Okay, I know this update is very late, and I'm sorry for that. It just happened that laziness took over me, plus the writer's block. Also, I've made a decision to stop writing for my other book for a while and just focus on this one because I can't write two books at a time.
Anyway, thanks for reading this far! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry for the wrong grammars if there are any. Don't forget to vote and comment!
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Jake's POV
I know what I saw. These two are getting too close for my liking. So, I'm gonna play the cliché overprotective and stubborn as hell of a brother against Kris.
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Noooo! I can't do it! I ship them so bad. I've been waiting for this moment to happen. Tsk, if only these two aren't in denial. But what happens next if they are actually together? I mean, Kris is a ghost and Kylie is human. The ending is very obvious, and I'm sure it is nowhere near good.
So, should I stop them or not? Well, it's not really certain that they like each other, but how come they kissed each other? You don't kiss someone you don't like, right? Especially, on the lips?
But what if what they're saying is true? That they were just telling secrets to each other? Hmmm....
But I'm not that stupid to believe it! They actually kissed, right? High-five to those who agree with me!
But what if Kris was just playing around and kissed Kylie. No, Kris is not that cruel to play around with a girl. He's very loyal to his girlfriend when I met him 5 years ago. Well, I'm not sure if she's his girlfriend that time because he said that they were in this mutual understanding stage.
I assumed that he's a chivalrous kind of guy because even though girls were flirting with him left and right, he politely turned them down because of this girl.
If I were in his shoes at that time, I would've flirted back. I am called "playboy" for a reason. I know how to flirt, but one thing I don't do that playboys do is having sex with my girlfriends. And yes, girlfriends because I had many girlfriends in the past.
They called me playboy because they misunderstood something. I actually take those girls seriously, but the thing is they were the ones who were just not into serious relationship. They were just after my body, so I break up with them. Then, they spread rumors that I had sex with them. Ugh, no.
Anyway, back to Kris. Kris couldn't or rather wouldn't do that to Kylie, but Kris could've changed these past few years.
If I find out that he's just playing around with my sister, well, I can't punch him since he's a ghost. I'll just convince my parents that we should move out of here. Yep, that's the only thing that I can do if he does break my sister's heart.
Kylie's POV
I sat on my bed, looking at my reflection in the mirror. We spent the afternoon chit-chatting. Oh, let me correct that. They spent the afternoon chit-chatting while I spent the afternoon avoiding a certain ghost.
I knew Jake sensed the tension between me and Kris, so I eventually left the conversation and went upstairs to my room. And here I am now, bored out of my mind.
I'll just doodle or draw something. Come to think of it, it's been months since I draw something....decent.
When I sketch, it usually ends up horrible. However, when I put my mind to it, the result is....still horrible, but not as horrible as the other ones. Well, I didn't say that I'm good at this.
I stood up to get my sketchbook and pencil in one of the drawers of my dresser. When I grabbed the pencil and sketchbook, something caught my eye at the very back of the drawer. It was a small, black, metal box with lock.
I frowned and remembered that it was the box where I hid my secrets or whatever objects I liked when I was a kid. I had this box when I was about five or six years old.
Whoa, that means this box is about 11 or 12 years old?! Well, I'm not really surprised because I still have Michelle, my doll, who is about 10 years old.
I took the box and couldn't open it because of the lock.
"Where the hell did I put the key?" I furrowed my eyebrows and pursed my lips. I just shrugged and went to get the small plastic with my hairpins.
"What?!" I blurted out. "Only six of them left? Where are the rest of my hairpins?"
Tsk, I better take good care of these.
I picked the lock with my hairpin. Yeah, I know how to pick locks. I smiled proudly when I unlocked the lock.
I licked my lips while opening the box. I saw a small notebook, and I'm pretty sure it's the diary of little me. The first page was a drawing. It was, of course, stick figures. It looked like I was in a park with Jake and.....a boy.
I just shrugged it off, thinking that I must be very friendly back then, so it's no surprise that there's a stranger in the drawing.
I looked at the date, and saw that it was like 14 years ago. Oh, that explains why I drew my experiences instead of writing them. I was only 3 years old.
I turned to the next page and saw that I'm still in the park with that stranger boy, but Jake was not with me anymore.
Hmm... Little me was having a little date with some little boy in a little park, huh? That's kind of insulting. I was 3 years old and was dating someone back then. Now, I'm 17 and dating food.
I scowled at the diary and put it down to look at the other things in the box. I found some pictures of me when I was about 5 years old with my friends. I frowned when I realized that there were many boys in the picture. I was hoping that I could find the boy I was "dating." I smiled, thinking that it would be nice if I remember those days.
I saw something glittering at the bottom. I grasped it and let it dangle in front of my face. It was a locket. Suddenly, I felt like I was going to cry. I didn't know why though. I just felt the happiness, the nostalgia, the pain, and the warmth spreading throughout my body.
Then, a blurred picture of a boy flashed in my mind. I gasped and dropped the locket when someone opened the door. My eyes widened when I saw it was Kris. I hastily put the locket and the other things back in the box.
I didn't even bother to reprimand him that he was supposed to knock.
"What...are you doing? What are those?" I could hear his footsteps getting closer.
"Uhh...nothing..just nothing. Haha.." I nervously laughed and scratched my nape, not looking at him.
I could see him staring at me from the corner of my eye. He then focused his attention on the small box that I've been holding tightly.
None of us dared to talk or even utter a single word. After a while, he awkwardly cleared his throat and said, "Maria and Rachelle are going home. And I need to 'go home', too."
I realized it was already 6 in the afternoon.
"Oh! Uh, yeah.. Right!" I abruptly stood up, causing me to lose my balance. Before I knew it, Kris' face was just centimeters away from mine. My eyes widened, and I pushed him away, as if I was burned by him.
I saw pain in his eyes, but it was gone when I blinked. He licked his bottom lip and sighed.
"Look, Kylie, about what happened earlier..." he trailed off.
I was about to tell him that maybe we could talk later because I wasn't prepared to hear what he was going to say, but he already said something.
"The kiss... it was unintentional. That was a mistake. I didn't mean to do it. I'm very sorry. I was just caught up in the moment."
I felt the tears surfacing, so I looked down to avoid his eyes. I felt like I couldn't breathe. Something was suffocating me. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
I chuckled bitterly in my mind. Geez, I hear that line almost everytime I watch chick-flick movies or even in books....but why is it painful to hear now? Why do I feel like I want to cry? Why does it hurt me to hear him say those things? That kiss was just a mistake? He was just caught up in the moment?
My pressed my lips together to stop them from trembling. I forced a smile and looked him in the eyes.
"It's okay." I tried to stop my voice from shaking, but I guess I failed because he reached out to me. I avoided his hands and walked straight to the door.
"C'mon, I'm sure Rachelle and Maria are tired of waiting for us downstairs." I said without looking at him and walked to where my friends were waiting.
After the girls and Kris left, I went straight to my room and let my body drop on my bed. I released a shaky breath and noticed that a few tears escaped my eyes.
I sighed tiredly while wiping those traitors away. "Damn eyes. I didn't even exercise, why are you sweating now?"
I stiffened when I sensed another presence in the room.
"Kylie," Kris said in a soft voice. I just ignored him and lied on my side, my back facing him.
"Look, I know you're upset-"
"Upset?!" I abruptly sat up to face him. "I'm not upset! I'm freaking furious!"
"I know what happened earlier was a mistake like you said. It probably didn't mean anything to you, but it meant a lot to me! That was my first kiss!"
His eyes widened at the last sentence.
I scoffed. "You didn't think that that was my first kiss, did you? I don't even know why I let you kiss me! God, I'm so stupid! Fucking stupid!"
I know some of you probably think that this is not a big deal, but it is to me. I promised myself to give my first kiss to someone I really love.
Actually, I am kind of glad that I gave my first kiss to Kris, but I regret what I did when he said that it was a mistake.
He opened his mouth to say something. "I'm sorry."
His face was full of regret when he said that. I scoffed mentally.
He regret it that much, huh? Here I am, hoping he'll say that it meant something to him, too.
"You know what? Just get out, Kris." I lied on my side again, turning away from him.
I heard him sigh in defeat. "I'm gonna let you cool down for now." Then, his presence was gone.
I pursed my lips. Cool down, my ass.
I slammed a pillow over my face and screamed in frustration. I woke up the next morning with dark circles under my eyes.
Good new: It's Sunday
Bad news: Kris
I didn't bother to fix my hair since I'm so tired. I just walked like a zombie towards the door. I went out of my room and saw Jake in the corridor, heading towards the stairs.
"Jaaakkee~" I drawled out in a hoarse voice. My voice was hoarse because of the screaming I made last night. I tripped over something and fell on the floor with a thud. He turned his head to face me. I reached out with a groan for help, but he got the wrong idea.
"Aaaahh!" He screamed in a high-pitched voice and ran away like crazy. I just huffed and pushed myself up. I entered the kitchen and saw Jake breathing heavily with a hand on his chest.
"Thanks for running away from me, brother." I said sarcastically while opening the fridge. I saw him jump two feet in the air from the corner of my eye.
"Kylie?" He asked, as if making sure that it's really me.
"Of course, it's me. Who else could it be?" I said and took the fresh milk from the fridge.
"You look like shit, you know that?" He walked towards me and inspected my appearance. I stared at him blankly then smiled sarcastically.
Josh came in while eating an apple. When his eyes landed on me, he choked on his apple.
"Oh, my. What on earth happened to you, Kylie?" My mother, who just entered the kitchen, asked in bewildered shock.
"What? What's going on?" My father asked as he appeared beside my mother. As soon as he saw me, he gasped loudly and accidentally spilled his coffee.
I rolled my eyes at them. Now, you know where Jake and I get our exaggerated reactions.
"You act like I just turned into a zombie." I sat on the kitchen counter.
"Well, you do look like a zombie." Jake smirked. I grabbed the knife beside me and pointed it at him. He immediately hid behind our mother.
"Mother! She's pointing a knife at me!" Mother rolled her eyes at us and stared at me. I huffed and put the knife down.
I went to my room after we ate breakfast. The first thing I noticed was Kris sitting down on my bed. I sighed exasperatedly and just decided to ignore him.
"Kylie, please," he pleaded. "Let's talk."
I still ignored him and made my way towards the bathroom. He grabbed my arm and turned me around. I harshly pulled my arm away. He clenched his jaw at my action, but can you blame me?
"There's nothing to talk about, Kris. I get it! You made it clear yesterday that it was all a mistake." I managed to prevent the tears from falling.
I refuse to let him see that it's affecting me this much.
"That's not what I meant, Kylie." His eyes softened as he said that.
"Oh," I drawled out and crossed my arms. "What does 'that kiss was a mistake. I was just caught up in the moment' mean then?"
He looked down and balled his hands. He looked like he was stopping himself from saying something. I waited for him to say something, but nothing.
"That's what I thought." I said coldly. "Would you excuse me? I'm going to take a shower now."
He didn't try to stop me this time. I closed the door of the bathroom and lean against it. I slowly slid down to the floor as I closed my eyes.
I don't know why this is affecting me this much. It's not like I like him that way.
My eyes opened when I thought that.
No way! I don't like him that way....do I?
I rapidly shook my head sideways. This can't be! I have to keep my distance from him.
After I showered and got dressed, I went straight to Josh's room to see how he was doing. Kris must've given me space because he was not in my room when I got out of the bathroom.
I passed by Josh's room, and I saw him staring with a troubled look at the wall. I knocked on his door to get his attention. He snapped his head in my direction.
"Hey," I waved at him and sat beside him.
"Hey..." he smiled hesitantly.
"How are you doing?" I raised my eyebrows.
"Well, I'm doing fine, I guess. I accepted that my parents are already gone." He averted his attention somewhere else.
"Hmm.. I think that's a progress. Accepting that they're gone does not mean that you're forgetting all about them. You know that right?"
He nodded his head and smiled sadly. I entertained Josh all day, so that I wouldn't have to face Kris. Also, I discovered that Josh was 16 and was studying at another school. His school was near Rachelle and Maria's school.
Monday came and I have to go to school early to catch the bus. I realized that I didn't even talk to Mark this weekend even though we're neighbors.
I sighed tiredly while walking towards the bus stop. I don't know why I'm tired today. I didn't even do anything last night and I slept early, too.
I felt my phone vibrate and fished it out of my pocket. It was from Mark.
Hey, Kyles. I'm sorry I can't drive you to school today. I'll be a little late. Hope you get there safe. See ya later, babe!
The only words that my mind registered were "I'm sorry" and "babe."
The "I'm sorry" reminded me of a certain ghost who kept saying that last weekend. I was confused by the "babe." Maybe it's normal for gays to call girls babe because it symbolizes friendship, right?
I texted Mark that he didn't really have to say sorry because he couldn't drive me to school. It's not his responsibility anyway.
I managed to catch the bus. I entered the school and immediately had a bad feeling when I went to my locker. I raised my hand to enter the combination for my locker, but I really had a bad feeling about it, so I decided against it.
I walked towards my classroom, but I didn't know I walked towards hell. Well, it's hell there everyday, but today is much worse. When I was at the door, my foot stepped on a string. It's like you stepped on a trap. Before I knew it, I was dripping wet. And I stink.
I glanced at the bucket above my head. It was the bucket janitors use when cleaning the hallway or somewhere I don't wanna know. No wonder the water stinks.
I kept my face blank. I was used to bullying. Geez, I'm being bullied everyday by a handsome-but-stupid ghost.
Everyone in the room laughed at me and took pictures. I was tempted to throw their phones at their stupid faces. I heard Crystal's deafening laugh behind me.
"So, how's your shower, dear? I bet you like your new smell since you're such a pig." Crystal and her minions laughed.
"Uh-huh...I like it very much. I think you deserve a 'thank you.'" I smiled sweetly at her and hugged her, making sure that she got my 'new smell', too.
"Aarggh! Ewww!" She pushed me away, letting out a shriek. "That's disgusting!"
"I just bought this dress! Do you know how much this is?!" She shrieked once again.
"I wouldn't know 'cause I don't buy dresses smaller than my body. If you know what I mean." I smirked, ignoring the foul smell of my now wet clothes.
Crystal and her minions ran to the bathroom, probably, to change her dress. I sighed mentally. Maybe, I'll do that, too.
I just laughed at her pathetic ass. "Well, it was nice to share my 'new smell' with you."
I went straight to my locker, ignoring the people staring at me. I ignored the bad feeling that was still there since I thought the prank was done. I opened my locker and screamed. I fell down on my butt.
What the heck?!
Spiders. Big, hairy spiders. There were spiders in my locker. I couldn't move. My body was trembling. Some of the students find it hilarious. Some found it scary, just like me.
No. You can throw flying cockroaches, or beetles at me, just...not spiders.
I gulped and decided that I couldn't stand people laughing at me, so I pulled myself together. I slowly stood up and approached my locker. I recalled how Samwise Gamgee defeated the spider in the Lord of the Rings. He used a sword and something that is very bright.
Yeah, that's it. I took my phone out and turned on its flashlight. I also grabbed my umbrella. I aimed the flashlight at the spiders and tried to hit them with my umbrella, but I made sure I didn't hit them. I'm not that heartless, you know. They eventually crawled out of my locker.
I slammed my locker shut and quickly went out of the gate. I decided to go home since I didn't want to touch the clothes in my locker. Also, I couldn't stand being in the same room with Crystal.
I noticed that everybody had left because the door was locked. I took the spare key under the mat and opened the door.
"Kylie?" Kris appeared in front of me. "Why are you home early? Very early?"
I pursed my lips to stop myself from telling him what happened. I ignored him and went to my room.
"Did something happen? Are you feeling sick?"
I stopped and turned to face him. He was surprised by the sudden attention. I crossed my arms and scrutinized him with furrowed eyebrows.
He's not like this before. He would've laughed at me looking like shit.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Did something happen to you? Are you feeling sick?"
"Uh, no. Nothing happened. Besides, I'm a ghost. Why would I feel sick?" He asked in confusion.
"And I'm surprised you finally acknowledged me." He added, smiling like a puppy who found its owner.
I turned around and entered my room. I sat on my bed and immediately jumped up when I remembered that I stink.
I don't want my bed to smell like....shit.
"Oh, come on, Kylie. You know you want to talk to me."
I scoffed in disbelief. "I want to talk to you? No, thank you."
"C'mon, let's make ou- make up!" I'm sure he was going to say something but decided against it. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.
I thought about it for a minute. I was still not sure about my feelings, but I know there's a part of me that wanted to make up with Kris.
I sighed in defeat. "Fine. You win, you annoying stupid ghost."
"Hahaha. I'm one handsome, annoying, stupid ghost then." He grinned ear-to-ear. I just smiled giddily.
"On the serious note, I felt a faint fear just a moment ago. And, obviously, it's what you were feeling earlier." His eyes fell on my clothes. He glared at my clothes and returned his attention to me. "Is someone bullying you?!"
I looked away and bit my lip. Should I tell him or not?
He grabbed my shoulders and shook me slightly. "Kylie! Tell me what happened."
"Crystal happened." I answered softly.
"Crystal?" He pulled away with a frown.
"I should have known she would do this to you. That girl never change." He mumbled.
"What?"
Did I hear that right? That girl never change?
"You knew her when you were alive, didn't you?"
That's why he reacted so badly when I told him that I was "friends" with Crystal.
"Uhh, did I say something like that?" He was obviously trying to get out of this.
"Kris," I said in a low and serious voice.
He sighed and didn't say anything for a few minutes.
"Crystal was...she was my girlfriend."