In the Middle of Summer
Five.
“What do you mean you don't know who she is?” I ask trying to control my anger.
“At the moment I wasn't interested in helping her so I pretty much ignored her.” Beth says with a sigh as she paces back and forth in her room.
“Well do you at least remember how she looks like?” I ask hoping the answer would be yes.
“Not really, I just didn't think it was important at the time okay, and I avoided looking at her to not attract other ghosts.”
“When was the last time you saw her?” Claudine asks her.
“High school, junior year three years ago.”
“Can't we go around your old high school and ask?”
“Everything has a price when it comes to ghosts.” Beth groans as she glances out the window.
“Can't me and Claudine ask around?” I ask hopeful, but then Claudine laughs.
“They won't help.”
“Why not?”
“Because Beth is my friend and they think it's a waste because I'm not pushing her to help them.” She says as she rolls her eyes.
“Well they don't know me so maybe I can do it.”
Both Claudine and Beth laugh.
“What?”
“What exactly are you going to ask help with?”
“I don't know I'll figure something out,” I say unable to hide my annoyance.
I stand up and walk out of her room and out of her house without even thinking about what I had just done.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Claudine shrieks as she stands besides me.
“If somebody had seen that, I'm sure they would want an explanation as to why doors are opening and closing.”
“I don't really care, all I care about right now is not being dead, it's obvious that both of you are very reluctant in wanting to help me so I'll just figure things out on my own.”
“It's not that we don't want to help it's just we don't know how to, I mean even if we do find this girl it doesn't mean that she's going to have all the answers.”
“It's a start.”
“I can't believe I'm going to fucking do this.” My head turns to look at Beth as she walks past the two of us.
“You guys want me to help you?” Beth asks the ghosts in front of her house.
They all look at her in amazement and begin to nod.
“Here's the deal, I am looking for someone, whoever finds her first and brings her to me I will help that person, do we have a deal?”
The ghosts exchange looks but they all nod in agreement.
“The girl I'm looking used to hang out at the high school, she used to talk a lot about her friend and she smelled like fresh mowed lawn, that's all the information I have so happy hunting.” Beth says and then turns back around and walks back into the house, making sure to leave the front door open.
I look at Claudine who looks just as surprised as the other ghosts.
We both walk back upstairs and into Beth's bedroom.
“Wow Beth, that was a really smart idea.”
“Well I just hope it works and maybe we'll get closer to figuring out what is wrong with him.”
“Sorry to intrude but the door was open,” a woman says as there's a light knock on Beth's open door.
“What are you doing here?” Beth shrieks
“The door was open, I though it was an open invitation,” the woman shrugs innocently.
Beth takes a deep breath and exhales loudly.
“Why don't we go outside?” She asks with a fake smile and leads the woman out.
“Who was she?” I ask curiously
“Oh that's Mrs. Smith, Beth had told her she was going to help her.”
“Oh.” I say and look around Beth's room, I didn't know what else to do.
There was nothing much to look at, no posters on the wall, no pictures. The busiest part of her room was her desk, and the book case beside it. Then I noticed the open laptop.
I walk up to her desk and take a sit.
“What are you doing?” Claudine asks curiously
“I need to look something up.”
I pressed the space bar causing the screen to turn back on, unfortunately it was locked.
“Do you happen to know the password?”
“Yeah It's M-0-t-i-V-a-t-!-O-n”
“How does she remember this?”
“By being determined.”
“I can't believe I'm doing this.” I murmur to myself as I open up the internet browser.
“What are you looking for?”
“Myself,” I say as I put my name on google.
“Holy shit, people actually know who you are.”
“Kind of.” I mumble but nothing really pops out, just articles about my band being done with tour.
I groan I really though I would be able to find something.
“It's only been a day, some information can come out tomorrow or the day after.” Claudine tells me with an encouraging smile.
I nod and lean against the chair. It was so weird not knowing what was wrong with me. Why was I even in this forsaken city in the first place?
“Your band is called Panic! At the Disco?”
“Yeah.”
“That's cool, I've never met a famous person before, dead or alive.” Claudine says with a small laugh.
“I wouldn't say I'm super famous but just well known.”
“Whatever the case, people will still be looking for you, so that's a positive thing.”
“That is very true.”
I sighed I couldn't help but to feel defeated about the whole thing. I was just as clueless now as I was earlier this morning. What if I had an expiration date? What if me being a ghost became permanent and I didn't have those sparks of yellow Beth had been telling me about?
“Can I ask you a question?”
I nod as I look at Claudine.
“When you look at me what do you see?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like around my physical being, like for instance when I see you, I see your physical self but I can see the colors around you, mostly gray but you have sparks of yellow”
I look at her trying to see if I could make out her “aura” but I really didn't know what to look for.
I shrug, “I guess I need some practice.”
“I guess that's a good sign, you would be able to see my aura if you were dead or close to dying.”
“Yeah, I guess that's a good sign.”
“What color is Beth's aura?” I ask curiously.
“She stands out like a Christmas tree, she's illuminated by white but she as every single color imaginable fading in out depending on her mood, you know that expression 'follow the white light' well she is the white light for us, the dead. Without her or people like me who have unfinished business wouldn't be able to pass to the next world or whatever, without their help, whether it's passing a message or getting justice.”
“So what those ghosts really want is to move on.”
Claudine nods and sighs.
"So why haven't you moved on?"
"Isn't it obvious? Beth needs me so my job here isn't done. Not that I'm complaining I actually really enjoy being around the living, I don't have to worry about what's on the other side."
“At the moment I wasn't interested in helping her so I pretty much ignored her.” Beth says with a sigh as she paces back and forth in her room.
“Well do you at least remember how she looks like?” I ask hoping the answer would be yes.
“Not really, I just didn't think it was important at the time okay, and I avoided looking at her to not attract other ghosts.”
“When was the last time you saw her?” Claudine asks her.
“High school, junior year three years ago.”
“Can't we go around your old high school and ask?”
“Everything has a price when it comes to ghosts.” Beth groans as she glances out the window.
“Can't me and Claudine ask around?” I ask hopeful, but then Claudine laughs.
“They won't help.”
“Why not?”
“Because Beth is my friend and they think it's a waste because I'm not pushing her to help them.” She says as she rolls her eyes.
“Well they don't know me so maybe I can do it.”
Both Claudine and Beth laugh.
“What?”
“What exactly are you going to ask help with?”
“I don't know I'll figure something out,” I say unable to hide my annoyance.
I stand up and walk out of her room and out of her house without even thinking about what I had just done.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Claudine shrieks as she stands besides me.
“If somebody had seen that, I'm sure they would want an explanation as to why doors are opening and closing.”
“I don't really care, all I care about right now is not being dead, it's obvious that both of you are very reluctant in wanting to help me so I'll just figure things out on my own.”
“It's not that we don't want to help it's just we don't know how to, I mean even if we do find this girl it doesn't mean that she's going to have all the answers.”
“It's a start.”
“I can't believe I'm going to fucking do this.” My head turns to look at Beth as she walks past the two of us.
“You guys want me to help you?” Beth asks the ghosts in front of her house.
They all look at her in amazement and begin to nod.
“Here's the deal, I am looking for someone, whoever finds her first and brings her to me I will help that person, do we have a deal?”
The ghosts exchange looks but they all nod in agreement.
“The girl I'm looking used to hang out at the high school, she used to talk a lot about her friend and she smelled like fresh mowed lawn, that's all the information I have so happy hunting.” Beth says and then turns back around and walks back into the house, making sure to leave the front door open.
I look at Claudine who looks just as surprised as the other ghosts.
We both walk back upstairs and into Beth's bedroom.
“Wow Beth, that was a really smart idea.”
“Well I just hope it works and maybe we'll get closer to figuring out what is wrong with him.”
“Sorry to intrude but the door was open,” a woman says as there's a light knock on Beth's open door.
“What are you doing here?” Beth shrieks
“The door was open, I though it was an open invitation,” the woman shrugs innocently.
Beth takes a deep breath and exhales loudly.
“Why don't we go outside?” She asks with a fake smile and leads the woman out.
“Who was she?” I ask curiously
“Oh that's Mrs. Smith, Beth had told her she was going to help her.”
“Oh.” I say and look around Beth's room, I didn't know what else to do.
There was nothing much to look at, no posters on the wall, no pictures. The busiest part of her room was her desk, and the book case beside it. Then I noticed the open laptop.
I walk up to her desk and take a sit.
“What are you doing?” Claudine asks curiously
“I need to look something up.”
I pressed the space bar causing the screen to turn back on, unfortunately it was locked.
“Do you happen to know the password?”
“Yeah It's M-0-t-i-V-a-t-!-O-n”
“How does she remember this?”
“By being determined.”
“I can't believe I'm doing this.” I murmur to myself as I open up the internet browser.
“What are you looking for?”
“Myself,” I say as I put my name on google.
“Holy shit, people actually know who you are.”
“Kind of.” I mumble but nothing really pops out, just articles about my band being done with tour.
I groan I really though I would be able to find something.
“It's only been a day, some information can come out tomorrow or the day after.” Claudine tells me with an encouraging smile.
I nod and lean against the chair. It was so weird not knowing what was wrong with me. Why was I even in this forsaken city in the first place?
“Your band is called Panic! At the Disco?”
“Yeah.”
“That's cool, I've never met a famous person before, dead or alive.” Claudine says with a small laugh.
“I wouldn't say I'm super famous but just well known.”
“Whatever the case, people will still be looking for you, so that's a positive thing.”
“That is very true.”
I sighed I couldn't help but to feel defeated about the whole thing. I was just as clueless now as I was earlier this morning. What if I had an expiration date? What if me being a ghost became permanent and I didn't have those sparks of yellow Beth had been telling me about?
“Can I ask you a question?”
I nod as I look at Claudine.
“When you look at me what do you see?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like around my physical being, like for instance when I see you, I see your physical self but I can see the colors around you, mostly gray but you have sparks of yellow”
I look at her trying to see if I could make out her “aura” but I really didn't know what to look for.
I shrug, “I guess I need some practice.”
“I guess that's a good sign, you would be able to see my aura if you were dead or close to dying.”
“Yeah, I guess that's a good sign.”
“What color is Beth's aura?” I ask curiously.
“She stands out like a Christmas tree, she's illuminated by white but she as every single color imaginable fading in out depending on her mood, you know that expression 'follow the white light' well she is the white light for us, the dead. Without her or people like me who have unfinished business wouldn't be able to pass to the next world or whatever, without their help, whether it's passing a message or getting justice.”
“So what those ghosts really want is to move on.”
Claudine nods and sighs.
"So why haven't you moved on?"
"Isn't it obvious? Beth needs me so my job here isn't done. Not that I'm complaining I actually really enjoy being around the living, I don't have to worry about what's on the other side."