“So how’d you meet Milner?” I asked. She’d looked really happy when she’d been talking about him earlier. Hopefully talking about him now would calm her down. And maybe I could still get some information about Karen or her friends in the process.
“Oh, Eric was amazing!” she said, instantly happy again. It’s true I didn’t actually know him, but “amazing” seemed like a pretty strong word to use. To be honest, he seemed pretty average to me. But I was going to do my best to keep her happy.
“You talk to him a lot?”
“All the time. He was in my English class. And math. And we ate lunch together too. There were other people in our group, but I always sat next to him.”
“You really liked him, didn’t you?”
“Of course! Who wouldn’t? I think he’s the most handsome guy I’ve ever seen. And probably the smartest too.” she seemed to look through me for a second, as if she were remembering the best days of her life – which, she probably was.
I was glad for the silence; it was nice to have a few minutes where she wasn’t gushing about how great Milner was. Not only was it nauseating, it was starting to hurt my feelings. I could only sit and listen to how great some other guys was for so long before I started wondering what was wrong with me. I mean, I knew I wasn’t the best looking guy around, but I wasn’t ugly or anything. And I was willing to bet I was just as smart as Milner.
“Are you even listening?” Samantha cut into my thoughts.
“What?” I asked, focusing back on her.
“I said, you know Eric, right?”
“I’ve seen him around. But I don’t really know him.”
“Good.” she said, clearly ignoring the second part of what I’d said. “Could you talk to him for me? Tell him I said hi?”
“Tell him what? That the ghost of his dead girlfriend wants to check in on him? You think he’ll believe that?” She paused a moment, considering. I could clearly see she didn’t think it was all that weird. Before she could say anything, I quickly added, “What would you think if someone told you that?”
“I’d think it was very nice of them to check up on me like that.”
I rolled my eyes. I was sure that was exactly what any normal person would think. Who was she kidding?
“Could you just see?” she asked. “I just really want to say hi to him. Please?”
I didn’t want to; I didn’t actually know Milner, and I really didn’t want my first conversation with him to be an explanation about how I was friends with his dead girlfriend. How could I really explain that? Even in the best scenario, he’d think I was crazy. I was about to tell her that no, sorry, I couldn’t do it. But the look on her face was so sad, so pathetic, that I just couldn’t bring myself to say it.
“I guess I can try… but no promises.” I added quickly. Her excitement only made me feel the tiniest bit better about the situation. I told myself that if I did this, maybe she would help me make a good impression on Karen, but I tried not to get my hopes up.
Chapter 10
I didn’t actually approach Eric Milner until close to the end of the following week. I’d seen him every day, but somehow I just couldn’t bring myself to go over to him and tell him that Samantha said hi. Even before Samantha asked me to say hi to him, I’d been meaning to talk to Milner about joining the basketball team, but I hadn’t gotten around to it just yet. I’d started to go up to him several times in the past few weeks, but I’d always had some reason to put it off. I hadn’t seen him alone, for starters, and I really didn’t want there to be a crowd around when I asked him about the team. And after Samantha had mentioned him, somehow my desire to talk to him had faded even more; how could I talk to him and not even try to bring her up?
Eventually, I decided to give it a shot. She’d be glad to know I said hi for her, and I could use my interest in the basketball team as an excuse to start a conversation with him. I saw him after class, and for once he didn’t have anybody around him. I really was about to go over to him when he saw me staring in his direction. He nodded a greeting to me before heading my way.
“You’re James Caffery, aren’t you?” he asked, smiling. I nodded, surprised that he knew my name. “I’m Eric.” he told me. As if I didn’t know.
“You’re on the basketball team – captain, aren’t you?” I asked awkwardly.
“I am.” He smiled. “Have you seen us play yet?”
“Yeah. You guys are pretty good. Actually, I was thinking about trying out.”
“That’d be great. We can always use a few more players.” His smile looked like he meant it, and I found myself smiling back. This guy was alright. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t talked to him sooner. “Have you played on a team before?”
“Yeah, at my old high school. I was on the team every year there.”
“Well, tryouts are starting next week. I’ll look forward to seeing you there.”
He turned to leave. I actually let him take a few steps away before I called out to him.
“Uh, hold on a sec.” I said, kicking myself. How could I have almost forgotten about Samantha?
“What’s up?” he asked, turning back towards me.
“Can I ask you something?” I hesitated. It was a delicate subject, and I didn’t really know the guy. If he didn’t believe in ghosts, this was going to either be really short or really awkward.
“Sure. Shoot.”
“Do you remember a girl named Samantha Corben?”
Suddenly, all of his good-naturedness dried up. His eyes got dark and his face clouded over. For a second, I thought he was going to hit me. Then, he leveled his icy gaze at me.
“No. I don’t.” And with that, he turned on his heel and walked away.
……
I sat there in each of my classes for the rest of the day, replaying what had happened with Milner over and over in my mind. Of course he knew Samantha – why else would he have reacted like that? But what could have happened that would make him so upset?
When I got home I went straight up to my room. I lit the lamp and waited impatiently as the patterns of blue and black swirled around me.
“I talked to Eric today.” I snapped when Samantha finally showed up. It had only been a few seconds, but it had seemed like it had taken a lot longer than usual. Samantha apparently didn’t notice how annoyed I was; she grinned at me and looked like she would have hugged me if she’d been alive to do it.
“Oh good.” She actually clapped her hands together as she said it. “How is he? How much did he miss me?” She almost managed to look sad as she asked, “Was it a lot? Is he pining away?”
I stared at her for a full minute, unable to comprehend what I was hearing.
“Uh…no.” was all I could think to say. Actually, missing Samantha was probably the last thing on Eric’s mind. I tried to figure out what a nice way to say “it seems like he hates your guts” would be, but couldn’t. Samantha’s face fell for an instant. But just as quickly, her smile bounced right back into place.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s just hiding it.” she said with confidence. “He’s so brave, isn’t he? Soldiering on like that!” She tilted her head and got a faraway look on her face. I tried turn my head a little so she wouldn’t see me roll my eyes.
“Actually, it didn’t really seem that way.” I said it in the tone that my mom used to say was mean and belittling before she grounded me, but Samantha didn’t seem to notice. So I tried again. “It was pretty clear to me that he doesn’t like you. Now, why would that be?”
I watched carefully for her reaction, but Samantha was giving nothing away. She looked up at me with what seemed to be genuine hurt and shock.
“That’s ridiculous!” she looked insulted that I could even ask such a question. “You probably just misinterpreted it. I bet you said something that made him mad, and then decided it must be my fault he was so upset. He really liked me! You don’t know anything about us.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at me in a way that
made me really uncomfortable. The blue light seemed to get a little darker and swirl a little faster, and I started to feel dizzy. I held my hands up, deciding to give in before I threw up.
“Alright, alright. You know him – or knew him, I guess – better than I do. Maybe I just brought it up too suddenly.”
“Or he just misses me too much to talk to you about it when he doesn’t even know you.” She was still snapping at me, but at least she seemed to be calming down. She unfolded her arms, and the weird, uneasy feeling I’d had started to vanish. She turned away for a moment, and when she looked back at me, she was completely calm again. It was hard to believe it was the same girl who’d been so upset just a few minutes earlier.
“Look,” she told me. “Maybe you shouldn’t mention me to Eric again for a bit.” As if that hadn’t occurred to me! “And don’t mention me to anyone else either, ok?”
“Why not?” I’d already made that decision on my own, but I wanted to know why she suddenly didn’t want me bringing her up in conversations.
“Because. Besides, the other kids at school wouldn’t understand.”
“Wouldn’t understand what?” That she was a ghost? Yeah, I could definitely see why that might be something they’d be skeptical about.
“They didn’t really like me. They were jealous because I was with Eric, you know?” She paused a minute before saying, “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later, ok?” And with that not-really-helpful explanation she faded away into the shadows.
Chapter 11
Ever since I’d talked to Eric about Samantha, I’d been feeling a little awkward around him. I knew I’d ticked him off, and I wanted to apologize. But the fact that he wouldn’t even admit how mad he was made it really difficult to figure out what exactly was bothering him. I couldn’t figure out if he was still mad at me, and even if he was, what exactly had set him off? I knew it had something to do with Samantha, but with the reaction I got last time, I really didn’t want to try bringing her up again. I tried to put it out of my mind, but of course all that did was make me notice even more every time I saw him.
I hadn’t really noticed how much he hung around Karen until then. I’d seen them talking in the hallways before, sure. But suddenly I noticed that they were together a lot; it seemed like every time every time I turned around, she was talking to Eric!
I knew I had no right to be jealous – they’d probably been friends for years – but that really didn’t make me feel any better. I’d been holding out hope that I would still be able to go out with her, but suddenly I could think of at least four reasons why that was probably not going to happen. I wondered if they were actually a couple and if I’d somehow just missed it, but Derek had assured me that wasn’t the case.
“They went out for a couple of weeks last year, but it didn’t last that long.” he told me. “Actually, I’m pretty sure he’s going out with Michelle now.”
That sounded familiar now that he said it, but since I only barely knew Eric and I didn’t know Michelle at all, the information hadn’t really stuck.
“So why’d they break up?” I asked, trying to sound casual.
“Eric and Karen? Oh…” he trailed off, as if he was trying to figure out the right way to phrase something. Or if he should say anything at all. “Last year was pretty stressful for everybody.” he said finally. “Some bad things happened, and I think it just got to them.”
I was about to ask what had happened when I suddenly I realized I had a pretty good idea. Samantha had told me she’d been friends with Karen, and she’s definitely known Eric. And I could certainly see how Samantha’s death could be traumatic, especially for her friends. I thought it over for a second, glad I hadn’t asked that question out loud.
“You still haven’t talked to her, have you?” Derek asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“I’ve talked to her. She’s in my chemistry class, remember?” And my math class and economics, I added silently.
“Great. So you’ve spoken to her. But have you actually had a conversation with her?”
I had to shake my head. “I’ve tried. A bunch. It’s just that it never seems to go much past ‘hi’.”
“Yeah, that’s the same problem I have.” Derek sighed. Somehow, that didn’t make me feel any better.
“It’s not that I don’t know what to say.” I said, trying to justify myself. “It’s just that I never really get the chance to say anything.”
Derek raised his eyebrows, but kept his mouth shut firmly. So, I continued.
“She just seems to have a ton of friends. Every time I talk to her for more than about two minutes, someone always comes up and starts telling her something. I don’t get it.”
“Yeah, she’s always been popular.” Derek told me. “And after last year, everyone’s tried really hard to make her feel better. It seems kinda funny to say, but I think she actually got more popular after all that happened.”
“Well, at least everyone’s supportive of her.” I said before lapsing into silence. Somehow, that actually made sense. I started to feel a little better about the whole situation; her friends were just going overboard with cheering her up. At least it was nothing to do with me personally. Too bad it didn’t solve my problems about getting to talk to her for any real amount of time.
Chapter 12
The next time I saw Samantha, she looked upset. Not in the way she was when I told her about Eric not being particularly excited to talk about her; this was different. She was more subdued, more troubled. When I asked her what was wrong, she took her time answering.
“They’re looking for me.” she said, biting her lip, her eyebrows knitted together.
“What? Who is?” I asked. As far as I knew, nobody even knew she existed, let alone was trying to track her down.
“The reapers.” she replied, still not quite looking at me.
“I’m sorry, but can you be a little more helpful?” Maybe it wasn’t the nicest thing to say, but I was tired of these cryptic half-answers all the time. If she wanted to tell me something, she was going to have to be more direct; I was tired of guessing what she was trying to say. Samantha glared at me for a second before nodding in agreement.
“The reapers,” she repeated, “are after me. Maybe it’s because of you talking to Eric. Maybe that’s what put me back in their minds. They realized that they never got me. So now, they’re looking for me.”
“I’m sorry.” I told her. And I meant it too. If I hadn’t talked to Eric, there was a pretty good chance she wouldn’t be in trouble now. As if I needed another reason to regret talking to him.
“It’s ok. We’re going to stop them.” She grinned in a way that I didn’t like; it was too cold.
“What do you mean?” I asked hesitantly. I was all for helping a girl out when she needed it, but I wasn’t sure I was willing to go up against Death itself. Especially for a girl that wasn’t even alive anyway. Not that I had anything against dead girls or anything; it just didn’t seem like it was going to be a long-term friendship is all. Besides, trying to trick Death into letting someone go when they were already a ghost seemed like a losing battle to me.
“If the reapers are after you,” I said slowly, “I mean, isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? Doesn’t stopping them go against nature or something?”
“No.” She rolled her eyes like I was an absolute moron.
“Why doesn’t it?” I asked. I was really trying to see her point, but I had to admit it was difficult.
“Because I don’t want to go. I want to be with Eric. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. And now they’re trying to take me away from him for good.”
“I understand that. But aren’t you supposed to, you know… move on or something?”
“I told you already.” she said, and I could start to see that angry glow start to smolder in her eye. “You want to get rid of me, don’t you?”
“Of course not.” She was annoying at times, sure. But she was still my friend. “I’m just tryi
ng to understand.”
Samantha got quiet for a moment, her eyes on the floor. When she looked back up at me, it was with the saddest eyes I’d ever seen. I shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Her mouth turned down into the slightest pout as she asked me, “Won’t you help me? Please?”
I was annoyed because I knew she was manipulating me. I was even more annoyed that it was working. She just looked so pathetic, it almost seemed cruel to say no. Besides, this was different. I’d flaked on other people before without worry. And I knew I’d been hesitant to do things for Samantha – like talk to Milner for her. But this time it was a lot harder to just walk away; this time I knew without a shadow of a doubt, that I was literally the only person who could help her. If I said no, what would she do? I sighed. I still wasn’t completely committed, but I decided I should at least hear her out.
“Okay.” I told her. “What is it you want to do?”
As soon as the words had left my mouth, her face instantly changed. She smiled brightly with what I knew in my heart could only be gratitude. Her enthusiasm made me feel guilty for being so hesitant.
“So, how do we hide you from the reapers?” I asked, since she hadn’t said anything yet. Samantha giggled happily.
“Oh, no.” she said. “We’re not going to hide. We’re going to find them.”
“And… do what?” What could finding them possibly accomplish?
“We’re going to get rid of them.” She had that cold smile again.
“How do you plan on doing that?” I was obviously not the expert on death here, but I was pretty sure that it would actually be impossible to kill a reaper and at least as hard to get them to just go away. Samantha just smiled knowingly and shook her head.
“Don’t worry about that right now. What’s more important is finding them. I’m counting on you.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Surely she didn’t expect me to go hunting for reapers.
“You’re going to find them, of course. Do I have to explain everything?”
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