Kylie's POV
"Kylie!" I heard Jake yell from downstairs.
"What?!" I yelled from my room. I was lying on my stomach, watching the movie Avatar, you know, the "blue monkeys." It was one of the best movies I've ever watched, that's why I'm watching it again. Before watching Avatar, I watched Wonder Woman, and started admiring Gal Gadot. I think I have a crush on her.
It's Saturday, so I get to watch movies and eat tubs of ice cream. It's been four days since I "accidentally" confessed to Kris, thanks to my jealousy.
You may thought that I'm so chill right now after all that had happened. Well, you're right. I decided to relax and not let the drama get to me. Kris asked for some space, so I'm giving it to him although those days without talking to him were pure torture.
I so badly wanted to take back what I said because it might have been a pain in the butt to him to think that some girl under the same roof as him has feelings for him. A part of me though was thankful because I finally let it out.
As for Mark, he seemed busy, and just kept saying that he's fine whenever I asked if he's doing okay.
Also, my dream made me stress out who the boy was that's also why I wanted to relax today. And yeah, I'm still having that kind of dream where that boy keeps on appearing all of a sudden, but his face was blurred. Why the suspense?!
"KYLIE!!!" Jake shouted once again. I paused the movie angrily.
"WHAT?!!" I yelled, annoyed that he's disturbing me and my solace.
"Get down here!!! Now!"
I calmed myself and ripped the blanket off from my body. I forced myself to go out of my room and dragged myself downstairs. I just stepped into the living room when Jake groaned.
I abruptly stopped walking, thinking that Jake was doing something not appropriate in the living room. If he is, I don't wanna see it. Ewwwww.
I could only see the back of his head leaning against the couch. He kept squirming and groaning with his body wrapped in blanket. I couldn't help but scrunch my face in disgust and disbelief.
I took a step back to get ready then immediately ran towards him, his back facing me. I kicked the back of the couch. You know, like those kicks in action movies where their enemy gets thrown back roughly.
Well, in my case, the couch moved a bit, not what I was expecting (because I was expecting that it will dramatically flip over), but Jake jumped forward in shock and scrambled away from me. I almost burst out laughing when I saw his face. He looked so scared.
When he saw that it was just me, his face darkened. "What the hell, Kylie?!"
"I was just stopping you from doing the inappropriate!" I said, waving my hands in the air.
"What?!" His frown deepened. "What are you even talking about?! What do you mean inappropriate?! I was just rubbing-"
"Eww! TMI!" I covered my ears with my hands for effects. I looked at him with a disgusted face.
He merely stared at me with a clueless look. Realization dawned on him, and his face immediately reddened.
"What the fvck?!" Disbelief was written all over his face.
"Y-you need to go to church! Your mind needs some holy water!" Jake stood up and dusted himself.
My defensive self kicked in. "Well, you can't blame me! You were groaning and squirming under that blanket!"
"Well, for your information, my dirty-minded sister," He said with a sarcastic face. "It was so cold in here that I might freeze to death. That's why I was rubbing my arms to produce friction which also produces heat."
I rolled my eyes at him. He was exaggerating when he said it was so cold. Sure, it was cold, but it was bearable. It's November anyway. However, it was colder here in the house than out there because of a certain gloomy ghost.
"And whose fault is it that it's like this?" Jake threw me a very fake, sweet smile.
"Yeah, whose fault is it?" A voice behind me asked. I hastily turned around and saw that it was Josh wrapped in a thick blanket. He walked towards the sofa across the couch and fell face first.
"Why is it so cold?" He complained, his voice muffled.
"Blame Kylie/Blame climate change." Jake and I said in unison. I glared at him, and he simply grimaced at me.
Am I the only one here not really bothered by the cold?
"You guys know that we have this thing called heater, right?" I put a hand on my hip and raised an eyebrow at them.
Jake bent down to grab his own blanket, draped it over his shoulder and sat down on the couch. "Just so you know, father took all of the heaters to a mechanic because they were not working properly."
Right, because it's been a while since the heaters were used.
I sighed loudly and forced a smile. "So, what do you want me to do, brother?"
Jake smirked knowingly. "I want this gloomy and cold atmosphere gone."
Josh looked at Jake weirdly. "How is she supposed to do that?"
He turned to me. "Do you have some kind of superpower?"
I snorted unattractively. "I wish."
Josh averted his eyes from me to Jake. Jake shrugged at him and said, "Trust me. She can lessen the cold."
"And what makes you think that I will do it?" I raised an eyebrow at him and crossed my arms over my chest.
Jake scowled. "I'll buy you a box of pizza. With your favorite toppings."
I didn't budge. Jake gritted his teeth. "I'll buy you two."
I pursed my lips, pretending to consider but shook my head in decline. "Nah."
Jake narrowed his eyes at me, his lips turning downward. "Three boxes of pizza."
I grinned happily and skipped towards him. I slapped him on his shoulder. "Deal."
~~~
I was standing in front of the attic for about five minutes now.
Okay, why am I doing this again? Oh, yeah. For three boxes of pizza. With pepperoni, sausage, bacon, olive, onion and extra cheese.
My mouth watered as I imagined myself holding three boxes of pizza with those toppings. I was about to reach for the doorknob when...
I know this isn't the right time to be saying this, but I-I like you, Kris.
In an instant, my hands slapped to my face to cover it in shame.
Shit! Now that I think of it, my confession was so lame and embarrassing! How can I face him now?! Ugh! Never mind the three boxes of pizza! I won't do it!
I was about to walk away when I thought of something.
He didn't leave the attic for days. He's locking himself in there. If I don't do something, he'll probably get worse. I bit my bottom lip as I contemplated whether to face him or not. I faced the door with determination after I made the choice.
"Okay, let's do this." I gathered enough courage and slowly twisted the doorknob.
Kris' POV
I hung my head low, looking at the plain wooden floor, my legs stretched out in front of me. I felt my energy draining from me these past few days, and I couldn't do anything about it. I'm not planning to do anything about it.
What am I still doing here? Why am I still here? What was I supposed to do in this world? Why didn't I just die and rest in peace? All I did after death was make fun of people, playing with them as if they were toys, and now, almost killing someone.
I just want to disappear, to vanish from the face of the earth. I'm no good to anyone here. Meeting Kylie was the only good thing that happened after I became a ghost. And to think that she likes me, too. But I'll only hurt her. That's what I'm good at anyway. Hurting people.
What am I supposed to do here anyway? Did I wish for something before I died? Did I forget to say something important to someone? Was I murdered? Am I supposed to find out who it was? But Crystal said I committed suicide. I'm sure she wouldn't lie about something like that...Right?
Speaking of Crystal, I wonder if she's okay. Four days have already passed since that incident. I wanted to see if she's okay, but I might lose control again and do something worse. I can't deny that I'm worried about her. She was my friend. My only friend besides Mark. They were always there for me.
Of course, if I think about those two, their betrayal always pops up in my mind. I just can't get it! She could've told me that she liked Mark! She didn't have to do something behind my back. She could've told me in the face! I would've accepted it! No matter how much I liked her, I would've let her go! And she knows that!
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. After my outburst to Crystal, I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulder. And the thought of their betrayal didn't seem to affect me that much. It's like I just wanted answers as to why she-they did that.
I whipped my head to the door when I heard it creak open. Kylie slowly entered with a slightly awkward but determined face.
My eyes widened as I realized that she was approaching me. She shouldn't be near me!
I stood up and hastily walked backwards, creating more distance between us.
"You're still at it?" She asked exasperatedly. "Aren't you tired of avoiding us?"
I looked away from her irritated brown eyes. I heard her sigh loudly.
"Look, you have nothing to fear. You have no reason to! We're here for you, Kris. You shouldn't be afraid of yourself! In fact, you should believe in yourself more!"
I kept my eyes down, not daring to look up. I admit though, that her words warm my heart.
She was standing now in front of me. "You know very well that you don't want to hurt people. What you did was unintentional. Everyone knows that. You know that."
I forced my eyes to meet hers which are focused entirely on me. We stared at each other for like forever when she blinked, as if she remembered something. A blush then made its way to her cheeks.
She stepped back, noticing that we somehow got close to each other, then laughed awkwardly.
She cleared her throat and said jokingly. "I'll probably kick your ass if you try to do something bad to me, if that's what you're worried about."
I couldn't help the genuine smile that formed on my lips. She glanced at my face, and automatically, she smiled back.
"Well, isn't that a sight to see." She grinned, her eyes twinkling.
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that a compliment?"
She pursed her pinkish lips and shrugged, her eyes challenging me. I leaned down, leaving a few inches of space between our faces, and smirked. "Are you falling for me now?"
She unexpectedly didn't try to back away when I moved little closer. She just gazed at me with serious eyes. "Nah."
I almost frowned at her. I thought she likes me? Or did she have a change of heart? Did she realize that I'm not worth it?
"Because I've already fallen too deep that I can't get out no matter how hard I try." She then smirked at my stunned face before winking and getting out of the room. I was left there, dumbfounded, staring at the now closed door.
Fallen too deep, huh?
I released a shaky breath when I recovered from my shocked state. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. "She's really something."
Well, I think I'm about to follow her, even if she's "too deep".
Kylie's POV
I leaned on the door of the attic, smiling giddily. Well, there's no denying it now. I'm falling in love with a ghost. And that ghost just happens to be Kris Robertson.
I don't actually care if he doesn't feel the same towards me. I just don't want to deny my feelings anymore.
I descended the stairs, trying not to grin as I recalled Kris' astounded face. I snap out of my reverie when I heard someone singing with an off tune voice down the corridor.
I'll finally see a summer breeze blow away a winter storm~
And finds out what happens to solid water when it gets warm~
Then another voice joined in.
And I can't wait to see what my buddies all think of me~
Just imagine how much cooler I'll be
The voices sang together. "In summer~"
I later realized that it was Olaf's song about summer. When I was at the bottom of the stairs, I raised my eyebrow in amusement. It was Jake and Josh singing and skipping dramatically towards where I was.
"Oh, hey, little sister! Thanks for the full force heat! I didn't expect him to be this happy! What did you do? Did you kiss him?"
I threw him a flat look and looked at Josh whom I expected to have a clueless look. However, he seemed to know what Jake was talking about.
Jake followed my line of sight and understood what I was thinking. "I told CJ everything."
"What?!" I exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Well, if he's going to stay here for a while, I think he should know about Kris." Jake shrugged.
I turned to Josh. "And you're not scared? That, you know, Kris is..." I trailed off.
Josh smiled sweetly. "Nope. He saved me. You guys saved me, so why would I be scared of him?"
I smiled at what he said.
Heard that, Kris? He's not scared of you! We're not scared of you because we know the real you!
My eyebrows shot up when I remembered something. I stared at Jake intently. He noticed this and squirmed under my gaze. I narrowed my eyes at him. You can't escape from me, brother.
He simply sighed when he realized that I was not leaving him alone.
"Why did I even propose that deal? I should've gone to talk to Kris instead." He grumbled whilst taking some money from his wallet and readying his phone to call for pizza delivery.
Josh and I went to the living room to wait for Jake who was making a call. I was sitting comfortably on the sofa, Josh on the couch, when I felt someone breathing against my ear, causing goosebumps to appear on my arms and nape.
"Hey."
"Shit!!!" I cursed, jumping away from whoever that was behind me.
Turned out it was Kris. I glared at him, catching my breath.
I heard him laugh his ass out. I stared at him, not believing that he's actually laughing at the moment. I saw Josh looking at me weirdly, but then his mouth formed an 'O' when he realized something.
"Is he here?"
I answered him with a nod. Kris slowly stopped laughing, but a lopsided grin stayed on his face while staring at me with those mesmerizing grey eyes. My eyebrows furrowed unconsciously, my body not used to his attention. I snapped my head to the side, avoiding his eyes.
I'm happy that he's back to his normal self, but is this normal? The way he stared at me. The fuck was that?
"He must be very happy right now..?" Josh hesitatingly said.
I threw him a questioning look.
"It's like getting hotter by the second, but not that hot though. It's comforting actually." He nodded his head, satisfied at the warmth because of Kris.
It's either Kris is extremely happy to the point that he can change the temperature here or it's just us because this definitely didn't happen the days before he got depressed and all.
"Oh!" Jake uttered in surprise when he saw Kris. "Long time no see, bro!"
Kris finally stopped staring and looked at my brother with a smile. "Yeah."
"And you're blooming!" Jake commented, wriggling his eyebrows up and down while looking between me and Kris.
My face heated up when I saw that Kris looked at me with a look that made me squirm in my seat.
I'm starting to regret what I said back there in the attic. If I knew he's going to be like this, I shouldn't have made confession #2.
We were startled when the doorbell rang. We looked at Jake who was slightly frowning at the door. "That was fast."
He started walking towards the door when the evil in me was awakened. I suddenly grabbed his arm, causing him to stop walking.
"Be careful. I sense a very dangerous presence on the other side of that door." I looked him in the eyes to show him that I'm serious, which I'm not.
His eyes slightly widened, and he looked at Kris for confirmation. I saw Kris nod his head at Jake with a worried slash grim expression, perhaps to make Jake feel that it is a life-threatening situation once he opens the door. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, the Oscar goes to...dundundun...Kris effing Robertson!!!
Josh was scrutinizing me with suspicion. When Jake looked at him, he put on an innocent look.
"Hey, CJ. Come with me. Help me get the pizza." Jake was not looking good.
Josh glanced at me before wearing an apologetic look. "I believe I can't do that."
"Why not?" He asked, frustrated that there's no one willing to come with him to face what's on the other side.
"Because you're the one who ordered the pizza." I answered for Josh. Jake turned his head to me.
"Well, I ordered it for you, so I think you should get it." He shot back, raising an eyebrow, as if he's won.
"Nah, I think you should get it since you're a 'manly man', right?" Kris butted in.
Jake's ego was at stake, so he didn't have a choice. After having an internal conflict, he nodded to himself. "Right. I'm a manly man. And I think you guys are just bluffing."
He was in front of the door. I don't know what to expect, but I know Kris knows that I'm counting on him. Jake looked back at us with narrowed eyes.
He slowly opened the door then stiffened when the door was just a couple of inches open. He let out a small squeak and afterwards, screamed at the top of his lungs, running towards us at full speed.
I looked back at the door and saw the familiar black, hairy legs of my eight-legged enemy peeking at the small space at the door.
Fvck, no! It doesn't look like an average spider to me! It looks like a goddamn tarantula!
Before I could curse Kris in my mind, the spider hurriedly crawled inside. And there's two of them! Not just one, but two!
Jake hid behind me, trembling. I tried pulling him to the front, but he kept using me as his shield. Kris snickered at our reaction. I didn't bother to glance at him because I was focused on the two spiders making their way towards us. I'll deal with him later.
"Kill it! Kill it!" Jake demanded.
"What?! No!" I frowned, glancing at Jake in a split second.
Jake's eyes remained on the spiders. "Well, what do you wanna do then?!"
"Just get them out of here or–" I stopped when someone put a glass to trap one of the spider. My eyes landed on the face our savior. It was Josh.
He did it like it was nothing! He caught the other spider by doing the same then put a card underneath the glass. The three of us silently watched him in awe. Kris could actually just wave his hand and the spiders would just disappear, but I doubt he'd do that.
Josh effortlessly walked towards the front door with one of the spiders in hand. I guess he'll free it outside. When Josh got out, the three of us looked at each other simultaneously. I glared daggers at Kris, and he just raised his hands in surrender.
"You could've just summoned a cockroach!" I said in an angry tone.
"Now, where's the fun in that?" Kris smirked.
I rolled my eyes. "Jake's pretty much scared of anything."
"I'm not!" Jake exclaimed defensively.
I raised an eyebrow at him. I was about to say something when I heard voices outside the door. I slowly walked towards it, Jake and Kris following behind me and exchanging confused looks.
"Are you Christian Joshua Harris?" A formal feminine voice asked.
"Uh, yeah. Why?"
"You need to come with us." Oh, no. You ain't taking Josh with you! Who the hell is this person?!
"Who are you people?" I heard Josh asked, his voice slightly shaking.
I opened the door to see a lady dressed in a pencil skirt and a formal blouse with two men behind her.
She raised an eyebrow at me and Jake who's behind me. "Are you guys his relative?"
"Uh, no."
"His friends perhaps?"
I glanced at Josh who had his head slightly bowed before nodding at the woman.
"We came here to get Christian Joshua Harris. He's a minor with no parents, so he shall be taken under foster care." The woman said formally and straightforwardly. She even showed us her ID.
I felt Jake stiffened behind me as my eyes widened. They're going to take Josh to the foster care!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note:
I'm so sorry for the very late update! I was enjoying the last few weeks of my vacation because school will start next week. I'm not ready!!! Also, I don't know if I can update once school starts because I'll be busy and will be focusing on my studies.
Oh, and I'm sorry for the cliffhanger once again! I'll try my best to update once I have time to write.
Anyway, thanks for reading this far, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote and comment! And please excuse my grammatical errors since I didn't proofread this chapter.
Bye! I shall return!!!