Everyone - Even A Ghost - Falls In Love | Teen Ink

Everyone - Even A Ghost - Falls In Love

March 8, 2009
By BlueberryValentine SILVER, Kirkland, Washington
BlueberryValentine SILVER, Kirkland, Washington
9 articles 0 photos 20 comments

Sprawled across her unmade bed, listening to her guilty pleasure, Elvis Presley, rather than her “favorite” artist, Chris Brown, munching on Cheerios like there’s no tomorrow, her hair in disarray, her pajamas ill-fitting, her glasses rather than contacts being worn, her makeup washed off, a girl does her math homework, even though it’s nine o’clock on a Saturday evening.
In the corner of her bedroom, a boy lightly sits in an undisturbed rocking chair, smiling. He doesn’t care that she’s in a state she wouldn’t let even her best friend of five years see her in, not only because he’s seen worse, like when she caught a terrible cold and couldn’t muster up the strength to take a shower for three days, or when she watched The Notebook and cried so hard that her makeup created unmatched raccoon eyes, but because he can’t help but find that she’s beautiful all the time.
He simply marvels at how quickly and effortlessly her pencil moves, even though she’s only half paying attention. He can tell that she’s distracted, but not by the music, because the foot tucked under her leg is twitching along to the beat rather than the one hanging off the bed, which is the one that twitches when she is immersed in whatever she is listening to.
He wonders what could be worrying her enough to make such a disconcerting crease form between her unplucked eyebrows and, unable to resist, asks, “What are you thinking about?” Like usual, but not always, her blue eyes focus suddenly and her gaze snaps over to the rocking chair, staring intently at the pale blue fabric behind him. “Up here,” he whispers, hoping, wishing, pleading that she’ll somehow meet his gaze. She’s done it before, whether by accident or some strange sixth sense he doesn’t know, and ever since, he hasn’t let go of the unlikely hope that she’ll do it again.
But she doesn’t this time and instead simply stares suspiciously at the rocking chair, then shakes her head quickly, sighs, squeezes her eyes shut, tucks a strand of off-blonde hair behind her ear, and resumes doing her homework.
An hour later, she has put away her textbook and is reading a novel about a girl falling in love with the president’s son. He glares at the book, frowning and tightening his fists. “So close,” he whispers, voice jagged. That book mocks him, teases him as it reminds him of the day she’d bought that book, had picked up another book by the same author, a book about a girl falling in love with the ghost in her bedroom, had raised a skeptical eyebrow, and put the book back. It was times like that when he wished he could touch things, so he would be able to place the book in her basket so she would buy it and read it and maybe, just maybe, look for him the next time he called her name.
He has the same desire at times like this, when she is yawning and rubbing at her eyes in such a completely adorable way that it is impossible for him not to want to press his lips to her forehead, just once. He gets up from the rocking chair, not making it swing or creak because he hasn’t actually been touching it, and moves to her bed. Even though he is barely three inches from her leg, she doesn’t feel him there because the mattress doesn’t sink under his nonexistent weight.
Carefully, ever so carefully, he places his hand on her knee so that his hand is just hovering over her sweats, close enough to feel the warmth from her skin underneath, close enough to feel the folds in the fabric, but not close enough for her to feel it, never close enough for her to know that he’s there.
But, then, she gasps and glances down at her knee, eyes wide in astonishment, and he jerks his hand away, shocked. He knows he should leave now, after somehow crossing the uncrossable boundary between the living and the dead, but as she lifts her head to look up, up at the space where his head is, at the space where his eyes are, his breath catches in his throat and he finds that he is frozen on the edge of her bed. She continues to stare in bewilderment and he shifts his head to the right, barely half an inch, but just enough for her to somehow meet his gaze.
She inhales sharply and recoils into her pillows, closing her eyes firmly, then opening them again and peering into the space where she last saw him. But the moment, the connection, the knowledge is gone, as he knows it must be, and she soon gives up searching, as he knows she must do, but his heart breaks all the same, just a little bit more. He’ll never give up trying, though, as love is far less fleeting than their eye contact. And that’s all he is: a ghost in love.


The author's comments:
Inspired by The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, as well as The Mediator series by Meg Cabot.

Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 15 comments.


on Mar. 16 2014 at 9:30 am
BlueberryValentine SILVER, Kirkland, Washington
9 articles 0 photos 20 comments
Awesome! I hope you enjoy!

Blue_moon said...
on Mar. 16 2014 at 4:01 am
Blue_moon, Bwp, Other
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be the change you wish to see in the world

sad but its ok

Blue_moon said...
on Mar. 16 2014 at 3:59 am
Blue_moon, Bwp, Other
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be the change you wish to see in the world

yup i have already downloaded shadowland, when i read name of this book in your reply to Sap14

on Mar. 15 2014 at 7:45 pm
BlueberryValentine SILVER, Kirkland, Washington
9 articles 0 photos 20 comments
Sorry for the belated reply! I didn't see that you had commented. :) There is no book that goes along with this story - it's an original stand alone. Thank you so much!

on Mar. 15 2014 at 7:42 pm
BlueberryValentine SILVER, Kirkland, Washington
9 articles 0 photos 20 comments
Unfortunately, this is all I plan to write for this story. Thank you for your support!

on Mar. 15 2014 at 7:41 pm
BlueberryValentine SILVER, Kirkland, Washington
9 articles 0 photos 20 comments
Thank you so much! Yes, I wrote this, so there is no longer book to go along with it. But if you're interested in this type of story, I would highly recommend The Mediator series by Meg Cabot!

Blue_moon said...
on Mar. 15 2014 at 2:34 pm
Blue_moon, Bwp, Other
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be the change you wish to see in the world

will u write more on this topic... i want you to complete this story plz...

Blue_moon said...
on Mar. 15 2014 at 2:22 pm
Blue_moon, Bwp, Other
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be the change you wish to see in the world

its amazing, so beautifull lines , plz tell me did u wrote this article or these lines are taken from some other book...,  i wana read more

on Oct. 19 2013 at 1:06 pm
BlueberryValentine SILVER, Kirkland, Washington
9 articles 0 photos 20 comments
Thank you so much! :)

on Oct. 19 2013 at 1:05 pm
BlueberryValentine SILVER, Kirkland, Washington
9 articles 0 photos 20 comments
The book is All-American Girl by Meg Cabot, and the book she didn't end up getting is from the Mediator series, also by Meg Cabot. :)

on Oct. 18 2013 at 9:37 pm
NatalieCreative, Grand Rapids, Minnesota
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
Do or do not; there is no try!" -- Yoda from Star Wars

Love this!! <3

on Oct. 18 2013 at 9:26 pm
What book is this from? It's amazing! The auther did a wonderful job conveying the ghost's feelings. I love the indepth descriptions!

Sap14 said...
on May. 30 2013 at 2:15 am
What is this books name?

on Feb. 16 2010 at 4:53 pm
BlueberryValentine SILVER, Kirkland, Washington
9 articles 0 photos 20 comments
Thank you very much!

on Feb. 16 2010 at 4:42 pm
Mykindapeopledontcarewhatyouthink BRONZE, Gueydan, Louisiana
2 articles 0 photos 124 comments
it's strange, but i think it's amazing