H A U N T E D

s i x

"Okay", I say hesitantly. Kofi grins and grabs my tray, helping me move my things to his table. His friends look up at me, and I notice how some of them have a guarded look behind their eyes. Kofi fist-bumps one of the boys and hugs another girl, before sitting next to me. The person to my other side, tried to move away subtly, but I notice it.

"Guys, this is Ophelia Lee. Be nice", he warns them with a pointed look at someone at the far-right corner of the table. A pretty pair who look identical- a girl and a boy - scoff and sigh, before looking over at the other. They stare a moment long in each other's eyes, communicating with silent words, before the girl gets a knowing smile on her lips. They turn back to face the rest of the table.

"Ophelia Lee, right? Aren't you Ole Man Lee's family or something?", the girl asks while plucking a cucumber from her salad.

"Yes", I nod and try not to look over at the snorting boy across from me. He tried to hide his laugh in a cough, but my eyes finally turn to his, and his face turns red with embarrassment from being caught.

"Excuse those knuckleheads, Ophelia. That's the twins, Nicole and Nicky Kim", Kofi sends them a squinted warning. The twins chuckle amongst themselves and Nicole turns to talk to the girl next to her.

"The brunette girl-", Kofi points to the girl Nicole is talking to. The girl pauses her conversation and gives a small wave of her hand, before continuing.

"That is MacKenzie Douglas", Kofi intruduces her. He leans forward, whispering slightly into my ear.

"She's the whitest chick you'll ever meet. Note how she's late every morning with a Starbucks in hand", he says with an hushed voice and wide eyes. I try my best to hold back a giggle, trying to avoid anymore attention. Kofi looks pleased that he could entertain me.

"Though, she's really nice. People tend to take advantage of that", he shrugs and gestures to the boy across from me. It's the boy who laughed at me before, who's now avoiding my gaze.

"That's Eben Last. His mom works in the office", Kofi says and doesn't bother to show any more interest in the boy. Is it perhaps my fault, I can't help but wonder? I quickly lose the thought, maybe I'm just imagining things.

"And this is Neo Wagner. He's probably the best person you'll ever meet", Kofi grins and fist-bumps the boy next to me. I lean back so that they can do it easier.

"Hey", Neo says and allows himself a thin-lipped smile. I return the smile with a bit more effort, nodding my head in greeting. I take in the boy, with his dark hair shaved down to a military buzz-cut and fading acne scars. His eyes glint a mesmerizing shade of golden green, but I can't help but notice the corners of his eyes pulling downward. The smile he's giving, is not real. His sadness, although not easily observed, covers him like a second skin.

A feeling of emptiness anchors me down and I find myself having difficulty breathing. I slow down my breaths and try to ignore the feeling of insecurity behind me. An intense emotion like this cannot be ignored - besides, my mother always taught me that you should carry someone else's sadness like your own, until happiness blooms back into your life. It's part of being a kind human.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful?", I question him. His eyes widen at my statement, before flitting to Kofi. I realize I've just silenced the entire table.

"Wow, you do work fast", Nicole murmurs and roll her eyes. Nicky doesn't hide his amusement and nods his head in agreement.

"So I'm not allowed to compliment people?", I challenge the girl. Her eyes narrow at the tone of my voice and she raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"No."

I roll my eyes and turn my back on the aggravating girl, to see Neo's blush spreading across his neck and his cheeks. He stares down at the table, digging his thumb's nail into the wooden surface. I smile at the boy and reach up to pat his arm.

"No, no one has", he repeats.

"You are. You'd have a lot of people swooning back at my old school", I say and think back to my old friends. They would've observed Neo from a distance, maybe invite him into our friend group and he would've slept with the person who liked him, before the year was over. That's how I met my friends. Except, we always kept it platonic afterwards. We never really dumped our conquests. Midnight lovers became daytime friends.

"You lived in New Orleans, right?", the brunette girl named MacKenzie asks with child-like interest in her large eyes. I nod at her question and she gasps, leaning forward with her chin on the palms of her hands.

"What's it like?"

I am slightly taken aback at the sudden interest in my old life, but I don't mind sharing it.

"Have you ever heard of that old song from - I think it was Scott McKenzie - who sang about San Francisco?"

MacKenzie shakes her head 'no', but Kofi answers 'yes' with a secretive smile.

"Well, it's like that, except in New Orleans. You'd meet interesting people everyday and the city never sleeps", I reminisce back to my childhood years in New Orleans. We lived in Bourbon Street, where lust and love were not companions, but often confused. My mother and I would go out entire weekends exploring the city, never getting bored. We'd visit her friends in their voodoo shops, sometimes being invited to seances. I only went to a couple of those as a child, but threw a record-breaking tantrum when I was eight, begging my mom not to take me. Instead, she'd take me to places that were quieter and eventually she learned the truth.

"Did you ever see the floats at Mardi Gras?", Neo surprisingly asks. I give a light-hearted laugh and nod my head.

"Since I was born. I'd taken part of it too. Dancing on the floats and throwing petals to the crowds. It was the best time of the year!"

My mother and her friends built a float one year, the theme of it being 'The Witching Hour'. We dressed up as things that go 'bump' in the night and the tourists loved seeing nine-year old Ophelia dressed up as a dead girl. With my pale complexion and blonde locks, I really pulled off the 'innocent child spirit'-look.

"Were there really vampires, witches and werewolves? You know, all the freaks?", Nicole asks with a malicious smirk, twirling a brown lock of hair around her finger. I raise my chin slightly, looking at the girl down the bridge of my nose.

"Oh yeah. Though, you wouldn't want to piss them off. They'll kill you faster than you can insult them", I let my eyes fall down to the girl's balling hands, before meeting her gaze once again.

"Are you threatening me?", Nicole spits out, waving some hair over her shoulder.

"You're threatened by mythical creatures? Aren't you too old to be scared of monsters?", I squint my eyes at her. She scoffs with surprise and right as she wants to say something - probably to cuss me - Eben interrupts. I nearly don't hear him speak, but once his words register, I feel the nerves in my body jump with an electric shock, hurting my skin.

"And ghosts? Did you see any ghosts?"

I stare at Eben, yet I'm looking past him. Back to all the spirits I've met back in New Orleans. The dead don't stay dead and they envy the living.

I take a bite out of my lasagna, peering at Eben from underneath my eyelashes. He patiently waits until I am done eating.

"Like I said", I answer, giving him a shrug as I push my empty tray away.

"The city never sleeps"