionette looked up at him and shook her head. She didn't know why but she knew that she couldn't just let Lance walk away from her. Not after she had spoken to him and told him too many things about her life, she finally had someone who not only could she talk to but would talk back.

"No, no. I guess it's nice that you can talk back to me. Just..."

"Weird talking to a ghost?" Marionette smiled sadly at him, nodding her head. She wasn't about to lie to him, not after she had been so honest with him before hand. She walked over to him and placed her hand right by his cheek and he closed his eyes pretending he could feel her hand.

"It'll be nice having a friend. I have some homework to do, but can I call you when it's okay for you to come over?" Lance opened his eyes and smiled at her. He nodded his head and stepped back from her, feeling like his heart was fluttering even though it didn't beat. He knew he had the biggest crush on her, but nothing real could ever happen between them.

"Of course. I can hear you, um...I'm gonna go practice on not fading out. Bye." Marionette smiled and watched him walk through her wall and out of her house. She was amazed but so happy that now she had a friend.

Lance looked back at the house and looked at himself. He had seen other ghost, look solid and not to translucent before so he knew that he could do it do. That's what he would work on, looking more normal, looking alive so that he didn't creep out Marionette too much. He wished that somehow he could be alive again but he knew that, that was a slim chance but he could at least be her friend.

"Friend...crap."