Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 52976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
He always knows what I need. “Thanks, babe.”
Byron sees himself to the door, leaving it open on his way out. I stand in the peaceful silence of the room I once lived in with my ghost roommate, the small flame throwing little strange shadows all over the room. I lean against the wall with my hands thrust into my pockets and smile, thinking of all the good times I spent here.
“Such a shame,” I mutter after a while. “We never even got to watch Ghost. Or Sixth Sense.” I shake my head with regret. “Too late now.”
That’s when I hear a noise from the kitchen.
I push away from the window and slip through the archway into the kitchen. Nothing’s there. No one.
Guess it was just a rat in the cupboard.
“Big bouncy boobies? Really?”
I spin around. Standing right behind me is Westley in his plain white t-shirt and blue weathered jeans, hair tousled, wearing that lopsided, smirking smile of his.
“West!” I cry out, astonished. “West! I thought—!”
“It was a strange feeling,” he admits, “when I was in the middle of making out with my girlfriend, and then I sensed a weird warmth somewhere in my chest. That’s when I realized someone must’ve lit a candle in my old apartment.” He shrugs. “Of course it was you.”
“It was me!” I’m so ecstatic. “I can’t believe you’re actually here! I thought you were gone!”
“You wanna hug me or something? C’mon, I know you do. Bring it in.”
I waste no time. I throw my arms around my best friend, squeezing him as tightly as I can. He laughs as he hugs me back.
“Alright, alright,” he says, gently nudging me away with a chuckle. “Enough lovin’. You’re gonna give me a ghost boner or something.”
I snort. “I swear, you make me wonder about you.”
“Well, I did kinda take it up the ass once, thanks to you and Byron getting horny on your first date.”
“Wasn’t it the second?”
“How can I remember? That was years ago.”
“Wait a sec.” I very belatedly hear something he said a second ago. “Girlfriend …? You said you were in the middle of making out with your girlfriend?”
He grins at me with teeth. “Yep.”
“You found her? You found Nina?”
“Let me explain. A lot of things have changed.” He starts pacing the room as he talks. “First, I’m apparently no longer bound to this place and can go wherever the hell I want. But … it does take a lot of energy without having half your soul. Also, I can’t really move things as easily as I could when I lived here. Everything feels kinda soft and squishy and far away.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Not sure yet. Still getting used to ghost life out in the world.” His face changes, turning warm and happy. “But I was able to find my Nina. I didn’t give up. She was every bit as beautiful as I remember. And I didn’t realize she had feelings for me, too. She was thinking about me, even after she died. She went to my funeral. Oh, I told you about that already, right?” West laughs. “I gotta say, after suffering around you and Byron these past few years, I’m happy to have a love of my own to brag about now.”
“Suffering??” I punch him in the arm. “We weren’t that bad to be around!”
“You kidding? You guys are gross.”
“Are not!”
We laugh together. For a fleeting moment, it feels like old times, like any other day, the pair of us making fun of each other and having fun like old pals.
Except the room is dark, dismal, and empty. All of my things are gone. No one lives here anymore.
Not even him.
When our laughter ends, we look into each other’s eyes. The same question seems to live in both of us.
I’m the one who asks. “So what now?”
West pockets his hands and shrugs. “I’m not sure, buddy. On one hand, I wanna keep in your life. On the other hand … Nina’s got this whole afterlife thing with her grandma who died a while ago, and I can’t take her away from that, but … I don’t want to leave her, so—”
“You gotta be with her,” I finish for him.
After a moment, he nods. “Yeah.”
I nod back. “I understand.”
West clears his throat. “Besides, you and Byron got your thing now, too. Newlyweds. Getting a new hot spot to call your own, I’m sure. You guys don’t need a third wheel anymore. You deserve to have your life, Griff.”
“But I’m gonna miss my best friend.”
“Hey, I’ll visit. This isn’t goodbye for good.” West reconsiders that uncertainly. “I mean … at least I don’t think it is. I don’t really know if something happens to ghosts once they’re satisfied and happy. I don’t know if I’ll feel that weird falling sensation again. Maybe if we fall in love enough and finally wholly accept our deaths, Nina and I, we’ll … just … go wherever ghosts go when they’re … f-finished.” He chokes up at once and looks away. “Damn, bro. Got me all emotional and shit.”