Apparition

Chapter 14: Lavonne
The next day Lawren took me to his family store called “Lavonne”-which was Lawren’s middle name-to help out a little bit since Lawren’s mom wasn’t there and I didn’t want Lawren run the store by himself. A sense of fashion ran in Lawren’s veins.
The store usually had at least twelve customers since it was a Sunday, but today I’ve only seen six people come into the store which did include two children.
I sat behind the front desk as I watched people pass by in front of the store. Lawren was running around, making sure everything was neat and perfect.
“Do have hands ever get tired considering the fact that all you do is basically fold already folded clothes?” I asked and laughed.
“My grandmother always says a clean store is always an attractive store.”
“Do you need any help?” I asked.
“Can you fold this pile of clothes? I need to get something from the back room,” he said and pointed to the clearance table.
I hoped down from the chair and started folding the shirts.
“Good morning,” I woman said cheerfully as she entered the store.
I looked up at her from the clothes and all of a sudden I jumped into the air, holding a pile of clothes to my chest. It was him. It was Nathan.
I squeezed my eyes shut and when I opened them he was gone. Instead there was a woman in her thirties looking at a mannequin. She didn’t look anything like Nathan. She had strawberry blonde hair, a long face, green eyes, and freckles.
I took a deep breath to calm down. “Good morning to you, too,” I responded. I looked back down to fold the clothes.
“Are you having any specials?” I froze. Suddenly her voice sounded like Nathan’s too. I looked up at her, hesitantly. “Are you okay?” Her voice was a woman’s again.
I closed my eyes and shook my head to reorient myself.
“No?” She asked, confused.
“Oh! Uhm. I don’t really work here. I’m just… helping out. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” she said and continued shopping.
I had to get myself together. Why was I hearing him? And seeing him? This never happened before so why was it happening now?
I looked at the woman from the corner of my eye, trying to in inconspicuous about it. Her back was faced to me and as I watched her look through a shelf of pants, her features shifted and I was now looking at Nathan’s back.
“Oh gosh!” I gasped, turning around and running straight into Lawren. I sighed in relief.
He chuckled. “What’s wrong?”
I twisted my head around to look back at the woman. Or Nathan.
“Finally,” he sighed and let go of me. “Hello, ma’am. How can I be of service?” Lawren asked professionally.
“Can you show me to the dressing room?” The woman asked.
“Right this way,” he said and led her to the dressing rooms. The woman twisted around to look back at me. Suddenly her brown eyes turned a gray-blue just like Nathan’s. Then she winked at me.
My eyes widened. Now I knew I wasn’t seeing things. It wasn’t Nathan that I was looking at, I knew that for sure. The woman had to be a ghost. How else would she have those abilities?
“That woman,” I whispered to Lawren as he walked back toward me.
“What about her?” He asked.
I grabbed his arm and dragged him into the backroom, shutting the door behind me. I turned the music up louder just in case.
Lawren looked at me weirdly. “What’s going on?”
“She’s a ghost,” I whispered.
Lawren chuckled.
“I’m not joking with you, Lawren. I’m being serious.”
“Okay, okay. What makes you think she’s a ghost?” He asked, his face finally serious.
“I thought I was just hearing and seeing things but it’s just her! She’s a shape-shifter or something!”
Lawren thought about that. “Didn’t you once tell me that ghosts abilities can’t be that strong? Their individual powers is what I’m talking about.”
“You mean our Singular Abilities?” I asked.
He nodded his head.
“Well… I did say that. That’s what Keith told me. Our Singular Abilities are supposed to be subtle, nothing visible! But there’s nothing subtle about her ability!”
“So you think that just because she has a power of some sort that she’s a ghost?”
“What else would she be, Lawren?”
“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “A mutant.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m being serious.”
“Okay then. All we have to do is ask her! It’s not going to be a big deal because we all know about ghosts here.”
I nodded my head once and opened the door. We looked around the store but the woman wasn’t there.
“I think she’s still in the dressing rooms,” Lawren said. “Ma’am? Are you finished?” He called from the other side of her door.
There was no answer.
Lawren knocked.
Again, no answer.
He twisted the doorknob and swung open the door. The booth was empty.