The Ghost of Apollo's Pizzeria

I didn’t know what to think. He was dead. I had seen it happen. I had been there at the exact moment Alec got shot in the head by the robber at Apollo’s Pizzeria. I had been to his funeral, seen his body going into the coffin, and felt his blood hit my face as the bullet made contact.

In no way was I expecting the postcard in the mail a week after the funeral. I had just came back from school, feeling even more lonely sense Alex was usually the one who kept me company while Mom and Dad were at work. I missed his smile, the way he always beat me at Mario Carts.

Fighting back tears (they had been at the edge of my vision constantly); I decided to go check the mail, see if there were any late letters of condolences. I didn’t understand why people kept sending them to me; Alec was the one dead, not me. I couldn’t help but thinking that I shouldn’t be the one getting the attention; it should be going to Alec and his parents.

There was only one thing in the mail; a small postcard depicting a cheerful looking pizza shop with smiling, happy people lounging about. On the back it only had three short sentences. “I’m not dead. Meet me at Apollo’s Pizzeria. Tell no one.”

I didn’t really think. I just moved. And the next thing I knew, I was at Apollo’s Pizzeria. I had sworn at the funeral to never come here again. But here I was, looking my supposedly dead best friend at the exact place he had died not a week and a half before.

Talk about irony.

My heart pounding, I opened the shop door. Above me, a cheesy little ding went off, a complete contrast to my mood. The place looked exactly the same; red leather booths, sticky tables, tantalizing pictures of pizza up on the walls, a bored teenager at the cash register, and the smell of tomato sauce and cheese wafting from the back.

Everything was the same. Everything except for Alec sitting in a booth at the back of the room.

Our booth.

Tears clouded my eyes and my chest heaved. The jet black hair, the piercing blue eyes, the tall physique. It was him in all his glory. And when he looked up and saw me, the grin that caused every girl at our school to come and bawl their eyes out at his funeral lit up his face.

“Ruby!” he exclaimed jovially. “Look, I got your favorite, Hawaiin pizza. The service is as terrible as always- that guy over there has been ignoring me this whole time. I mean, how rude can you get?”

Dazed, I slowly walked to him, my eyes never straying. Silently, I sat down across from him, eyes still wide.

“Miss me?” he asked, propping his chin in his hand and batting his lashes flirtatiously.

“You’re dead, Alec. I know you are.” My voice was hoarse.

“Am I?” he shot me his best Baby Angel expression.

“Why are you here?” I demanded. I wasn’t fooled by his teasing. I knew him too well.

Seeing my expression, Alec instantly turned serious. Taking a deep breath, he met my gaze. “Make up with them.”

I knew who he was talking about. His parents. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “They blame me for your death- they’re madder than ever. But I deserve it; it was my fault.” Tears came unwanted.

“Don’t change the subject,” Alec said, taking my hand. “You need to make up with them. The three of you can’t keep arguing forever.”

“Oh, yes, we can,” I countered defiantly. “As soon as I turn 18 I’m running away and joining the Police Academy. That way I won’t let what happened to you happen to anyone else.”

He shook his head. “You can’t keep blaming yourself for that. It was my choice to jump in front of that robber’s gun, Ruby.”

“Which you never would have had to do if I hadn’t tried stopping him.” why was he trying to get me to forgive myself? I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

He sighed, clearly not wanting to argue. “Just, please, Ruby, make up with Mom and Dad. I’m begging you.”

Against my better judgment, I let my eyes meet his baby blues. I melted. I couldn’t help it. I’d always been weak to him, especially when I looked into his eyes.

I looked away, swallowing down my enormous pride. “Alright,” I mumbled my voice bitter. “I’ll make up with them. Apologize. I promise.”

He didn’t probe me. He knew better than anyone that I kept a promise once I made it.

Alec smiled, obviously relieved I’d agreed. “Thank you, Ruby. That means a lot to me.”

“Wait!” I exclaimed as he moved as if to leave. He was standing now, his eyes shining with the same caring I held for him. “You have to tell me; why did you jump in front of that bullet?” I had to know. It had been haunting me ever since that gun had fired.

He grinned again, the same old Alec I loved so much, the I’d grown up with, the one who I couldn’t imagine living without.

“That’s what twins do for each other, right?”

And with that, he disappeared, leaving no trace behind.