Schizo Styles » 1d

Road Kill

Theo and I had fallen asleep on the couch a little while after Louis returned home with Niall. Theo just waved his uncle off, saying he was busy. The last thing I remembered was the middle of The Hangover Part 3. I checked my phone, squinting my eyes against the light it emitted. 2:37 in the morning. I checked my surroundings and saw Theo and I were sharing the couch in the living room. He had his head on the other end, one leg draped over the back of the couch, and the other bent by my side.

"Sydney," someone whispered. I recognized the voice. It had come to the point where I knew my dad's gravely, deep voice. "Sydney, meet me outside."

Outside? Was he insane? It was probably freezing outside, and what if I woke Theo up? Although, he was a pretty heavy sleeper. I silently groaned and rolled off of the couch, catching myself with my knees. I got up and made my way to the door, slipping my shoes on before carefully opening and closing the door. I walked down the dark driveway to Harry's form standing under the nearest street lamp. He had on a pecoat, incredibly tight pants, and a red beanie.

"I don't know why I listen to you." I admitted.

"Because I'm your dad and you want to," he guessed with a shrug. "But I think I'd be more comfortable if you just called me Harry."

"I don't think that's it." I shook my head.

"You're curious," he said, looking at me. "You have to admit that."

I didn't know how the things I saw worked. I didn't know if they said what they would say if they were truly people, or what my brain wanted them to say. I didn't know if they controlled themselves, or if my twisted mind was the puppeteer in this situation. Or maybe my earlier theory about Harry being a ghost that made his way into my head was correct. I thought that would be much more interesting, so I rolled with that.

"Tell me," I began as he started walking down the road. "Why are we out here?"

He shrugged, his hands hidden in his coat pockets. "I wanted to go for a walk with my daughter. Wow, that sounds weird too."

"But I am, you know." I reminded him.

"But I'm nineteen. You're eighteen."

"It's not my fault you're nineteen when I see you."

"But isn't it?"

"Shut up."

I was surprised he actually did as I told him. He didn't say anything for a solid ten minutes. It gave me time to think. I had been doing pretty good at Louis' house. I'd talked to Maxee a few times and hardly had anything going wrong because of Hal and Tuesday, but I knew I was probably jinxing myself. 

"Okay, don't actually shut up." I finally said.

"Good," he said, slowing his pace so I was walking beside him instead of behind him. "I actually wanted to talk to you."

"About?" I pressed.

"Lola Tomlinson," he said. "She is real."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "But everyone said-"

"She's real, but not alive," he said. "She died two days after birth. She was premature."

This actually kind of freaked me out. I was seeing a girl who died after birth. So my ghost theory was possible then. Sort of. I don't know. I was just happy that I never mentioned Lola to Louis or anyone.

"What about you?" I asked. "Are you just from my head, or are you a ghost like Lola?"

"She wasn't a ghost. Have you ever read the theory on Rugrats?" he asked.

"The one where Angelica imagined everything?" I checked.

He nodded. "Tommy died when he was little, but Angelica saw him grow up. Lola died when she was little, but you saw her grow up."

"You didn't answer my question." I grumbled.

"Answer mine," he said, still ignoring me. "What kind of person was Lola?"

I thought about how she had talked to me, and the Alice in Wonderland thing. Besides Theo, she was the only person that actually seemed genuine when she was being nice. I thought about how she sat and watched TV with me and assured me that nothing Varana or Wendy spat in my direction as they walked through was true. How she told me about how she was trying to practice witchcraft, despite what her siblings said about it and her. Lola may have been about three-fourths as crazy as me, but she was an amazing girl. Or, she would've been.

"Absolutely insane." I smiled to myself, but I didn't think Harry saw me.

Harry nodded, thinking over the answer I'd given him. Then he inhaled deeply. "I'm not sure."

"About?" I asked.

"Your question," he said. "I don't know if I'm in your head or not. If I am a ghost, why did I get younger as a ghost?"

"Maybe because it's when you fell in love." I suggested.

Harry stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the sidewalk stretching ahead of him. He turned to me, a slight smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "You're clever, Sydney."

I shrugged, kicking at a pebble. "It comes with the schizophrenia."

"That's something funny about you," he chuckled. "You see these things that aren't actually there," he looked down the road at the lights growing brighter and brighter. "Take that car for example. No one else can see it but you," he stepped into the road and turned to face me, holding his hand out. "You could just stand here and nothing would happen."

I blushed and rolled my eyes, stepping out onto the street that was shining where the lights hit it because of the rain. I let Harry wrap his larger fingers around mine. His smile never faltered as the car smashed right into me, knocking me to the concrete.