A BLUE STATION WAGON
Blankly, I stare out the windscreen at the bright red traffic light above the intersection. The whole while the car has been waiting here, on two other cars have passed through and Johanna impatiently taps on the steering wheel. I sigh. The sky's darkening and I haven't even started work yet. I wouldn't here if I hadn't asked Sophie for a swap for tomorrow night.
It's snowing outside, again, and the heater blasts hot air into my face from the dashboard. Finally the light turns green and Johanna is quick to step on the accelerator. She's more concerned about my lateness to work than I am.
I notice her glance at me.
"Is something wrong?" she asks. My reply is to look away and out the window.
"I'll take that as a yes then... does it have anything to do with that boy... oh what was his name... Kristoff?"
"Christopher," I mumble with my hand covering my mouth as I use it as support against the arm rest.
"Ah right! Anyway, does it have anything to do with him and yesterday?" she asks.
"Kinda," I reply.
Just when I notice the smile on Johanna's face, and she seems to think that she's getting somewhere with me, we pulls up on the curve, a block away from work. Before mum can even think of asking more questions, I take my schoolbag, sling it over my shoulder and open the car door.
Out on the sidewalk, I give her a quick wave and shut the door. I watch her drive away through the snow and sigh again. I'm extra tired today, being awake since three o'clock could be a very good reason as to why.
Placing one foot in front of another, I make myself walk to work, wrapping my winter jacket tighter around my chest. No matter how tight I hold it the cold still manages to seep through, sending cold shivers all throughout me.
At the end of footpath, I look up to check for cars, but before I walk across the road, I look up and my heart suddenly drops.
Diagonally is Hue's New and Used. The cars are covered in a layer of snow and the colourful flags flap and shimmer in the wind. It's as if everything has become slow motion as I'm taken back to last nights' nightmare.
Someone suddenly grasps my forearm and I scream. Whipping around, I expect to find the Keeper standing there, shrouded in his black hooded jacket, but it's not him. Standing behind me is a very startled looking Ryden, his arm still outstretched, but his grip on my arm gone.
I see that I've made a few heads turn in the street, and feel my cheeks flush when I realise how much of a maniac I must look like right now.
"It's only me Lucy," Ryden says. I look back to him, running my hands through my hair.
"I'm sorry," I reply. He gives a crooked smile.
"You should be, you just about gave me the fright of my life," he says, chuckling a little, but I can't find it in me to laugh at my idiocy.
After my spasm, I manage to cross the road like a normal person, with Ryden trailing behind. I get to the bookstore just as Sophie is leaving for the day. She sees me walking down the street and waves at me.
"Lucy! You're on your own tonight. See you tomorrow afternoon!" she calls, before dashing through the snow to her car parked outside the store.
Sending a small wave her way, I go inside the old bookstore and close the door behind me. I can hear the rattle of the portable heater by the register and the sound of the kettle on the stove in the kitchenette in the break room.
YOU ARE READING
How To Love A Dead Boy
Paranormal[editing-slowly] Despite doing everything she can, Lucy Ainsworth can't forget the night that she held the hand of the dying stranger, Ryden Mitchells. However; when she finds herself face to face with his ghost in her bathroom mirror, she's throw...
