Hello, Can You Please Stop Haunting Me?

Zach was in his bathroom. He was absent-mindedly brushing his teeth. It was the same routine every day. His eyes were blank and expressionless not because he was deep in some highly upsetting thought. Zach snapped into an almost drunken, almost zombie-like state in the mornings.

His red toothbrush hang loosely out of his mouth as he scratched the back of his ear before placing his hands slowly on either side of the washbasin. The little droplets of water from the tap fell on the white porcelain echoed around the somewhat tiny space. The sound of loneliness, he thought as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

He looked like crap.

Zach sighed. He often heard voices of the dead, especially when Jeremy died. He could hear them ever since he was 5 and then a couple of years after that it stopped. He was a kid. He didn’t know much. He didn’t even remember that he could hear the dead. He didn’t even understand it when his mother told him that it was best to not interfere with the dead.

Back then, Zach thought that his mother was just one quirky woman.

His mind went back to Eliza. She didn’t contact him after she left the coffee shop. It was already Saturday.

He yawned, his arms stretched out. In the midst of yawning, he accidentally swallowed a bit of toothpaste. It was as if the mint was a sudden intruder at the back of his warm throat. He spat out the toothpaste while coughing heavily.

Clearing his throat, he tossed a white towel around his neck and was making his way to the door when suddenly a freezing cold sensation gripped him. He stopped in his tracks, his heart banging against his chest as he looked around the room.

No one.

He snorted and shook his head.

“Do you have a thing for Eliza?”

“Fuck,” Zach exclaimed, startled by the voice that came from behind him. He spun around quickly but lost his footing in the process and gripped the shower curtain. But it didn’t help him at all. The rings broke and the curtain fell on top of Zach.

Jeremy guffawed. “And that is what I call epic!”

Zach pushed the curtain off of him hurriedly. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked you a question. And you’re looking the wrong way.”

Zach stared at the air slightly to his right.

“Nah, I was just kidding. You were looking at the right way.”

“This is unbelievable,” Zach said through gritted teeth as he scrambled on his feet.

“Sooo, do you?” Jeremy asked.

“Do I what?” He replied, dumping the heap of broken shower curtain into the bathtub.

“Like Eliza,” Jeremy answered lamely.

“What gave you that impression? Why are you even asking me this anyway?” Zach said, yanking open the door.

“Can’t a guy be curious? Geez.”

“Of course I like her,” Zach replied, feeling disoriented. “Wha– don’t tell me you came just to ask me that stupid question?”

“It’s not a stupid question. I’m just curious!”

“You know, you can be such a kid sometimes!” Zach replied, agitated. “Get out of my room. I need to get dressed.”

“Why, afraid that I know how small your—”

“It’s not small– I can’t believe I’m having this conversation right now. Get out, please.”

“Killjoy.”

He rubbed his eyes. Mornings could be so weird sometimes.

He grabbed a random shirt from his closet and stopped in his tracks. For some reason he didn’t trust that Jeremy was really out of his room even though he couldn’t feel the guy’s presence anymore.

“Zach!” His mother’s voice startled him. “Your friend, Elisa is here! Says it’s urgent!”

Elisa? He didn’t have a friend called Elisa–

Eliza?

“Just a sec!” He yelled back.

“What did you say?! I can’t hear you? Bring her a pack? A pack of what?!”

“I said, just a sec!”

His mornings were definitely weird sometimes.