I vividly remember being 9 and seeing a ghost for the first time. I ran to my mom to tell her but, all she said was, "Ghosts aren't real, dear. It's all inside your head." That wasn't the last time I saw one, though, about 10 months later after complaining to my mom about seeing them she took me to a psychiatrist. This was when I got diagnosed with schizophrenia. I don't believe I really have it though, and I ran out of meds a few days ago. I'm 17 now, living in a foster home because no one wanted me. We can't afford to pay for my meds anymore so my foster mom told me that I'll just have to deal with it. I started "seeing things" again today but it's actually quite normal. I haven't told anyone but that medicine didn't actually do anything for me. I kept seeing "ghosts" and phantoms, things no one else could see. I always remembered that it was just in my head, or so I thought it was based on my mother's words.
Some of the ghosts started to talk to me. I've made a couple friends with some of them, since no one at school likes me. One of their names' is Olive. She's about the same age as I am, kind of, I mean she died in 1944. This year is 2038. She was 18 when she died. She died in the Holocaust, which I can't go into detail about because I don't know a lot about it. She's the only person I feel I can be fully open to, and she's open to me too. She comes to highschool with me and she plans on being at my graduation next month. I'm really nervous because I don't know what I want to do with my life. I was considering teaching but I don't know how that would go.
I have made one friend who is "real". Their name is Kai, and they are a junior in highschool. We became friends last year in our French class. I was helping them pronounce, "l'amour est gratuit" which directly translates to, "love is free." Kai is nonbinary, they are super sweet and supportive too. I was thinking about asking them out to go to Paris's Eatery or not. I might do it, I've really liked Kai ever since I met them.
My name is Crystal, most people call me Rysie and Kai calls me Crys, I was born in Vichester. Not to be confused with Winchester, they are two HUGELY different places. For one Vichester is a lot better, but also a lot older. I have bright green eyes, Kai always said they were the color of the inside of a fresh, ripe, lime. My hair is golden bronze as one of my previous foster mother's called it, my hair goes down below my waist. I typically wear it in a braid though. I'm very tall for my age, I'm about 6'3, most girls my age are 5'4. I'm not skinny, but at the same time I'm not very big either. I typically dress in legging and oversized T-Shirts. I rarely do my makeup besides a little bit of eyeliner, and I always wear too much jewelry. I typically have my nails painted black and I wear a gray scrunchie on my wrist. I have an anklet that my uncle gave me.
Olive has auburn hair cut in a short curly bob with bangs. She has violet eyes like the rest of the ghosts I've met and she always wears an old dress. She wears an old hat her mother gave her. She also exclusively wears heels. She carries around a tan handbag and a small umbrella. Her voice sounds like that of a golden bell. She is absolutely beautiful. Kai is a little shorter to me and has blonde messy hair. They are always wearing jeans, and their pink tennis shoes their little sister gave them. Kai has to wear glasses which reflect their icy blue eyes. They have always been very shy and quiet. I gave Kai a necklace last year that they wear everyday. Kai also has a long scar running down their face from their left eyebrow to the right side of their jaw. They told me it was from a dog when they were five, but I'm pretty sure it was from their... nevermind.
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Today started out like any old day, I woke up to my foster siblings screaming and fighting. I stumbled out of bed to get dressed and then found that my anklet was missing. I thought nothing of it and finished getting ready. I went downstairs to see if anyone knew where my anklet went. That's when my life was about to change.
Before I tell this part of the story, I need to make one thing very clear, I AM NOT A PIRATE. During this time in my story I am not a pirate and I didn't even know they existed. Now you may continue reading, Thank you.
As I was saying, I was walking downstairs when I was my uncle sitting at the table talking to my foster mother. He turned around to see me, he was smiling and holding my anklet. I ran to hug him. He told me that I was to come live with him on his ship after I graduated. "But what about...what about my friend, Kai?"
"Oh, don't worry about that, it's probably one of those people who aren't real," My foster mom said. This infuriated me, Kai was real and so was Olive.
"KAI IS REAL!" I shouted at her. Everything went quiet, I felt my heart pounding inside my chest, I had never shouted at anyone before. The conversation soon resumed, thank God. My uncle asked me a few questions about Kai, resulting in me accidentally telling him about where they live. Kai lived with their parents, who were abusive. They didn't want Kai, but they couldn't find anyone to take Kai in.
"Well, see if Kai wants to come along, we could use a bigger crew," my uncle replied. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I talked to Kai and of course they agreed.
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This month passed a lot quicker than I thought it would. Graduation came and my foster mom insisted on doing my makeup for it. So I agreed. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Kai came over for emotional support, that was the first time I asked them out. It went a little like this:
"Hey, Kai, you are absolutely amazing, you know that?"
"Aww thanks Crys!"
"Of course, I have a question."
"What's up?"
"So, we've known each other for over 2 years, and I was wondering, if you wanted to maybe, go on a date with me..or just hang out that works too whichever...uhm" I spoke very nervously as my voice shook.
"Wait, actually, of course I will. I've been in love with you since the first day I met you!" I'd say it went pretty well. At least now I have a partner. We had planned to go out on Friday to Paris's. My graduation was on Friday as well, three days. I was super nervous. I was in my room later that day, when I met Olive's little brother, Nathan. He looked a lot like Olive. He said he was about 8 when he died in Auschwitz. This broke my heart to hear. We became friends, not as close as me and Olive were but still pretty close.
Friday came quicker than I would've liked. I was happy with how slow the day went though. I was sitting in my French class for the last time whispering to Kai. Their birthday was coming up soon and I was wondering what they wanted. Kai just said, "Not much besides to be with you forever..." Okay, but when I say my heart melted, I'm not kidding.
"I mean at least we're going to go live on a ship together...right?" I replied.
"Yeah, I'm excited for that, so is your uncle like an actual pirate?"
"From what I've heard." but who knows if my uncle was lying. At least Kai would be there with me, that was all I really needed. We finished working on our project, and I daydreamed as Kai did most of the work. I feel kinda bad about leaving them to do everything but I couldn't help it. All I wanted to think about is the future, and hoping they'd be in mine. After French the day started to speed up, but I couldn't stop thinking about Kai. I guess not all the fairy tales lied about how addicting love can be.
Finally the end of the day came, my foster mom came to help me get ready. I lived an hour away from the school so there was no point in me going home. She put a lot of makeup on me, I'm glad she at least let me do my own eyeliner. She put my hair into two dutch braids going back into a bun. She let me wear her necklace from her wedding, it meant a lot to me. I guess it was her way of showing me how much she cares. She also gave me heels to wear. I don't know where they came from though, they seemed expensive.
I went to go sit out in the audience to wait for my name to be called. That's when I saw Kai. They were in a black suit and they were also wearing heels and makeup. They had slicked their hair back as well. I didn't think it was possible to fall anymore in love with them, but trust me when I say I fell. I almost literally fell, as in I almost passed out. I made my way over to them, and they beat me to the compliment, "You look beautiful Crys," Kai had said.
"You look even better," I replied. And that was when I passed out. I remembered that I hadn't had water in awhile, this probably allowed my nerves to get the best of me. At least Kai had caught me and surprisingly enough I didn't miss my turn to go on stage. Thankfully, I wasn't injured, so they allowed me to walk. While I was on stage I noticed my uncle. He had a bright red bandana on and a pirate hat in his lap. I guess he wasn't lying about being a pirate. Since I was valedictorian of my class they allowed me to say a few words. "Thank you for being here, I'm going to miss this amazing and welcoming environment," I said. "Don't cry, don't cry, just don't cry," I thought to myself. I cried. I walked off stage and was greeted once again by Kai. They hugged me. I started crying harder as they held me rubbing my back trying to comfort me. Most people would assume I was crying out of joy, but I wasn't. I've always gotten overwhelmed really easily, and that is happening now. My body's way of expressing that, of course, has to be crying. On stage. In front of everyone.
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Kai and I were to join my uncle with his "crew" on Monday. Kai had to cancel the date on Friday because his parents needed them home. We decided to reschedule for today, Saturday, instead. I met Kai at Paris's around 5 pm. We were there for about an hour laughing and giggling pretty much the entire time. I don't think I'm ever as happy as I am when I'm around Kai. We didn't have many interesting conversations worth writing down, besides one:
"Crys, you make me so happy. Something I've always thought would be impossible. Thank you."
"You do the same to me, K, " (I started calling them that about a week ago), "that's why... I love you."
"I love you too Crys." I stared at them, they stared at me. "I wish we could just spend the rest of our lives together," they said. Then, we kissed. It was both of our first kisses. And my anxiety was cured only for a minute, and I had no worries in the world.
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It was finally Monday, and I was packing up my stuff to get ready to go with my uncle. I came downstairs to see my foster mom crying in her husband's arms. She turned around as soon as she heard me enter the room. She ran to me and hugged me saying, "Oh, Rysie, I'm going to miss you so much!" Her husband was laughing at her.
"I'm going to miss you too Mom," that was the first time I called her that. Then we both broke down crying. We sat there, on the ground, crying, holding each other, regretting my decision for an hour until Kai showed up. He was standing next to my uncle when I opened the door. My uncle told me we had to go now. So I wished my foster mom one last goodbye not knowing then that I'd never see her again.
We arrived at the docks which were about two hours away. When we got there I saw my new home. A huge ship with huge royal red sails. There were about 100 people on the ship. When they saw my uncle they all came to the side to greet him calling him, "Captain Peter". When we got on they took me and Kai to go change. They gave us both red bandanas and the "correct" clothes to be wearing on the ship. Then a kind lady named Marinette did our makeup. My uncle gave me his old hat from when he was my age and told me I was to be the future Captain once he died. Everything was happening so fast, I didn't know what to do.
We had salmon for dinner, that was the day I discovered my least favorite food. Kai and I got to eat in my uncle's office with him. Some man called Horace told us that we were lucky to be able to enter that room, he said no one else in the crew has ever been in there. While we were eating my uncle told me and Kai why he needed us on the crew, "I needed you Crystal for a few reasons, one, you are young enough to make a good Captain, because we all know I'm not getting any younger and with the mission I'm about to tell you both about it's pretty much a death sentence for me. I brought you, Kai, because Captains cannot work alone, they need a partner in crime, and I know there's something between you too. Just like there was between my sister and Crystal's father, and they would've made perfect Captains. I also brought you Crystal, because you inherited your great-grandfather's gift of seeing the Dead. This mission we are on, does include fighting off a few dead people, and bringing some back, another helpful thing you can do. I'll teach you how later."
"Wait, you're saying I can bring people back from the dead?" It was unbelievable , and impossible. Everyone knows once someone dies, they're dead... right