I have to admit, my first day in the small town of Englewood was terrible, and being alone didn't help at all. I knew nobody, and my closest relatives lived two hours away in Miami. The second day in Englewood wasn't much better. I had finished unpacking my boxes and went for a look around town, stopping by a McDonald's for lunch before checking out the exterior of the State College of Florida in Venice.
That was the only reason why I was in Englewood in the first place. At one thousand four hundred dollars a month, Englewood Bay Motel and Apartments was the cheapest thing I could find in the area that actually had free internet. I sure I could have found something closer if I had searched more, but a fifteen-minute drive to the college wasn't bad.
Before Englewood, I had lived in Orlando with my dad. My mother left when I was six, reverted to her maiden name, and became a national 'fiction' best-seller. Later, when she claimed her story was true, she was sent to a mental hospital, and my dad hasn't heard from her since.
My mom, Louise Turner, was strongly religious. She claimed that she won my dad over by converting him. The thing was, even though he was a painter, he was a pretty good actor as well. After their divorce, Louise sent me a copy of her book for my seventh birthday. I cried, of course. On the cover, written in bold Helvetica, was My Devil Child Daughter, by Louise Turner.
I had always been different. I wasn't saying that to sound 'cute and hipster' or 'super cheesy, but...'. To be one hundred percent honest, I could see spirits. Louise claimed that I managed to learn witchcraft at a young age, and claimed that my 'heathen father' taught me his 'evil ways'. The thing was, he was just as shocked as her. I knew then that talking about it wasn't a very good idea.
Of course, my father, being the peace-making guy he always was, tried to reason with Louise, saying that there are plenty of stories on the internet saying that children are closer to 'the other side'. That only made things worse for me, because my mother walked around the house for a year, locking me in my room and calling me 'Devil Child'. According to her book, I guess the name stuck. Then the divorce papers were signed and she was finally out of my life.
When I was nine, I got a weird present... Another dad. By that age my father had told me that he liked both men and women, and quite honestly, I was ecstatic. That year for my birthday, dad introduced me to his new partner, James. 'James and Oscar' were all the rage for the next month at school. My teachers were surprised how open I was about my 'gay dads', and even more so how greatly accepted it was. Most of my friends were jealous, stating that 'they wanted two dads'. They got married when I was eleven, and then the problems started.
I was still silent about my special 'talent'. I told James and dad a bit into the eighth grade that the spirits were still around. They were both freaked out but promised to help me. In high school my talent grew, and so did the hate towards my dads. Those two factors together caused me to quiet down. I was barely noticeable anymore, but that was how I liked it. Sure, my only friends at that point were punks and ghosts, but they made for great company. Plus, I got introduced to some damn good music.
Like my dad, art had always been a big passion of mine. My choice in college, of course, revolved around this. I know that there were better places in better areas to learn, but I was also looking for a small school. The State College of Florida in Venice was the answer to my prayers. A small college in a small town was all I could ask for. The distance was a problem, but I could handle it, and so could my dads.
On my third day in Englewood, I finally met someone - a human that I can actually call my friend. I had found a small cafe that wasn't Starbucks, finally - I hated their inflated prices - and managed to bump into the only waitress on duty. All she had was an empty tray, so I guessed she was just on her way out to clear some tables. After our collision, I picked up her tray and introduced myself, holding out a shy hand to shake.
We spent the next hour chatting, seeing as her shift was ending. Elaina Hamilton offered to buy me a coffee with her employee discount, and I accepted gratefully. Soon enough, I learned that she was also enrolled in the State College of Florida, and, like me, was starting the next August. When it was time for her to go, as she had a date with her 'punk rocker boyfriend' Ricky Pickering, we stepped out into the early June air to wait for him. I would walk back to my apartment by myself.
My first impression of Ricky was a strange one. His beat up Crown Vic was certainly a surprise, but a good one as it reminded me of my friend Theresa's back in Orlando. Theresa's was a deep-blue-but-not-quite-navy color and in much better shape in Ricky's, whose car looked like a metal shop dump. His green hair also took me by surprise, even though Elaina mentioned it to me when she talked about him in the cafe. I wasn't surprised that he'd been dying his hair the same color for three years - I'd been doing the same thing for four.
"Hey, Batgirl. You friends with Lainie?" he asked me, referring to the light gray Batman shirt I just happened to be wearing. I suddenly felt oddly exposed under his gaze as he took Elaina in his arms and kissed her forehead, only looking away from me when she backed away a step. I nodded as I pulled the hem of my black shorts down until they were a few inches above my knees, then took a step toward the couple.
"Uh... yeah?" I mentally slapped myself as my answer came out in the form of a question. I saw something flicker out of the corner of my eye, but I dismissed it. It was probably a spirit, but unless I acknowledged its presence it wouldn't acknowledge mine.
"Nice. Hey, cool hair, Batgirl." I grabbed a piece of my hair self-consciously, twirling the cherry red chunk around my finger.
"Thanks," I was getting more comfortable with the new acquaintance. I had dyed my hair a lot since I was allowed to at thirteen years old, just because Louise was a blonde, and so was I, and nobody really wanted the reminder. Through my experiments, I found out that not only did I like the red, but it looked good on me, too. In addition, all of my old friends stated that it made me look more punk rock. "I should probably be going-"
"You can't be serious, it's six. Hang out with us for a while, Kal!" Elaina smiled warmly as she looked to Ricky for a confirmation.
"But our da-"
"We'll have other chances for dates. Right now, Kallie needs the grand tour of Englewood." It took a moment, but Ricky finally nodded and kicked open the passenger door of his car for Elaina. I grabbed the handle of the backseat door closest to me. To my surprise, someone was already sitting there. Two spirits sat in the back seat, seemingly waiting for Ricky to get going.
"Excuse me," I whispered, but just as I did, Ricky entered the car.
"Talking to ghosts there, Batgirl?" He looked back at me with a smirk on his face as he closed his door, and the ghost moved over to the middle of the seat. I looked at him with shock, but there was a glint in his eyes that told me he was only joking. I laughed, playing off my nervousness as a joke as he intended, and got into the car.
We spent half an hour driving around aimlessly, and Elaina and Ricky pointed out everything they would consider important. Among those things was a hiking trail that led to the stereotypical 'Make Out Point' of Englewood, the Smart Aid where Ricky's best friend Jacob Portman worked, and the best ice cream joint in Sarasota County. After a brief pit stop, I soon agreed to stop in for a cone.
It was almost seven by the time we showed up at the beach. The whole car ride consisted of Metallica and Nirvana, with a little bit of early My Chemical Romance, blaring from the radio and the wind let in through the wide open windows added to the noise. I managed to make conversations with Ricky's ghosts, until they flew out the window, fed up with Ricky for the day. Before leaving, they told me they'd died in the crash, but the driver managed to survive. The truck that hit them came at a perpendicular angle and hit the back end. Ricky managed to fix the car up good enough to drive again, but it still looked like shit.
When we arrived at the beach, Elaina nearly broke the passenger door getting out, followed by a laughing Ricky who climbed out the same side. "You coming, Batgirl?" he asked me, and I nodded, getting out at a much slower pace. By the time I closed the door firmly behind me, Elaina had stripped off her white leather jacket and sky blue shirt, leaving on her black bra and jean shorts. Ricky pulled off his shirt and followed his girlfriend into the cool water after the both of them kicked off their sandals. I trailed behind them and took off my flip flops before slowly wading into the water.
Despite growing up in Florida, I was never the biggest fan of beaches. I was naturally olive skinned and could tan nicely, so it wasn't burning that I had a problem with. I just didn't like the thought of what could happen out there. Undertow, sand bars, drop-offs, sharks... I wasn't terrified, just cautious. At least I would go up to my knees. And I was alright with pools, I actually knew what was in those.
We spent another hour at the beach, and Elaina finally coaxed me in until the water was at my waist. We didn't have any towels, so Elaina and Ricky used their shirts while she let me borrow her jacket.
"You know what, guys?" I start on the drive back to my apartment, shouting over the loud music. Dirty Deeds by AC/DC was playing, and I was tapping my fingers to the beat. "That was really fun. Thanks for the tour. And the beach wasn't that bad."
"What do you have against beaches, Batgirl?" Ricky asked, looking back at me briefly before pulling up in front of the motel.
"Nothing, it's just... So much can go wrong, you know? I've kind of always been this way." I smile sadly, then get out of the car and hand Elaina's jacket back to her through her open window.
"No, you can keep it. It looks better on you, anyway." We exchanged smiles, and as I turned to go, she grasped my arm. "Hey, Kallie? As long as you're hanging with us, you'll be perfectly fine."