How Curiosity Killed the Cat and the Ghost Was Brought Back

The New kid

Kat froze at the sight of chestnut hair, followed by a pair of green eyes framed by the hood of a faded jacket. Green eyes rose to meet her own. Definitely the new kid.

He held a quarter in his hand, which took a momentary pause from absentminded scratching. With a brief glance down at the desk Kat could see bits of wood shaving from whatever it was that he was carving into the edge of the desk. She didn't look long enough to tell if it was handwriting or crude doodles. New Kid slid a hand protectively over his handiwork.

Her options at the moment were pretty limited. Would it be worse to stay here facing him or immediately turn around? There's a certain window of time that's socially acceptable to blatantly stare at a person before you should decide if you're going to start a conversation or play it off as if you mistook them for someone else. If you do either, it'll be awkward for sure- but do neither you come across as a creep. By the time Kat settled on option two, the window had passed. It was definitely too late for option two.

"Hi," Kat lifted a hand and gave a quick wave.

His eyes stayed still and expressionless. He parted his slightly like he was struggling to think of what exactly to say back. His mouth closed before forming what barely counted as a smile. He looked down at his desk.

"Permission slip?" Ms. Buckley held out an open palm, in which Kat placed her own slip.

The new kid looked up to the teacher with her stack of collected slips. Kat felt herself leaning slightly to the side, quite literally on the edge of her seat to hear his voice. She watched from her peripheral as he responded to Ms. Buckley with a silent shrug.

Kat turned her head back to face the front of the room. Right behind her shoulder, Ms. Buckley began speaking in a hushed voice. Kat could hear enough to know that New Kid was going to be one of the few who would need to make alternative arrangements in order to go on the field trip. She was weirdly frustrated by his demeanor. It was hard to tell if he was being quiet for the sake of trying to come across as mysterious or because he simply preferred not to speak. Either way, it was annoying.

Kat didn't realize the bell rang until a black hoodie passed by her like a shadow. She sat up. She wanted to believe that he looked at her just before he disappeared into the whirlwind of hallway traffic. Otherwise, she would have to face the music, and she wasn't ready to accept that. In fact, she would've preferred to walk into oncoming traffic. Her cheeks felt hot at the realization that she was the last one still sitting.

Kat stood and lifted her backpack from the floor. Just after taking a step forward, she considered the desk behind her. She turned on her heel and tilted her head to get a better look at the carving in the desk. The writing was unlegible. The only thing she could recognize was a strange depiction of an eye. It was weird. Obviously. A part of her agreed it was a perfect reason to abandon all interest. To Kat's dismay, her other half had already invested itself in the mystery.

Kat made her way across the room. Without the chatter of her classmates, the only sound was that of her shoes and the shuffling of permission slips on the teacher's desk. She kept her eyes cast downward to avoid Ms. Buckley's knowing stare.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Hm?" She kept an awkward grip on the strap of her backpack as it threatened to slip off from her shoulder, since she had pulled on far too hastily- unlike any other normal person casually leaving a room with no apparent sign of being completely and utterly flustered.
"Oh, yeah. I'm good."

Ms. Buckley shook her head, rolling her eyes in a teasing manner. She waved a hand through the air in a dismissive gesture, "go on, then."

As pleasant of a teacher that she was, Ms. Buckley often took any opportunity- usually overblown drama- to poke fun at students. It seemed to be some kind of method of her own invention to teach teens self-awareness. Either that or she just enjoyed the free entertainment.

Kat's walking turned into a brisk jog upon entering the hallway. The waves of students became an obstacles course. She dodged a variety of shoulders, bookbags, and trashcans. If she wasn't short on time, she would be amazed at her sudden dexterity. She was never late for class, and she wasn't going to let this be the first time. Especially not because of a boy.

Her shoes slid across the floor as she lurched into the classroom. Her breathing was heavy, and in her ears sounded similar to that of a panting dog. There was still several minutes until the start of class. Kat took in a shaky breath as she peered around the remaining empty seats. There were two. One was right next to the new kid. Before she could make her move, another student shoved past her to sit in the other desk, the one with the most ideal distance away from the alternative.

Kat sat down. She was quick to get out her notebook, to keep her eyes from wandering too far. It was nearly impossible as long as he was sitting right beside her.

Relief washed over her when the teacher finally entered and class finally began. The lights were dimmed and the projector was switched on. Kat felt herself relax. With the lights off, it would at least be a little less obvious if she did happen to steal a few glances. It only took a few minutes for her theory to be proven wrong.

The green eyes were illuminated by the light of the projector. Their intriguing quality was suddenly magnetic. Kat felt her own eyes drawn like a moth to a flame. The more accurate comparison might've been to the prey of an anglerfish.

People talk about crushes all the time. Hell, it makes up practically the entirety of high school gossip. Besides the occasional celebrity crush, Kat never fully understood the excitement around the concept. For the past four years, she had kept her head down for the most part. At most, she had a few acquaintances- if that was the right word for it- and even then, she had never faced any feelings more intense than envy over someone else's brand-new sneakers.

According to teen magazines and most of the world's population, Kat had a crush. Denial came and went over the span of one-quarter of a class period. Internally, she continued to force it back into her subconscious. Just because you have a crush doesn't mean you have to pursue it. And so it was decided. It wasn't a big deal, so she wasn't going to make it a big deal. Once the next big assignment was announced, she would forget about it in no time. She kept her fingers crossed for an exam, or a presentation, or a five-page essay. . . Yeah, that would do the trick.