Ghost of You

I stared at the figure in the door, my chest rising and falling heavily. His blonde hair was pressed firmly down against his head, black glasses framing his eyes. I pulled back from the door, surprised, having forgotten about Miss Stephan.

“Gustav?” I breathed. He smiled and held his arms out. “I thought you were...”

“Staying with my grandma? Yeah, I was.” He frowned. “We heard about Gordon, though, and I pressured her and my mom to let me come back. I've missed you guys so much.” He shook his head, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he stared at the cement porch below him.

I stood in shock for a second. “Oh! Uh, come in. Georg is up in the game room. I'll come up in a second.”

Gustav nodded and brushed by, hands still in his pockets as he made his way upstairs, eying Miss Stephan as he passed. I turned back to her and stepped out of the way of the door, pointing. “Go,” I said, my voice hoarse now. I was shaking. She stood staring at me for a second, then slowly made her way out the door. She stopped on the porch and turned to me.

“Tom,” she began, but I slammed the door.

I walked upstairs and into the game room. Gustav and Georg were sitting on one of the couches, laughing about something, Sarah practically in Gustav's lap. Georg glanced up at me, followed by Gustav, who broke out into a smile.

“Hey!” he said and stood up. He pulled down the bottom of his shirt as he walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. We stood hugging for a minute, silent, and then I broke down.


Gustav and I sat on the porch in the backyard, staring up at the darkening sky. We were both silent, had been for a few minutes. I spilled it all to him through my tears. The fight with Georg, the incident at the cemetery, the bad dreams. Hell, I almost told him about seeing Bill's ghost. Luckily, though, I was able to stop myself before that came pouring out.

Gustav sighed, picking a piece of lint off his black shorts. “Can't you guys just make up?” he asked, looking over to me as he leaned back against the wooden stairs.

I shrugged my shoulders, shaking my head a bit before answering. “Something tells me he won't forgive me. Not after this long.”

Gustav sighed. “I wish I had a cigarette.”

“Gustav?”


Gustav and I both turned around to find Mrs. Listing standing in front of the door. Her hair was a mess, her eyes sad and tired, rimmed completely red. She had changed from her baby blue knee-length skirt to a pair of gray sweats, and had thrown a gray track zip-up hoodie on over her white shirt. She crossed her arms and stood awkwardly as Gustav got up and hugged her.

Mr. Listing appeared next to Mrs. Listing, stuffing his left hand into his pocket while he put his right hand around Mrs. Listing's waist. “Gustav, would you mind going inside for a little while please? We need to talk to Tom alone.”

Gustav seemed wary for a minute, then smiled and nodded his head. Mrs. Listing patted his arm gently as he went around her and into the house.

I felt my mouth go dry and I slowly pulled myself up from off the stairs. I felt lightheaded and woozy. “What's... what's going on?” I stuttered.

“Tom,” Mr. Listing began, the small breeze picking up the end of his ponytail. “Anna and I were talking, and-”

“We wanna adopt you.”

I felt my hands shaking at my sides. “What?”

Mrs. Listing broke out into a huge grin, nodding her head firmly. “I don't see why not,” she babbled. “What with Gordon being murdered, and frankly there hasn't been one lead on Simone-”

“Honey,” Mr. Listing began, looking from me to his wife.

“What! You know it's true! Besides, he's like a son to us now anyway, and we don't need people like that Miss Stephan stirring up trouble-”

“Honey,” Mr. Listing said, in a lower voice this time.

My tongue felt heavy in my mouth, my lips drying. My heart pounded furiously in my chest. I was speechless. Absolutely speechless. I stood in silence, staring at the two. Mrs. Listing was grinning widely, seeming so determined. Mr. Listing's face, however, was harder to read, but it was soft. We all stood silent.

“Please!” Mrs. Listing wailed out, her face scrunched up as tears leaked down her cheeks.

I don't even remember myself talking, or making any noise at all. But apparently I had, because she broke into another huge grin. I had said, “Okay.”