Falling For a Ghost? How Is That Even Possible?

“Um, Dad?” I asked quietly. He shifted on the couch and gave me a hard stare.

“What?”

I fiddled with my hands and looked down at the floor. “I was wondering if you were coming to graduation.”

He laughed. “What the hell do you think? Why would I want to go to a fucking graduation?”

I inhaled a deep breath. I knew this was going to happen. I knew he was going to say something like this. “Okay,” I said. I turned around, grabbed my coat, and headed out the front door.

As I drove towards the school, I was extremely aware of my heart beat. If it was in a race, it would have won hands down. Speaking of hands, my own were practically shaking. I was nervous and anxious.

I pulled up into the school parking lot by the football field and parked in an empty space. The lot was already packed to the limit with cars. Hundreds, at least! And only one of them were for me. Martha said she was going to be here, but I figured Rick came too. I shook my head in disgust. Martha and Rick, two people who weren’t even family, were more like my parents than my own father.

I got out of the car and walked towards the field. Before I got there, though, a deep male voice yelled my name. I turned around sharply and greeted Rick and Martha.

“Amy!” Rick said. He spread out his arms and appraised me. “You look amazing!”

I blushed as Martha pulled me forward into a bone crushing hug. “Thanks,” I choked out. It was graduation, so of course I had to look nice. I wore a silky black skirt that went to my knees, black high heels, and a burgundy red top. My hair was wavy and tossed about, but still looked nice. My makeup was light and friendly. Needless to say, I looked awesome. And I had a reason to be. If Cale showed up, I was going to have to declare my feelings for him, and when I did, I wanted to look good.

“Oh, Sweetie!” Martha said, letting go of me and giving me a light shove. “It’s starting! We’ll be on the far right side of the bleachers.” Her and Rick started walking off, but she quickly turned around and whispered to me. “Don’t worry!”

I walked over to the area where a few people were handing out the assigned caps and gowns, and took my own then put it on. We all arranged in a line as we had rehearsed earlier and waited. Total, there was forty four students graduating. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I went to a small school and half of the kids dropped out their senior year anyways.

Dun, dundundun DUN… Dun…. Dun, Dundundun DUN…

Everyone took a deep breath as the first person in line started towards their seat. A deep voice announced their name over the intercom and listed their parents and whatnot. As I waited patiently for my turn, tears were starting to form in my eyes.

Yes, I didn’t know my classmates very well, and yes, I didn’t like them half the time, but truth-be-told, I was sad at the moment. I was sad because this was all I’d ever known. Out in the real world, I didn’t have any friends. But here at school, these were the closest to friends I’d ever gotten. We had been through so much together…

“Amy Chambers,” the intercom announced. “Age seventeen, father Dick Chambers, mother Lillian Chambers…”

I tuned out the rest as I walked towards the chairs. Forty four chairs all set in a neat square. Eleven chairs, four rows. I slid in next to some girl whose name I didn’t know and took a deep breath. This was it. I was graduating.

It took fifteen minutes for the rest of the students to get in their seat, meaning it was now approximately 6:45 p.m. Fifteen minutes.

“I’d like to say congratulations to the class of oh’ nine,” the superintendant said to us. “They have been extremely hard working, one of the most talented groups of students I’ve had the pleasure of knowing…” Blah blah blah. “And now, here’s the valedictorian, Katie McQueen.”

Katie( the brown headed, blue eyed geek) rose from her seat with a piece of paper in her hand and walked up the podium. She placed the paper on the podium and smiled at us. She had tears in her eyes as well. Good, so it wasn’t just me.

“Classmates, friends, congratulations.” Her voice was soft and sincere. Without a doubt, I’d be bawling tonight no matter what happened. “If you don’t mind, I’ve written a speech.” She unfolded the piece of paper, cleared her throat politely and began to read:

“Twelve years, we’ve been together
In the beginning, we all just wanted to make friends,
Eat cake, hunt Easter Eggs, and not have to worry about what our future held.
After that, we wanted each other to like each other more than just friends.
Crushes started, dating started, and the cliques began.
Despite all of our differences, we were all really the same...
Remember the heated discussions about Pluto not being a planet?
What about the time when Harold Timmons shaved his head completely bald?
Or the arguments about how the government is running our country?
…Remember the time in the tenth grade when the Clique Six blocked the doors and threw in cans of Axe Spray like a smoke bomb?
Remember how bad it smelled and how angry everyone got?
Yes, we all remember that.
But when you think of it now, you’re not mad, are you?
These were the times when we really were all friends.
We have been through everything together.
We’ve developed friendships that will last forever,
And memories that we will never, ever forget.”

After she was done, everyone applauded. Katie wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face and exited off the tiny stage. When she smiled at me, I suddenly became aware of my own tears. God damn it.

“Alyssa Adams,” the superintendant called. Alyssa Adams stood up from her chair and walked on the stage. She took her diploma and shook hands. After that, she proceeded down the steps, shook a few teachers hands, then started back towards her seat. Meanwhile, the band was playing Pomp and Circumstance very emotionally, no doubt trying to get more tears out of people. And hell, who was I kidding? It was working.

“Riley Austen…David Bachen…” Every time a name was called, my heart rate increased more and more. When David Bachen sat down, I managed a quick glance at his watch.

7:04 p.m.

“Amy Chambers…”

I was shocked. It was past seven…and Cale wasn’t here. Cale was not here!He had married Isis and rejected me.

“Amy Chambers…” the superintendent repeated.

Like a robot, I rose from my seat and advanced towards the stage. It was over. I lost.
As I took the diploma and shook her hand, I could literally feel my heart ripping in two. My breathing was ragged as I tried to stop crying, but it didn’t help. The Superintendent just smiled at me.

I stepped off the stage and shook the teachers’ hands. They smiled at me, probably all thinking I was sad I was graduating. I hiccupped a few times and started back towards my seat. He didn’t show up… HE DIDNT SHOW THE FUCK UP!

“Um, excuse me?” a nervous voice broke out across the intercom. Everyone in the audience was suddenly dead silent.

My heart stopped beating and I slowly turned around. Up on the podium talking into the mike, with EVERYONE’s full attention, was someone I thought I’d never see again. I dropped my diploma and covered my mouth with my hand as I cried harder.

“I’m really sorry to interrupt, but I just ditched my own wedding to be here… Amy… I need to tell you how I feel.” He grey eyes were staring straight into my own. He was wearing a formal tux and looked amazing in it. His black hair and pale skin made him look like a true ghost against the dark night sky.

“In case anyone is wondering,” he said. “My name is Cale, and I am in love with that beautiful woman right there. She may not believe it, or may not choose to believe it, but I don’t care. Amy, from the moment I met you, I knew you were the one. I can’t even begin to explain how much I love you, but know this: I never wanted to marry Isis. I only went along with it because I thought that you would be happy without me. I don’t know if I hurt you by it, but if I did, then I am truly sorry.”

My head was spinning like crazy. All eyes were either on Cale or me. This was it. He came! CALE came!!! He didn’t get married, interrupted the graduation ceremony to tell me how he felt about me, and to top it all off, said that he LOVED ME!

CALE LOVES ME!

Cale stepped off the stage and started walking towards me slowly. “You make me crazy every time I see you and every time I hear your voice. You make me go crazy just at the scent of your hair. You could tell me to jump off a cliff, and I would. You could tell me to make a complete fool of myself, and I would. I would do anything for you, Amy, anything.” He was a foot in front of me now. “You’re the air that I breathe, my way of life, the reason I live! If I can’t have you,” he whispered. “Then I don’t want anyone. If I can’t have you, then I don’t want to live any longer.”

This was my fairy tale. I was the princess, and Cale was my prince charming. If someone had told me in the beginning that this was how it would end, I never would have believed them for anything. But now, I realized that I wouldn’t want anything butthis.

Cale closed the gap between us, pressing his body to mine, and intertwined his fingers with mine causing electricity shot through my whole body. My knees became weak and unstable, and I could barely think. I could feel the warm heat radiating off of him…

Wait, why is there heat?

“Cale?” I whispered. “You’re…warm.”

He sighed and stared down into my eyes. “Turns out I was a special ghost. I could make a decision on where I wanted to be. In the ghost world, or here, on Earth. I chose Earth.” He smiled at me lightly and spoke softly. “I chose you.

He reached a hand up and cupped the side of my face. With his other hand, he slid it around the back of my neck and into the bottom line of my hair. “Amy,” he whispered. Our faces were only inches apart, and the familiar scent of sweet peppermint flowed into my nostrils. “I promised I would never leave you, and I never will. I am yours. Body, heart, and soul.” He leaned forward slightly and brushed his thumb across my lips. “I love you.”

I smiled through the happy tears. “I love you too.”

Cale grinned and crashed his lips on mine.

Fireworks exploded in the background, and electricity shot through my entire body. The kiss was soft and gentle, and full of love. It was filled with passion and long awaiting, overdue desire.

My hands found their way around Cale’s neck, and I pulled him closer. I felt him smile in the kiss.

The audience erupted into applause.

So, this is the end. Whoever would have thought that I, of all people, would have a happy ending? And with a ghost, too? No, not a ghost anymore, human. Cale and I were perfect for each other now, and there was nothing that could stop us from loving each other. I still couldn’t almost believe it. I, Amy Chambers, was in love with Cale.

I was in fucking love!

And if sometime in the future someone would come up to me and ask if it was possible to fall in love with a ghost, I would tell them:

YES!