As she glanced up at her new school, Melissa swallowed the lump in her throat and forced her breakfast to stay down. She was not looking forward to starting her senior year as the new kid, especially in a small town where everyone had known each other their whole lives. This day was going to totally suck, she just knew it. For a split second she even debated on skipping, but she knew in a place like this, it would get back to her mom quickly. Besides, she'd just be putting off the inevitable. Melissa would have to face the scrutiny of her classmates sooner or later, might as well get it over with. She took a deep breath and headed into the building just as the first warning bell rang.
Melissa made it
through her first three classes of the day without any major incidents. Of
course all the teachers had to embarrass the crap out of her by making her
stand up front and introduce herself, but other than that everyone pretty much
left her alone. She was surprised no one reached out to her at all, but at
least they weren't teasing and harassing her either. As she headed to the
cafeteria for lunch she hoped the rest of the day would go as smoothly as the
first half.
There was an empty
table on the far side of the lunch room and Melissa hoped it stayed empty until
she could get to it. She really didn't want to have to ask the kids at a table
if she could sit with them. She had purposefully brought her own lunch that day
so that if need be she could go hide somewhere and eat. Back home she wasn't
really a loner or anything like that, but she was a bit shy outside her small
circle of friends. If someone had invited her to sit with them, she'd gladly
accept, she just wasn't comfortable initiating the contact.
As she plopped her
brown paper sack on the table, Melissa let out a sigh of relief. The table was
hers. After pulling her food out of the bag and unwrapping everything, she
opened the book she brought with her in case she ate alone. At least I'll
get some reading in, she thought. She took a bite of her sandwich and
halfway through the first paragraph someone sat down across from her.
"Hey! You're new
here right?"
Melissa dog-eared the
book and glance up to find a gorgeous blonde sitting in front of her. She
looked like one of those cheerleader types, which immediately raised a red flag
in her mind. She took a second to glance around to see if anyone was watching
the table, just in case there was a prank about to be played on her. When she
was satisfied no one was paying them attention, she replied, "Yeah, today
is my first day. I'm Melissa."
"Nice to meet
you Melissa. I'm Jenny Lark." The girl offered her a warm smile that
seemed sincere.
"So what brought
you over here to my lonely table?"
"I didn't
recognize you, and since I know just about everyone that attends Cedar High, I
figured I'd come say hi. Mind if I join you for lunch?"
"Sure. So, are
you a senior?" Melissa asked as she took another bite of her sandwich.
"Yep. I should
have graduated last year but some things came up and I ended up having to come
back this year."
"Oh, wow, that
must suck." Melissa was curious about what those "things" were
but didn't want to pry. She figured if Jenny wanted her to know, she'd tell
her. She'd hate to push away the one who'd showed any interest in her so far.
"It does, most
my friends have left for college already so it's been kinda boring around here.
But now that school started back up, hopefully things will pick up. Besides,
now I have a new friend!"
The two girls
continued to chat while Melissa ate her lunch. Melissa noticed that Jenny
didn't eat anything but chalked it up to the stereotypical teenage girl
watching her weight. She was lucky though, she could eat anything and not gain
an ounce.
Jenny didn't seem to
have any of the same classes she did so the girls made plans to meet after
school and hang out for a while. The bell signaling the end of lunch rang just
after they agreed on the town's park entrance as a meeting spot. Jenny
explained to Melissa how to get to her next class and then rushed off to get to
her own.
The rest of the day
went by the same as the first half for Melissa. No one really spoke to her,
other than the teachers. Sure, a few said hi in the hall or offered a smile in
passing, but that was about it. She was just grateful she hadn't run into any
trouble.
When the final bell
rang she found herself excited to meet up with Jenny again. She hoped that
maybe Jenny could introduce her to some other kids and eventually she'd have
that small group of friends again that she missed back home. She grabbed her
stuff from her locker and headed to the meeting spot. The park was empty when
she got there so she sat on the bench by the entrance and started reading her
book.
About a chapter into
the book she realized that Jenny still hadn't shown. She checked her watch and
realized over half an hour had passed. She waited another fifteen minutes
before giving up, figuring either Jenny had played a cruel joke something had
come up and she couldn't make it. On her walk home she decided to check
Facebook to see if she could friend Jenny. Maybe they could chat and she'd find
out what happened.
Melissa tossed her
book bag on her bed and turned on her computer. Once it finished loading she
did a search for Jenny on Facebook and was glad to see the girl had a page.
What she found on the page though, shocked her. There were condolences and
prayer messages left by others several months ago. Man, kids can be cruel.
Wonder why they all did that to her, acting as though she had died. That's just
mean, Melissa thought. She kept browsing the page but didn't see any recent
activity, it looked as though the page had just been abandoned. Frustrated, she
gave up for the evening and worked on her homework instead.
The next morning she
was surprised to find Jenny out front waiting for her. "I thought I'd walk
to school with you," the girl offered.
"What happened
to you yesterday? I waited for almost an hour."
"Come with me,
there's something I have to show you. It's on the way to school, it won't take
but a couple extra minutes," Jenny pleaded.
Melissa gave in and
the two started walking toward the school. Halfway there Jenny told her to
follow her through a shortcut so she could show her why she never made it the
day before. They walked through the trees on a dirt path that led into the
town's cemetery.
"Why are we
going in the cemetery? We shouldn't be here!" Melissa hissed as she looked
around, anxious that Jenny was up to no good.
"Please, just
come. You'll understand soon, we're almost there."
Melissa relented and
continued to follow Jenny. This better be good, she thought. The path
continued to wind through the empty cemetery. She felt goosebumps flash across
her skin as a cold breeze blew through the air. Just as she was about to tell
Jenny to forget it, the other girl turned off the path down a row of
gravestones and stopped in front of one.
"We're
here."
Melissa rolled her
eyes and walked over to the headstone in front of Jenny. When she read the
markings she did a double take. It read:
Jenny
Lark
Feb
15th, 1995 - Oct 31st 2012
Beloved
daughter, friend, sister
Taken
too soon
When the shock wore
off, Melissa looked around; Jenny was nowhere to be found. She sat down in
front of the grave and pulled out her phone to Google Jenny's name. She found
an article with Jenny's picture that said the girl had died in a freak accident
on Halloween the year before. Melissa had been talking to a ghost.
Peter Dawes: Stormy Night Flash Fiction
Jessica Fortunado: Halloween Treats and Recipes
Kayleigh Grian: Characters in Costume
M. R. Graham: Tributes to Those We’ve Lost
Kalya Curry: Murder Mystery Party
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Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for another ghost story. Also, check out the other awesome websites:
Jessica Fortunado: Halloween Treats and Recipes
Kayleigh Grian: Characters in Costume
M. R. Graham: Tributes to Those We’ve Lost
Kalya Curry: Murder Mystery Party
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