Why I Stayed

Chapter Three

Daniel: Hey Ethan!

Ethan: Yeah Dan?

Daniel: Did you know that trumpets are the most boring instrument because they're in the key of B Flat? (Ethan plays trumpet, so does Cameron.)

Cameron: Hey Daniel?

Daniel: Yeah Cam?

Cameron: If you tell that joke again, you're gonna be in treble.

Daniel: Dude, I play tuba.

(laughter)

And that's pretty much how our band rolls, if you were wondering how awesome band is. Oh god, Henry just walked in. He looked around the room earnestly, as if searching for something. He locked eyes with me. Can he see me? Oh god please, please see me. I'm begging you. Bo must have seen the desire in my eyes. "He can't see you, don't waste your time. Somedays I'm just sick of being invisible and I walk straight up to people and scream in their face, they don't notice a thing," he sighed. Still locking eyes with me, Henry smiles and walks towards me. No way, he can see me. He can see me. Bo was staring, dumbfounded. I felt something warm bubble up in my centre of gravity. Henry reached me, and then kept going, walking straight through me. The fire inside me extinguished. "So is he your boyfriend?" Bo asked me, staring at Henry. "Something like that," I sighed. Bo took hold of my hand in his large gloved one. The second our hands made contact, his cheeks flushed a bright red. He looked more, alive. "Don't worry about it too much Lia, you'll get used to it," he reassured me. The second I dropped his hand, he returned to his normal state. You know, I've kinda had it with his "deal with it" attitude. "Maybe I want to worry about it. You haven't given me a second to get my bearings, slapping me with all this Mass Weight, Newtons 3rd Law crap, and telling me to get over things. I am trying to get over it! Dude, I died yesterday! That takes a little getting used to! And by the way, what's the deal with that anyway? When I was out in the hallway, I walked right through Big Janie, what's the deal there? And then there's this whole mission thing that's been eating at my mind for hours, not to mention that thing that tried to straight up kill me this morning. It's like I haven't gotten a second to breathe since I stopped breathing!" I finished angrily, my chest heaving. Bo took a few steps back. "You sound hungry, let's go get some food," he suggested.

"That was literally the coolest thing I have ever seen. Like don't ask me why Geeks need sustenance," I admired. That's Bo's name for us, Geeks. Anyone who's still here. I like it, so I'll let it stick around. But anyway, back to what's happening in front of my eyes. "And now for dessert," Bo announced, rubbing his hands together like he's awaking the magic within them. Which I wouldn't be surprised if that's what he was doing. I watched in amazement as he reached for the mint Oreo blizzard (my favourite) of order #217, his hands disappearing inside the cup, and then lifting up an exact replica of the blizzard, just slightly more translucent. "And this works on any food?" I asked in amazement. "Well, we gotta eat somehow, right?" He said smiling, handing me the blizzard. I realised right then that I literally hadn't eaten in a lifetime. This was blowing my mind, I'm eating Geek ice cream, patent pending. I can see through it, yet it's like all the aspects of the real thing. It's cold, I can taste it, smell the sweet aroma of mint. And what's more, it's free. Being dead isn't really all that bad. "Oh and guess what, you're stuck in the form you were in when you died, so you can eat as much as you want with no repercussions," Bo delightfully informed me. I looked down at my slight pudge. "Well I guess I'm fucked then," I sighed. He looked over at me, puzzled. "You're beautiful," he remarked nonchalantly. My face burned, I'm sure it was the deepest of reds. "Class starts in one minute, we should go," I said hastily. "Ugh, school," he complained, "How about we skip class instead?" I wrinkled my nose. You don't skip band, even if you're dead. "How about if I answer some questions? Will you stay?" He asked me smiling, knowing he had won. "Ok, let's start with what is your problem? You didn't want to have anything to do with me yesterday or this morning for that matter? Why are you so invested now?" I asked him, putting him on the spot. "Something else, that's a bad question. Something more interesting, come on," he waved me off. "Bad question? The hell is that even supposed to mean? Fine then, what in the hell was that thing that almost killed me this morning?" I settled on. "There ya go. Like I said, that was a Seraphim. They're geeks like you and me, but they went sorta bad. It's a tempting lifestyle, trust me, you aren't constricted to basic Geek physics. But the most attractive thing about becoming a Seraphim is that you don't have to figure out what your mission is. You're assigned a regular geek to "kill", or drain their energy and that's your mission. You're done with it a few months, depending on how evasive your victim is," he informed me. "So that thing this morning, was I their assigned victim?" I asked incredulously. "Most likely not, Seraphim often attack regular geeks to restore their powers. One Geek equals a month of power. If you encounter the Geek you're assigned to kill, it takes months for you to slowly drain them of their energy. But you can take any other Geek in a second. I don't know why, but that's just how it works. Makes it more challenging I guess," he said, chewing on some fries he zapped from an old lady. "What happens if I get killed by one?" I asked in a voice barely higher than a whisper, although no one other than Bo can hear me. He looked down at his lap for a while. "If you get killed, you lose your soul. You lose your energy. Soulless Geeks go to Hell for eternity, and that's that. It's the worst thing you can do to a person," he finished quietly. "So what you did to that Seraphim this morning-" "It was trying to kill you," he said solemnly without hesitating. Something was still eating at me. I was a goner this morning, at least I should've been. "What are you thinking about?" Bo asked me, like he was staring straight into my mind. I often spoke my mind and today was no different. "Why were you there? How did you get there so fast?" I questioned him, not quite meeting his gaze. He almost stiffened in the booth across from me. "Maybe you should just feel grateful that you're alive," he mumbled into his hands. I usually don't say anything if someone rubs me the wrong way, I don't want them irritated with me. My goal in life is to ultimately have everyone like me. Pathetic, right? But every now and then, that bitch at school had it coming and I can't help but say something. About a week ago, we were taking pictures for clubs. I was standing with the rest of the Creative Writing club members and I whispered to Connie, "HEY! Take off your jacket! Scappoose Band pride!" We were both wearing our band jerseys from band pictures earlier. Anyway, some fat, irritating bitch named Lizzie just had to throw her two cents in. "Really?" She sneered. I got straight up in her face. "Yeah, really. Go freaking band, right Connie?" You don't mess with band. But here I was, sitting in front of a really cute guy who just said something I did not particularly like hearing. Amelia would have sat there and taken it, no doubt about it. But I'm not Amelia anymore. I'm Lia, and I have a new set of rules to live by. "Or maybe, you should just answer my question instead of acting so goddamn mysterious?" I settled on. It wasn't too burn worthy, but it wasn't too mild either. He stared straight at me with anger written on his face, which soon melted into a smile. He started laughing. "Hey! What's so funny? Did you hear me?" I yelled at him, more irritated than I was before. "You, you're so funny. Was that the first time you've ever yelled at someone?" He told me in absolute tears. "We're late for class," I grumbled, getting up and walking towards the door. "Hey wait up!" Bo called out behind me.