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

“What’s wrong with you today?” Marie asked me as I examined the newly hung banner on the wall.

WINTER FORMAL 2009! DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY!

It was such a nice banner…White with light blue letters. And the ceiling was awesome too. We managed to pin up a huge poster that looked just like the night sky with stars, a moon, a few comets, etc. Meanwhile, there were tons of snowflakes that hung from the ceiling, sparkling with all their might. It looked beautiful. Breathtaking.

“Peyton!” Marie said louder, waving her hand in front of my face.

“What?” I asked confused.

She shook her head and sighed. “What’s going on? You’ve been so out of it today.”

I gave her a weak smile. I would end up telling her anyways, so why not now? “I think I’m in love.”

“What?!” Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. “Are you serious?”

“As impossible as it sounds, yeah. I am.”

“I can’t believe this! Peyton Porter is in love… Finally!”

I winced as she shrieked and jumped up and down with excitement. If only I was that excited, which I wasn’t. I know last night I said I was in love with Ian…and I pretty sure I am. It’s just that I hadn’t given him my heart completely yet. How could I? He was a ghost and I was still having my doubts about a relationship with him. Could it work, would it work? What if he got bored of me? What if he broke my heart…?

If I was in a laughing mood, I would have laughed at myself. Here I was thinking about a relationship with Ian and he wasn’t even here. I hadn’t seen or heard from him in nearly two weeks. Those two weeks could easily turn into three, then six, and then twenty… How could I give my heart to someone I wasn’t even sure I would ever see again?

“So, tell me!” Marie gushed happily. “Who is it?”

I froze. What? She didn’t know? What if she thought I was an idiot for falling for a ghost? “Um…Ian,” I mumbled.

“Ian?” She questioned me, not as happy as before. “Ghost Ian? The same guy you haven’t seen or heard from in three weeks?”

“Two,” I corrected.

She rolled her eyes at me. “Gosh, and here I was thinking the guy was human! Peyton! I admit that Ian was a nice guy and all, but come on! You have to face the fact that you may never see him again.”

My eyes started to burn. “Yeah,” I choked out. “I know.”

It was silent for a few moments before Marie quietly asked, “So you love him?”

I shrugged. “Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t know anymore!”

Marie frowned and crossed her arms. “You are one confusing little cookie.”

A smile and a laugh escaped without permission. “Thanks.”

“But seriously, Peyt, what are you going to do if Ian never comes back?”

I bit my bottom lip and shrugged again. “I don’t know what I could do. But can we, um, just not talk about that anymore?”

Marie nodded to show she understood. “Of course. Anyways, guess what?”

I raised my eyebrows at her sudden cheerfulness. “”Yeah?”

“Adam asked me to the dance!”

I rolled my eyes at her. “That’s great, Marie. I’m happy for you. But I’m not surprised.”

“You’re not surprised?”

“Not one bit.”

“Um, why?”

I grinned at her. “I can see the way you two look at each other. And the tension when you two are near each other could be cut with a plastic butter knife. Seriously.”

A blush crept slowly upon her face. “We’re just friends…”

“Not for much longer,” I said laughing.

Marie, however, didn’t seem to find the humor I did. “You really think so?”

“Yes!” I shouted at her, laughing at the same time. I bet her and Adam will finally hook up at the dance. I know they’ve already went on dates, but they weren’t actually dating yet. Boyfriend and girlfriend. How nice. My laughter subsided as I realized what tonight was. The dance.

I was still stuck on not going, and I was surprised Marie hadn’t brought it up yet. She knew my reasons for hating the dances. The main one, however, was that I couldn’t dance to save my life. In fourth grade, I stepped on both of Joey Trough’s feet and he feel backwards…Backwards into another couple. That couple then fell over and ended up landing on a paper decoration which then pulled down the HUGE attached paper decoration that was covering the entire wall. Needless to say, I was beyond embarrassed.

Dancing just wasn’t my cup of tea. I had two left feet.

“So, Peyton,” Marie said. “I was wondering if I could come by your house after school and get ready for the dance there.”

An image of last night’s events flooded my mind. I went in the house after crying my eyes out in the car for an hour or so, and then went up to my room to find my father sitting on my bed waiting. I was too weak to put up much of a fight… Apparently, it was a going-away gift.

“Yeah,” I told her. “My parents left this morning to go to Colorado for the holiday. They won’t be back until next week.”

“Great!” Marie shrieked. “I can’t wait for you to see my dress!”

I smiled.

“And I’ll bring an extra dress just in case you change your mind. What color do you want?”

I frowned. “I’m not going, Marie.”

She shrugged and mumbled some things to herself. “I’ll just surprise you then! Oh, I can’t wait!”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Yeah, me too…”