Hello, Can You Please Stop Haunting Me?
vingt-deux.
“Aunt Jen asked me to see if you were alright,” a 19-year-old guy with black hair and a pair of smoky eyes. Those eyes of him always made him look as if he was either deep in thought or mysterious. His long eyelashes gave him a more feminine look than he would’ve liked and perhaps that was why he’s gotten into so many fights – to prove that he wasn’t as much as a softie as one could’ve initially thought.
Zach didn’t even glance at the tall figure standing next to his head and instead, he kept twirling the yellow leaf, pretending to examine it. The grass tickled his bare forearms and he was looking up at the bare tree branches. Exposed. Bare. Vulnerable in the slightly cold breeze.
It was depressing to him to know that he could relate to the tree branches.
“I’m fine,” he replied, shifting his head a little bit to the left – away from Tyler Harper’s worried gaze. But just like his nagging thoughts, Tyler wouldn’t just vanish. Instead, he sat down and stuck around, increasing the amount of noise and grain in his already-blurry thoughts that managed to cause a headache or two.
Tyler Harper was the second son of Mrs. Jennifer Harper’s brother, Mr. Andrew Harper. He was always getting into all sorts of troubles, causing havoc in people’s lives but if family matter was involved, his entire badass demeanor seemed to dissipate away. As if it was all a façade.
Zach wasn’t fine.
No, he certainly was not fine. At one point, the pain inside his chest became so unbearable he wanted to cry out in pain and rip his heart from his chest. He was keeping up with his own façade too. But after months and months of trying to keep it held up inside, he just…couldn’t anymore. It became torturous. It all started with that little ripple that eventually caused unforeseen violent waves in his initially calm, serene façade.
And being a Harper, Tyler had a sense of clairvoyance too. Once again, Zach felt bare and vulnerable. It made him sick.
“What’s her name?” Tyler asked, amusement could be heard from his voice.
“El…” he trailed off, wondering why he was telling his cousin about this in the first place. There was a big family gathering that day. Everyone was gathered in the backyard. Faint laughter could be heard amidst the aroma of grilled cheeseburgers, meat and other types of foods. It was a couple of months after that incident where Eliza tried to stop Mia’s dad from injuring her mother.
Ever since then, Eliza was always cautious of things around her. Aware of everything. And she stopped helping Jeremy for a couple of weeks before picking herself up again. Jeremy protested vehemently, of course. Zach remembered the desperation in his voice. The feeling of helplessness, Zach supposed.
He frowned, feeling his heartache morphing into momentary anger. Jeremy killed himself.
That bastard, he thought bitterly. He gave up. He jumped. He took the leap to his death and now he was haunting someone innocent.
If they were in love with each other…
Zach didn’t even want to think about it.
A smile tugged Tyler’s lips.
“Strange. I never met anyone outside of our eccentric family who can see this sort of shit before.”
“It’s only Jeremy. She can only see him.”
She can only see him.
He turned around, hitting his forehead against his knuckles. “I never felt like this before, it’s fucking frustrating.”
Tyler shrugged.
“Love is fucking frustrating.”
Zach didn’t even glance at the tall figure standing next to his head and instead, he kept twirling the yellow leaf, pretending to examine it. The grass tickled his bare forearms and he was looking up at the bare tree branches. Exposed. Bare. Vulnerable in the slightly cold breeze.
It was depressing to him to know that he could relate to the tree branches.
“I’m fine,” he replied, shifting his head a little bit to the left – away from Tyler Harper’s worried gaze. But just like his nagging thoughts, Tyler wouldn’t just vanish. Instead, he sat down and stuck around, increasing the amount of noise and grain in his already-blurry thoughts that managed to cause a headache or two.
Tyler Harper was the second son of Mrs. Jennifer Harper’s brother, Mr. Andrew Harper. He was always getting into all sorts of troubles, causing havoc in people’s lives but if family matter was involved, his entire badass demeanor seemed to dissipate away. As if it was all a façade.
Zach wasn’t fine.
No, he certainly was not fine. At one point, the pain inside his chest became so unbearable he wanted to cry out in pain and rip his heart from his chest. He was keeping up with his own façade too. But after months and months of trying to keep it held up inside, he just…couldn’t anymore. It became torturous. It all started with that little ripple that eventually caused unforeseen violent waves in his initially calm, serene façade.
And being a Harper, Tyler had a sense of clairvoyance too. Once again, Zach felt bare and vulnerable. It made him sick.
“What’s her name?” Tyler asked, amusement could be heard from his voice.
“El…” he trailed off, wondering why he was telling his cousin about this in the first place. There was a big family gathering that day. Everyone was gathered in the backyard. Faint laughter could be heard amidst the aroma of grilled cheeseburgers, meat and other types of foods. It was a couple of months after that incident where Eliza tried to stop Mia’s dad from injuring her mother.
Ever since then, Eliza was always cautious of things around her. Aware of everything. And she stopped helping Jeremy for a couple of weeks before picking herself up again. Jeremy protested vehemently, of course. Zach remembered the desperation in his voice. The feeling of helplessness, Zach supposed.
He frowned, feeling his heartache morphing into momentary anger. Jeremy killed himself.
That bastard, he thought bitterly. He gave up. He jumped. He took the leap to his death and now he was haunting someone innocent.
If they were in love with each other…
Zach didn’t even want to think about it.
A smile tugged Tyler’s lips.
“Strange. I never met anyone outside of our eccentric family who can see this sort of shit before.”
“It’s only Jeremy. She can only see him.”
She can only see him.
He turned around, hitting his forehead against his knuckles. “I never felt like this before, it’s fucking frustrating.”
Tyler shrugged.
“Love is fucking frustrating.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Zach's story.Sorry for the mega-late update. Exhausted with school and all. And somewhat of a lol-moment, the moment I finished this update late last night, my modem exploded. That's what you get for writing in the middle of a storm (rain's really calming, so I thought I could write peacefully!)
As usual, sorry for any mistakes. I swear if I can find time in my hectic schedule, I'll proofread it. And thank you for the feedbacks, they are always welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy, and I do hope you guys will have a nice weekend :)