Previously in chapter 10...
"Let's wait for David to wake up. In the meantime, tell me more about Jasper."
"Okay!"
***
Max was sleeping soundly with his bear, the crib was much warmer than usual. Usually, the crib would be too cold to sleep in that he would walk to the counselor's cabin and ask if he could sleep with Gwen. If nobody answers the door, he'd go to the Mess Hall's kitchen because it felt much more better to sleep indoors when it was cold outside. But this time he had a nice thick blanket wrapped around him.
Wait, blanket? Max sat upwards and pushed the blanket away, just to realize where he was. He now remembered, he got lost in the woods and followed Jasper into a mansion. Speaking of Jasper, where was he?
"Jasper?" He yelled, pulling the blankets up to his nose. No response, "Jasper?" He yelled again. Still no response. Max then wondered, what if Jasper was all in his head and he didn't really exist? What if Jasper was made of the fear that engulfed him last night? What if he was going crazy? He shook his head and grabbed Mr. Honeynuts and jumped off the large bed, "Sure is dark in here..." he mumbled, walking up to the window to look into it.
Max pushed aside the curtains just to reveal nothing but white fog outside, "Oh, that must've been why there was no light..." he mumbled, touching the cold window. Maybe it's too cold to be outside at the moment he thought, walking out of the room, grabbing his teddy bear on his way. Max was going to search for Jasper. He knew that yelling out Jasper's name again would be a bit hazardous since he still didn't know if the mansion was completely empty. If Jasper, a ghost, would know that mansion, maybe other ghosts and spirits are still lingering around. He thought again, doing his best not to make any noise while walking in the hallways. He never realized how dark and eerie the place looked, he didn't care the night before since he was too tired to. Now he just wanted to find a light switch.
He checked roughly every room in the mansion, finally giving up after finding ten similar-looking rooms in a row. Max knew that he wouldn't be finding Jasper anywhere upstairs, so he went downstairs. After he checked downstairs, he was left disappointed that no ghost was found. Now he just questioned his sanity, but he was not going to give up yet, Jasper had to be real. How else would he be able to find a large mansion in an island? Big coincidence?
His last destination was the bunker. So, he made his way to the main door, kicking the door open just to be hit by the too cool breeze outside. He now wasn't able to feel his face anymore. Max couldn't see anything because of the fog, so he basically circulated the mansion until he found a large rusted trapdoor on the ground. He opened it and saw Jasper browsing in the vast array of canned foods and wine.
"Jasper? What're you doing?" He said walking down the steps to reach his ghostly friend. Jasper tensed up and turned around, "Oh, you're awake! I don't realize you were such an early bird," he chuckled, smiling broadly, "I wanted to make you breakfast as a surprise, but now you're awake and I haven't even picked what meat you liked. Are you vegetarian?" He asked afterwards, "No, I'm not." Max replied, walking over to the shelves filled with canned goods. Jasper smiled even more, "Great! Now pick a meat." Max somehow felt like what Jasper was saying was wrong and awkward, but he chose a type of meat anyways, "Um... Chicken?" A can of chicken noodle soup fell onto his head and landed on the ground, rolling towards his feet and stopping once it touched his shoes. Jasper immediately apologized afterwards over and over, even after hearing Max repeatedly forgiving him.
The young boy bent down and picked up the can of soup, opening it easily since it didn't need a can opener to open. Then, he started drinking directly from the can. The rich flavor of chicken and soup trickled down his throat, satisfying his hunger for now. The noodles came last as he chewed it slowly, it was cold but he admitted that it tasted much better than the mashed potatoes he receives at camp.
As the can separated his lips, he wiped his mouth with his sleeves, leaving a slightly wet stain. Jasper looked at him eagerly, Max reminded him of his friend Davey: reckless but also nice at times. But Jasper didn't know if Max also had a short temper or was rude at such times. He sighed, not everybody's the same, "So... how's the soup? You didn't give me time to even ask you if you wanted it warm. I would've given you a bowl for the least, but I can't blame you for being hungry. You didn't have dinner last night, I forgot you guys needed to eat." He chuckled nervously. Max turned to him, embarrassed, "I'm so so sorry, I didn't realize you were here!" He apologized, he felt like he had to make it up to him.
"Since I've finished eating, how about a board game?" Max suggested, an awkward smile growing on his lips. Jasper beamed, it had been too long since he had played board games with anybody, let alone talk. Usually, when he felt really lonely, he'd try to start a conversation with one of the small animals on the island, but they always run away after seeing him. Jasper nodded enthusiastically and took some pogs from the shelves. Max looked at the circular items confusingly, how long had Jasper been dead?
"I don't think I'm familiar with this game..." he said, looking up to face Jasper. His eyes widened, "You guys don't play pogs?" He asked putting the items away, Max shook his head slowly, "I'm not sure, I only have two board games at home; Monopoly and Snakes n' ladders." Max informed, embarrassed at the fact that he only knew how to play two board games. He noticed that his friend Jasper now had a large smile on his face, "Come with me." He said, grabbing Max's wrist, almost making him drop his teddy bear.
The two boys reached the island's dock. Max tilted his head in confusion and turned to Jasper for an answer, "Jasper, why are we at the docks?" He asked, climbing onto the boat with Jasper, putting Mr. Honeynuts next to him, "Just follow my lead." Said the ghost calmly, "But I thought you weren't allowed to go too far from this island." Max said, looking at Jasper for an answer once again, "Oh, this place isn't too far, just follow my directions." He replied calmly. Max just shrugged and started rowing, "Okay Cap'n, lead the way!" He exclaimed, following Jasper's direction.
The small boat came to a stop somewhere near the camp, but not too far from spooky island, "Now, you just head straight and take a right when you see a rosebush, you'll find yourself in front of an old treehouse. Go inside and grab the pair of light up shoes and rummage through the shelves until you find a box labeled 'monopoly'" he informed, hoping that Max listened because he knew that a kid like Max wouldn't end up in such a location on purpose.
The raven haired boy nodded before running off into the woods, now all Jasper needed to do was wait. But it wasn't easy, it had been such a long time since he'd seen his half burnt shoe from when he was still alive and running with Davey. Jasper chucked quietly at the memory of him and Davey fighting, causing the newly bought pair of shoes to fall into the fireplace that he made to inform Davey the fun of camping. Jasper chuckled even more at the fact that he had to quickly get water before his shoe burns to a crisp. Heck, he even took a stick to poke the shoe to push it out of the fire. Jasper shook his head slowly, still smiling. It felt as if yesterday he was just running around with Davey and the next: nothing. After the incident, the shoe was unusable due to the fact that most of the shoe looked like it was about to turn to dust.
But then, there was his death. He wondered where David is now and if he still remembered Jasper. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of distant footsteps. Max was back with a dusty box and a pair of half burnt LA gear light up shoes, "Got the monopoly, but what are the shoes for?" He asked, putting the items down on the ground in front of Jasper and sitting down afterwards. The ghost's eyes lit up from the sight of the shoes, it looked more different than he remembered. It looked very dirty too, not to mention the small cobwebs that were inside the shoe. Jasper picked it up and sat down. Then, without warning, he started hugging it tightly, a smile spreading onto his face.
"Jasper, Are you okay? Why are you crying?" Max asked, scooting over to Jasper's side, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. The ghost opened his eyes in surprise and wiped the tears, he didn't even realize that he was crying. Do ghosts even cry? "I'm fine, I'm just a bit overwhelmed. This just brings back so many memories of Davey and I." He sighed, "Davey?" Jasper nodded, "Yeah Davey, I used to go to camp with him." Max widened his eyes, "Camp Campbell?"
"Yeah Camp Cam- wait..., how do you know?" Was he correct? Did Max go to Camp Campbell as well? "Does Davey have a mean personality, always wears a Jacket, AND have red hair?" Max exclaimed, "YES! OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU KNOW HIM AS WELL!" Jasper yelled, pointing at Max while Max pointed at him. Both young boys started yelling and tried to hug each other, forgetting the fact that one of them was a ghost. Max dived in for a hug but fell on the ground afterwards. He winced and turned to Jasper, laughing. Jasper looked back at Max and laughed with him. For once, Max and Jasper didn't feel lonely.
Moments later, the laughter died down and both boys have decided to start playing the monopoly board game Max had brought. He stood up and took his teddy bear and plopped it next to him. Jasper pulled the board game towards him. It was pretty dusty and worn out, but other than that, the small playthings inside were still in good shape. After arranging the items, Jasper looked at Max eagerly, "I'm pretty good at this game, you should know that I beat Davey a lot of times in the past so get ready, because I'm not going to go easy on you." He threatened jokingly. Max smirked at returned the same expression back to Jasper, "Oh you're on."
After multiple rounds of winning and losing, both ended up with a tie against each other, "You're pretty good Max, that was really fun and challenging." Jasper laughed, tidying up and putting the items back in the box. He stopped for a moment at looked at Max, "Hey Max." He said, gaining Max's attention, "Hm?" He hummed. The ghost turned around and took the half burnt pair of LA gear light up shoes and gave it to Max, "Here, I want you to have this." He said, Max looked back at Jasper dumbfounded, "I thought this is your prized possession..." he said quietly, Jasper nodded slowly and looked at him sadly, "Max, I'm a ghost. I'm not supposed to be here, let alone talk to you. My time on the world will end soon, and nobody will be taking care of this, so...." Jasper dropped the shoes on Max's lap, "I want you to take care of it." He smiled as Max picked it up and nodded nonstop.
Jasper looked up and saw how the sun was now making room for the moon, "You should go back to camp, David will probably be looking for you." Jasper sighed. Max shook his head sadly, "He won't, but... same thing tomorrow?" He smiled, holing his hand out for the ghost to shake, "Same time tomorrow." The ghost replied, shaking the hand. When they were done, Max took his bear and the pair of shoes, and rowed away back to camp.
When he arrived, he put the items back in his tent and walked into the mess hall, nobody bothering to turn around whatsoever, not even David. But Gwen ran straight up to him and gave him a big hug, "Max! Where have you been?" She exclaimed, picking him up from the ground, "I stayed in my tent." Max lied, looking away from Gwen, "For two days? Max, you know better than to be doing that!" She scolded, "Sorry Gwen." The young boy replied emotionlessly before getting dropped to the ground carelessly.
From that day on, Max would secretly row back to spooky island just to talk with Jasper—which was easy since nobody ever payed attention to him. Jasper would also give him paint buckets and wood to rebuild the old treehouse.
***
"So that's how I inherited the treehouse and got the light up shoes," Max said proudly as Nikki listened intently, "but can you keep a secret? I need to tell you something..." He mumbled, "Won't tell a soul." Nikki said, imitating the action of zipping her mouth closed, "I'm... selfish." Max said shamefully, "What?" His friend tilting their head, "Why do you think that?" Max hesitated for a moment before talking, "I lied to Jasper, I broke our promise and lied to him because I was scared, scared about him leaving me..." he said quietly, tears gathering up in his eyes, "The last time I saw him, he told me about how he wanted David to know that he forgave him so maybe his body could die in peace," Max sniffed and continued, "so he sent me to tell David about it before I left him on the last day of camp. When I promised, I crossed my fingers behind my back and lied to him about our promise." Tears fell on the blanket below him as he talked, "Because I knew that if a ghost fulfills their last responsibility on the earth, they'll be gone and will never be seen again..." he sobbed, hastily wiping the tears that seemed to be never ending.
"So I thought 'Maybe if I don't fulfill his last responsibility, I won't be alone next summer.'" Nikki looked around and awkwardly patted Max's back while he cried, she was never good at comforting people, let alone herself. Heck, maybe she'd be as bad as David when comforting people, "How about we go to that one island with Jasper on it and meet him there. Then, when we see him already, we go back to David and tell him about Jasper. Sound like a good plan?" She suggested, looking at the young boy's bright green eyes as he wiped the tears gathering in it. He nodded slowly and hugged her afterwards, "Thanks Nikki, you're the best." He said, getting hugged back by the young girl, "No problem."
Moments afterwards, they both laid down, resting their heads on David's legs, both talking about the things they have in common. Not long after, they dozed off to slumber, not aware with the fact that they were being eavesdropped by Neil and his friends. Neil now had important information he could use against Max. His plan was coming together, his plan to finally see through the optimistic boy and see what secrets lied behind that smile.
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I now have a plot for this shitty fanfiction. Hold on, because I'm going to do a lil somethin' in the future chapters. Oh and you gotta get used to Neil and his friends eavesdropping because that's the only way he's gonna gain info😔👊. I also want to say that the one special chapter I planned will be delayed instead of this one since it had too much in it and it will cause the delay of the other chapters, so that's why this chapter is here instead of that other one. Anyways, see you in the Next chapters!
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