"Okay, wait," Lauren said through giggles, propping her head up with her arm to look at the ghost lying beside her. "You actually ran across town naked?"
Camila grinned sheepishly, blushing as she shrugged. "It was a dare! How could I not?"
"Here's a thought: say no."
"But... It was a dare , Lauren," Camila said again, pouting. The young brunette chuckled, rolling her eyes. It was the next day, and Lauren had once again come by to visit the ghost before she went to school. They were lying side by side on the mattress, Camila hovering next to the young brunette as they took turns telling random goofy stories and anecdotes they had gone through before. Lauren's ankle was equipped with a walking cast, her mother having brought her to the doctor the night before once the two had calmed down. He had stated it was a simple sprain, but since Lauren had put a little too much strain on it, most likely when she had run away after injuring it, he had said it had been worsened enough to be a concern. Lauren hadn't really wanted a cast at all, but she was glad it was one she could at least walk in without crutches.
"Stop snickering," Camila reprimanded playfully, her ghostly hand moving out to swat at Lauren's arm. It phased right through, and the young brunette involuntarily shivered, grin never faltering. "It's your turn to share a story."
"Okay, okay," Lauren said, sticking tongue in her cheek to hold back her smile. "Um, let's see... Well, when I was four, my dad took me to my uncle's farm, and he had a really big golden retriever. His name was Toby, and like most dogs do, he started barking and jumping all over me. Since I was so little at the time he knocked me over in his commotion, and I got really freaked out because it was my first time seeing a dog in real life. My dad was able to get the dog off me, but ever since then I've been afraid of big dogs," Lauren finished her story with a sheepish grin.
"That's kind of adorable," Camila chuckled. "You know you're big enough now that dogs won't be able to knock you over, right? Though maybe you're not that much bigger," she said teasingly.
"Shut up!" Lauren laughed incredulously at the short joke, rolling her eyes. "I can't always be a super bad ass."
"You realize you were cowering in fear the first time I saw you right? I think you lost your bad ass title that day."
"You're never gonna let me forget that, are you?"
Camila giggled, sticking her tongue out. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm afraid of the dark."
Lauren sobered slightly at this, raising an eyebrow. "Doesn't it get dark out here every night?"
The ghost averted her eyes. "Well, yeah, but I've gotten used to it. It doesn't freak me out as much as it used to anymore."
Lauren stared at Camila's bowed head thoughtfully. "I'll find a way to get you out of here eventually," she promised.
"Lauren..."
"As much as I love spending time with you, you don't deserve to be stuck in this disgusting shed. You're too nice a person for that," the teenager spoke, and Camila chanced a glance up at Lauren, heart warming at seeing the pure concern on the young brunette's face. She barely registered how close their faces had become as her eyes locked with Lauren's, the inensity of her gaze taking Camila's breath away. She absentmindedly began to admire Lauren's eyes, getting lost in the varying shades of green. Lauren's eyes were really pretty, she mused silently. Heck, Lauren was really pretty.
"You have pretty eyes," she whispered to the younger brunette, watching Lauren blush and duck her head bashfully.
"Um, thanks. They're nothing really amazing or anything though. I mean, your eyes are like so bright brown and breathtaking," she said, her voice low as she looked back up to stare into Camila's bright glowing orbs. "They're really beautiful."
A slow smile grew on the ghost's face. "Beautiful?"
Lauren nodded, a shy smile making it's way onto her mouth. That smile that Camila loved to see. "Beautiful," she whispered back. Camila felt as if she had melted into a puddle of goo, realizing Lauren was no longer simply talking about her eyes. She once again yearned to touch the sweet green eyed brunette in front of her, wishing she could just pull the girl into her arms, feel her body pressed against hers, feel her warm breath on her neck, but she knew she couldn't. She was a ghost. A ghost who still hadn't managed to master focusing herself into the real world.
Their intimate moment was interrupted by the sound of the school bell, and Lauren pouted, breaking their intense eye contact as she rolled onto her back.
"I don't wanna go to school," she whined, exhaling loudly.
Camila chuckled. "Poor baby," she said teasingly. "Though you realize if you're late it'll be twice as torturous, with all the teachers on your tail for being on time."
"Yeah, I suppose," she sighed, slowly easing herself to her feet with a groan, as if getting up were a difficult struggle. Camila laughed at this, floating up.
"You're so lazy, you know?"
"I know," Lauren grinned, moving towards the window. "Ugh, school should be illegal," she complained, leaning against the window sill.
"Aww, you'll be fine," Camila teased, moving next to Lauren to peer outside. "You sit there and pretend to learn for a few hours. At you'll get to see all your friends; that used to be my favourite part of school."
Lauren hummed noncommittedly, pursing her lips. Camila peered over at the young brunette at this, eyebrows arching as questions about Lauren's social life began to surface again.
"Lauren?" she chanced.
"Hmm?"
"How many friends do you have exactly?"
Lauren glanced over at the redhead, raising a brow. "Um, why?"
Camila shrugged nonchalantly. "I never hear you talk about any of them. I was curious."
"Oh, we'll you know," Lauren let out a breath. "A few." At Camila's questioning look, Lauren looked down, playing with her sleeves. "Um, a couple actually. You, and maybe Austin," she admitted.
"What?" Camila asked disbelievingly. Lauren was so fun and nice, she could hardly understand why no one would want to talk to her.
Lauren shrugged, giving a tight lipped grin. "The social ladder's a bitch. I was never that high up, but once I came out as gay I basically dropped to the bottom of the food chain. It doesn't really matter though."
"Well, if it helps I think they're all idiots if they can't see how awesome you are," Camila said, offering a kind smile. "If I had been alive while you were in high school, we totally would have been fast friends." She was rewarded with a small smile from Lauren.
"You're amazing, you know that?" the teenager chuckled. "There should be more people like you in the world."
"Stop," Camila said, unable to hold back her cheesy smile, "you're gonna make me blush."
"Can ghosts even blush?"
Camila laughed incredulously. "Shut it, you. You're supposed to be going to school, remember?"
"Yeah, I suppose," Lauren chuckled, hoisting herself up onto the ledge.
"See you later Lolo!" Camila chirped, and the green eyed brunette only gave her a playful pout before leaping out.
------
School, as Lauren had predicted, was boring and tiring. The day had been uneventful for the most part, but when she had gone to hand in her English assignment, she realized with annoyance and anger that one of the jocks had stolen it, and with no evidence she had been forced to stay after school to finish her due assignment. Even though it didn't take long, considering she could remember the gist of her paper, she was still quite frustrated to be in detention in the first place, and she was quite happy when she finished the assignment,nsauntering out the school's back exit with a sigh of relief. Unsurprisingly, the grounds were already barren, and she began making her way across the football field, trekking through the familiar trees as she made her routine trip to the abandoned tool shed. She had had to run home for lunch since she had forgotten it that morning, and she was excited to see Camila again, even though it had only been a few hours since she'd seen her last.
However, as she approached the old building, her eyes caught sight of Austin on his front porch across the street, focused on a handheld videogame. Lauren slowed to a stop, glancing at the shed once again with a thoughtful look. Turning her attention back to the brunette boy, Lauren hesitated before making her way across the street. She remembered Austin talking about his interest in ghosts, and considering the fact that Camila had already said she wanted to meet him, she decided see if he wanted to visit Camila with her.
"Hey stranger," Austin called out as he spotted Lauren approaching. The girl gave a shy wave, stopping at the base of his porch.
"Hey, how's it going?" she asked, watching him put his gaming system away.
"Good. Lauren, right? How'd you know I lived here?"
Lauren gave a sheepish grin at this, mentally slapping herself as she realized how creepy this could be considered. "Well you know, my school is right... Over there and I saw, I mean. I'm sorry, is this weird?"
Austin chuckled, shaking his head. "Hey, it's fine. I've seen you a few times around here too as a matter of fact, climbing into the window of that old shed. How come you don't just use the door?"
"Honestly I'd prefer the door, but it's bolted shut," Lauren said with a shrug.
Austin nodded. "Ah, okay. What's in there exactly?"
"Well, actually I wanted to show you," she said hesitantly, gesturing toward the old shed. "Wanna come see? I think you'll like it."
"You're not just leading me out into the forest to kill me, are you?" he asked jokingly, standing and hopping off his porch.
Lauren grinned playfully. "Of course not, I'm more of an alleyway kind of girl anyway."
Auatin laughed. "Okay I guess I'll come see. Is it haunted or something?" he asked teasingly, remembering her interest in ghosts.
Lauren gave a cryptic grin. "You'll see," she said, beginning to lead him across the street. He noticed her slight limp, and his eyes fell to her ankle.
"Hey, what happened to you?" he asked, pointing to her cast when she looked at him questioningly.
"Oh, that. Long story short, I jumped out of a tree from too high up," Lauren explained.
"Is it very serious? Did you fracture it?" Austin asked concernedly. He assumed it wasn't broken considering she could walk on it, But he also knew a sprain usually didn't require a cast.
"Mm, it's just a sprain, but I kinda ran on it right after it happened, so it got a bit worse," she said simply, averting her eyes. Austin, sensing he was beginning to hit dangerous territory, nodded meekly, accepting her answer and deciding not to push it further.
As the two teenagers approached the shed, Austin slowed his steps to analyze the mysterious building warily. Lauren cast him a reassuring grin, not hesitating in the slightest as she strode up to the window and hoisted herself up, slipping into the building with practiced ease. Austin hesitated before following the suit, grabbing her offered hand to pull himself in. He stumbled slightly as he landed on the uneven mattress, but with the green eyed girl's help he was able to gather his footing. Once steady, he looked around his new surroundings, instantly noticing all the garbage.
"Uh, you wanted to show me all this junk?" Austin asked, scrunching his nose in both confusion and disgust at the smell. "You don't live here, do you?" he said half-jokingly.
Lauren chuckled, shaking her head. "No, I don't live in here."
Austin, hearing the emphasis in her sentence, raised his eyebrow, glancing around warily. "Then who-"
"Hey!" Camila greeted, flying down from the rafters. Austin let out a rather girly shriek, clinging to Lauren as the ghost came into view. Lauren gave Camila smirk, raising an eyebrow as Camila gave an apologetic grin. Austin, taking in Camila's glowing, floating form, allowed his jaw to drop as he registered what was in front of him.
"Whoa, you're a ghost," Austin stated breathily, staring at Camila in awe.
"I am," Camila giggled, nodding in agreement.
"Austin, this is Camila," Lauren said, giving him a slightly annoyed look as she gently pushed him off her person. "She won't hurt you, I swear. She can just be a bit eccentric at times."
"Sorry," Camila said sheepishly, backing up slightly.
"This is what I wanted to show you," Lauren continued, grinning at his slack-jawed expression. "Since you're so into the paranormal, I thought you might like it if I introduced you to my best friend," she explained, not seeing the way Camila's face completely lit up at the term. Austin continued to stare at Camila, completely at a loss for words, and Lauren chuckled, waving a hand in front of the boy's face. "Hey Austin, you still here?"
"Is he okay?" Camila asked, raising a brow.
Lauren snapped her fingers in front of his face a few times, still getting no response. "Great, you broke him," she said. Camila was about to retort when Austin seemed to snap out of his reverie, opening and closing his mouth a few times as he tried to form a sentence.
"Wow..." Austin finally spoke, "your best friend is a ghost? Wow. This is... Wow. Now I understand why you were researching ghosts the other day," the boy said, still staring at Camila in curiosity. "This is just... so amazing."
Laurem nodded, a small grin on her face as she locked eyes with Camila. "Yup, she sure is."
Camila laughed at this, biting her lip. "You're such a cheese ball," she said, scrunching up her nose.
Lauren narrowed her eyes playfully. "Don't make that face, you love my cheesiness."
Austin, who was still staring in bafflement at Camila, slowly grinned as excitement began to enter his mind. "Wow, I can't believe I'm talking to a ghost right now."
Camila grinned. "Well believe it, because I'm about as ghost as you can get," she said, gesturing to herself with her hands. "Sorry I scared you by the way, I'm kinda bad for that."
"No, it's okay," Austin said, shaking his head quickly. "I'm fine. You didn't scare me too badly."
"Yeah, you seemed to handle it pretty well," Camila said, her eyes flickering to Lauren teasingly. "Much better than Laurem anyway. First time she saw me, she was-"
"Ooookay," Lauren interrupted. "Do we seriously need to bring that up again?" Camila snickered at this response, pressing her lips together.
"Sorry," she muttered again, though she looked far from. Lauren just shook her head. Her attention shifted as she felt the boy next to her almost shaking in excitement, and she grinned, turning her head to look at him.
"So, you get to cross 'make friends with a ghost' off your bucket list. Is this awesome or what?" Lauren asked Austin, gently bumping him with her elbow.
Austin nodded enthusiastically, a wide grin on his face. "Uh huh. So awesome. Thanks for bringing me here, Lauren," he said, pulling the girl next to him into a quick hug. She squeaked in surprise, awkwardly patting him on his shoulder once the shock wore off. She heard the ghost snicker at this, and Lauren rolled her eyes as a grin forced it's way onto her face. When Austin let go, he turned his attention back to the ghost, practically bubbling in excitement, much to the two girls' amusement. "Camila, um, can I ask you some questions? I've always wanted to meet a ghost, and I have so much I wanna know."
Camila nodded. "Oh sure! Let's Rumba," she said, winking at Lauren. Lauren chuckled, moving to sit down on the mattress with Camila and Austin following the suit. For the rest of the afternoon, the three misfits talked, joked and laughed, simply enjoying each other's company. Austin had to leave after a little while to his library job, and after promising to visit again Camila and Lauren bade him a cheerful goodbye as he reluctantly slipped out the window. Lauren, not having anywhere to be, stayed with Camila for a bit longer, the two easily getting lost in conversation again. It wasn't until the sun disappeared over the horizon that they took notice of the time.
"Oh, crap," Lauren said, checking the time on her phone. "I should probably be heading home."
"Okay," Camila said with a pout, which quickly morphed into a sweet smile as Lauren gave her an apologetic grin. "Well, thanks for bringing Austin by. He was really nice."
"What about me? I wasn't fun to hang out with?" Lauren asked jokingly, jutting out her lower lip.
Camila giggled. "Don't worry, your still my favourite."
Lauren smiled, reaching her hand into her bag "Good, because your favourite person decided to bring you something." she said, and Camila felt completely touched as Lauren once again displayed her sweet side, pulling a small Pokemon night light out of her bag. "It's my old night light, from when I was younger," Lauren explained. "I know it's not much, but I figured it might help a little bit. I hope this plug-in still works," she said, standing and making her way over to the nearby outlet on the wall. She wedged it in, and it instantly flickered on with a bright green glow. Camila couldn't help but widen her smile as it illuminated the whole area, instantly feeling relief from the looming darkness.
"It's perfect! Much less scarier in here now. Thank you so much Lo," Camila gushed, floating up to Lauren excitedly.
"You're welcome," Laurensaid, happy to see Camila so ecstatic over such a small gesture. "Now you don't have to be afraid anymore."
"I guess that makes you my knight in shining armor then," Camila said half-teasingly.
"I dunno, that's setting the bar a little high," Lauren retorted. "Next thing I know you'll be expecting me to come in on a horse so we can ride off into the sunset."
"I don't think a horse would fit through the window, but I like the idea," Camila said with a wink. Lauren only chuckled, shaking her head.
"You are something else, Camz."
"I try," Camila said with a nod, grinning. Lauren returned it with a lopsided smile.
"Well, as much fun as this has been, I really need to go. I told my mom I'd be home like half an hour ago," the young brunette said, reluctantly moving away from the ghost as she slung her bag over her shoulder.
"Okay, see you tomorrow?" Camila asked hopefully, floating behind Lauren as the young brunette made her way to the window.
"You know it," Lauren responded, leaping up into the window sill. "Goodnight Camz."
"Goodnight, my good knight!" Camila said in a terrible British accent, giving a mock curtsey. Lauren rolled her eyes in response, shaking her head at the ghost's goofiness. The young brunette playfully blew a kiss at Camila, and the ghost's familiar giggles echoed through the shed as Lauren slid down to the ground below, a wide dopey smile plastered on her own face.