You're a Ghost, So Why Can I See You?

I looked at myself in the mirror and ruffled my hair. “See, I told you you wouldn’t believe me. It’s true though. That’s why you’ve never met him, because you wouldn’t have been able to see him.”

“But I just saw him in there-”

“I know,” I said, cutting her off. “I know you did. Everyone did. That’s why I ran out to look for him. Something’s going on Marie…”

She made a “hmph” sound and exhaled loudly. “You know, I actually do believe you. Despite how crazy it sounds.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “You do?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I heard this story a long while ago about a ghost and a human. I didn’t really believe it at the time, but the more I thought about it, the more I believed it. There was just too much of the story that made perfect sense, everything was too perfect in it for it not to be true.”

“Really?” I had never heard of a story like that before. A ghost and human falling in love, that would have been all over the news and everything. There was no way I wouldn’t have heard of it.

“Apparently they met at a movie theater or something. It was really sweet and romantic from what I heard. She didn’t think she could love a ghost, and then there was this human rival guy, and she didn’t know which one she wanted to be with.”

I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. Her eyes were glazed like she was in Lala Land. “Marie!”

“Oh!” she said surprised. “Sorry. Anyways, he was gone for a while but showed up at her graduation and confessed his feelings for her. He believed they were soul mates or something, but she didn’t believe in such things, especially soul mates existing between a ghost and human.”

“And…?” I prompted. This story seemed a bit too farfetched.

Marie shrugged. “She said she loved him too. Then they finally kissed and the whole audience erupted into applause.”

Okay, so it did kind of sound sweet, but come on. Soul mates, ghosts? This was all too much. “But,” I started, confusion crossing over me. “If he was a ghost, how could the people see him?”

“I’m not sure,” she said shrugging. “The theory was something about how love conquers all.”

I blinked. Love. Was that this entire universe revolved around?! You know how some people say that love is what we’re here for, to fall in love, and to find that special someone but everyone else always passes it on because they think it’s shit? Well, yeah, that’s how I was. But now…Now I’m starting to believe it. Everyone, and I mean everyone, wants to fall in love. Everyone wants to find their special someone. Usually it takes practically their whole lifetime, but… what if…

What if I’ve already found mine?

No! This is stupid. Ian’s a ghost, and even if he is changing, somehow, he’s still a ghost. But what does that have to do with anything? I can see him, I can touch him, I can talk to him. It shouldn’t matter if no one else can.

“Marie,” I said calmly. “Do you think that could be what’s going on with Ian? Do you really believe any of that stuff?”

A mischievous smile spread across her lips. “Of course I believe it. I did go to their wedding after all.”

“What? Whose wedding?”

“Amy…and Cale’s.”

“Who are they?”

“They’re the ones I told you about, Peyton. Amy was the human, and Cale was the ghost.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. She went to their wedding? What the hell?!

“Amy’s my cousin.”

My mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope,” Marie said with a smirk on her face. “I know, hard to believe, huh? Well, Peyton, my dear, it’s true. My cousin married a ghost.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. But not because I didn’t believe her or anything, it was because I didn’t know what else to do. This was all just too surreal. Ghost, love, soul mates, humans, RELATIONS, I mean, what was the possibility that I would be friends with someone whose cousin went through the same thing I was?

“Marie… What do I do?” I put my head in my hands and groaned.

She smiled sympathetically at me and patted me on the back. “Peyton, I’ll ask you a very simple question, and a yes or no is all it requires. The question is, do you like Ian?”

I looked up from my hands and smiled weakly. “Yes. More than anything. I’ve never felt like this before in my life.”

“Good.” She smiled triumphantly and crossed her arms. “Because-”

“Marie!” I whined pathetically. “It can’t work between us though. He’s a ghost, and I’m a human. It can never work. It’s impossible.”

Marie waited to make sure I was done, and then smirked. “That’s what Amy said.”

“Peyton?”

I quickly whipped away from the mirror and turned around. Ian was standing in the doorway, holding the door open. Did he hear what I just said? How long has he been standing there? Oh my god, please tell me not long. I could already feel my face turning red as I thought about it. What if he didn’t feel the same?

“Ian!” I said surprised. “Um, how long have you been standing there?”

“I just got here…” he said, his gaze trailing away from me and landing on Marie. “Can she see me?”

I turned my attention away from Ian and looked at Marie. Her eyebrows were raised and she was looking frantically at the door and me.

“Is he here?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, chuckling.

She hesitantly started making her way towards the door. “Should I…Can I just…?”

“Marie, it’s fine. You and the others can go ahead and head home without me. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” I nodded. “Well, okay then…” She got to the door and opened it, and then looked around the room. “Ian, Peyton is my best friend. You better make sure she makes it home alright.”

Ian, who was now standing between the door and me, nodded. “I’ll protect her with my life.”

Those words pierced my heart. That was a pretty serious statement, but I was probably just over exaggerating. “He said okay,” I translated.

Marie gave me a small smile and then left the bathroom, leaving only Ian and me. Ian turned away from the door and stared at me. His brown eyes were smoldering and his golden hair was tussled and messy, but in an adorable way. I could already feel my heart tugging just from looking at him.

“Peyton,” he said slowly. “There are some things I need to talk to you about…”

I nodded. “You’ve got that right.”

Ian rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Where do you want me to start?”

I thought about it and shrugged. “Marie said something about her cousin, Amy, marrying a ghost called Cale. How…? Why does this happen? I don’t understand…”

“Okay,” he said. “But not here. People might think you’re a little crazy.”

I smiled and nodded, following him out of the bathroom and out of the movie theater. I was immediately hit with a cold gust of air. The sky was nearly black, already spotted with dazzling stars.

We walked along the sidewalk for a few blocks and came to a nice little neighborhood. The street lamps were on, making everything luminous and glowing. It was all so beautiful and peaceful…

“Peyton,” Ian said softly. “I don’t want to leave you.”

I frowned and looked up at him. “What are you talking about?” If you don’t want to leave me, then don’t!

He sighed, closed his eyes, and began. “Amy wasn’t the first…”