After Death

The Plan

Samuel took a step forward but Luke grabbed his raised arm and pulled it behind his back, throwing him forward.

"Back off." Luke warned, going back to Carmen. "C'mon, Elle." He took her hand and they poofed out. They landed in the empty garage and the girl turned to him.

"Are you okay?" She asked and he nodded.

"Who was that guy?"

"Local ghost. He died a few years back and harasses me and a bunch of other female ghosts. He's mostly harmless. I usually just ignore him and poof out."

"You shouldn't have to deal with that." Luke said as he started pacing.

"It's fine."

"No it's not. He touched you." He said, avoiding her eyes.

"It was just my arm." Carmen frowned and walked over to the boy, taking his hand to stop his pacing. "Luke, I'm fine. Honestly, it's not a big deal."

"You sure you're okay?" Luke asked, looking down at her. Carmen nodded and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. The dark haired boy took a breath and visibly relaxed. "Ok."

"What were you trying to say before we were interrupted?" She asked and could see him blush slightly.

"Oh, I–uh... nothing. It's nothing." Luke shook his head, letting go of her hand. The girl frowned but hid it. She didn't want to let go of his hand but forced herself not to think about it.

"You sure?" Carmen asked and he nodded. Suddenly a jolt struck him and he fell onto the chair. "Luke!"

"Ugh, I'm really getting sick of these jolts." Luke said, clutching his chest in pain. The girl frowned.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way for you guys to play The Orpheum."

"Yeah..." Luke stood back up. "I'll see you later, Elle." Before the girl could say anything he poofed out. What was that about?

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Carmen sat in Julie's house, sketching in her notebook as she sat on the stairs. The boys were off doing their own things so the girl was left to her own devices. The door swung open and Julie ran in and up to her room, running right through Carmen.

"What's that about?" The brunette wondered out loud, noticing the girl's smile. Carmen stood up and followed after the girl, her sketchpad in hand. She walked through Julie's door to her room where the girl was jumping up and down on her bed. The dead girl waited until Julie stopped jumping before waving her notebook through the air.

"Ahhh! Oh, hi Carmen." The alive girl said with a smile once she remembered. Carmen quickly wrote down on her notebook. 'Hi. What's with the jumping?' "Oh, uh, the guy I like asked me out today." Carmen beamed and turned to another page. 'Nick asked you out?!' "Yeah, how did you know it was Nick?" Julie asked, raising an eyebrow. 'I'm dead. I don't have anything better to do than keeping up with the drama of high schoolers.' This caused the alive girl to laugh. Carmen wrote down another sentence. 'I'm so glad you guys are finally getting together. I've been rooting for the two of you for a while.' "Ok, that's a little weird." Both girls laughed. "What about you? Is there a special dead person in your life?" This caused Carmen to blush. 'Maybe... I like someone but I'm not sure if they like me back.' "Ooh? Who is it? Spill." 'Promise not to say anything?' She wrote and the alive girl nodded vigorously. Carmen took a deep breath and wrote down the four letters. 'Luke.' "Aww, you guys would be cute, I think." Julie said with a smile and the other girl laughed. 'Thanks.' "Where is Luke, by the way?" She asked and Carmen's smile fell. What do I tell her? The brunette started writing. 'He likes to visit his parents sometimes.' "Oh." Julie looked down. "He's really hurting, isn't he?" In more ways than one. 'Yeah. I wish I could help him but I don't know how.' They sat in silence for a few seconds before Julie jumped up. "I know!" Carmen hurriedly scribbled. 'What?' "That song he wrote for his Mom. 'Unsaid Emily'. What if we give it to her?" 'I don't know, Julie. That's kind of a personal thing.' "But it might give his Mom some closure, which might make him feel better." Carmen thought about it for a minute. 'I guess so.' "Come on." Julie ran out of her room and the dead girl sighed before following her. This is a bad idea. The two girls ran to the empty garage and Julie picked up Luke's song book. 'Are you sure about this?' Carmen wrote down and held the paper up. "Absolutely." Julie said and her confidence was contagious. 'Alright, but I'm gonna stay here.' "That's fine. I'll let you know how it goes." 'Thank you.' With that Julie left the garage.