ghost ↬ c.hood

chapter nine

"elliot?" ella called for him on their video call. "i can't see you at all, you poopie head."

"poopie head? ella, how old are you?"

"i don't know!" she faked a giggle. "but mum calls me four!"

elliot mocked a laugh, "very funny, ella."

"you're in a good mood," she commented.

"yeah, so are you."

"why are you so happy?"

"there's this girl -"

"aw, elliot," ella faked a squeal. "that's so cute!"

"whatever, i asked her out. she said yeah. i'm taking her to mcdonald's this friday."

"wow, mcdonald's. you're so fancy."

"whatever," he smiled. "what about you? why are you so happy?"

"i got accepted into online high school!"

"high school? shit, sometimes i forget you're still a senior. you have to get accepted for those things?"

"do i look that much older? and i don't know, but for the one i applied to, apparently."

"yeah, if i didn't know better, i'd think you're twenty years old."

calum mentioned that michael was twenty when he died for the first time. ella took this as an opportunity to bring him up.

"speaking of twenty year olds, did you know one named michael?"

"michael?" elliot asked again, clarifying the name he heard was correct.

"yeah, his name was michael."

"ella,  you're lying to me if you're saying you don't remember the michael clifford."

"was i supposed to remember him?" she frowned. she didn't remember any michaels at all.

"he was like your best friend throughout your whole childhood! he'd come over all the time."

"elliot, are you stupid? i was an young! as if i'm supposed to remember things that happened at those ages."

"whatever, el. i remember him clearly. we actually talked on the phone the day before he," elliot trailed off.

"passed?"

"yeah," elliot frowned. "wait, how did you know that?"

"uh, i saw it in the library. i was doing research on the town, and i found something about michael. he'd be your age if he was alive, so i thought you knew him. just wanted to ask about him, that's all," ella smiled.

"okay, el, the girl i'm taking to mcdonald's on friday is calling me, so i'm gonna hang up on you, okay?"

"whatever!" she yelled before he ended the call. "ditch your sister for some girl, like i care!"

she laughed as the video call ended, and logged out of her laptop.

"you and your brother have a good connection," calum says emotionless, making ella jump.

"shit, i didn't know you were here."

"oh, you swear too? didn't know that about you."

"only sometimes. but seriously calum, what are you doing here?"

"it's cold out," he pouted.

"you can actually feel things?" ella gasped.

calum laughed. "no. i just needed an excuse to see you."

"what did you need to see me for?"

"i can't remember what your face looks like until i look at it. and i wanted to think about it tonight."