Ghosts have always been there. I didn't wake up one day and see them floating around my room. They were transparent when I was a child, but now I can never tell if they're dead or alive unless they want me to see.
"Kadri. Have you finished your homework?" My mother said in Estonian, giving me a stack of cookies and some juice. She was born and raised in Estonia, but moved to Japan when she got married to my dad. They raised me here, and I hardly speak Estonian at all.
"Not yet, ema." I head-desked The math homework was so hard I thought my brain might explode.
She left and Katryn appeared. "Homework?" She leaned over my shoulder.
I nodded. She traced a few numbers with her finger before telling me the answers to the questions.
"That's cheating, you know." I mumbled dryly.
She shrugged. "At least you'll know the answers to these questions. And besides, who'd believe you if you said you'd cheated off your ghost friend?"
Katryn was, and still is, my best friend. She had died three years ago, so she still looked like a 13 year old, blonde, bug-eyed girl. Whereas I looked like a sallow-skinned, stringy haired 16 year old.
"Have you eaten anything today?" She asked when we'd finished. My eyes drooped tiredly besides the fact that it was barely 7 o'clock.
I gathered my books. "I can't remember." I lied easily.
She pointed at the cookies my ema had brought for me. "Eat, or I'll go scare your mother."
I gave her the look, which softened her hard features. "I can't." I muttered.
"It's been months, Kadri!" Katryn yelled, raising her hands. "Please eat something! You're getting sick. You can't stop eating just so some boy will notice you."
I physically recoiled. "He's not just some boy. I love him." I felt tears prick my eyes.
"He left you! Let him go!" Her words were finalising, so I turned, grabbed my bag, and left the house.
"Kadri?" My mother called after me.
I waved back at her, faking a smile. "I'll be back later."
As soon as I was out of sight, I broke into a sprint. I felt the tears poor down my face and neck. I didn't know where I was going, but before long, I was on the bridge. This damned bridge that caused so much of my pain. My feet carried me to the exact spot. My knees gave way and I began to sob pitifully. Right at this spot, three things that changed my life happened. Katryn was pushed over the side rails by bullies, the love of my life broke my heart and the place where I'd attempted my suicide.
I began to run again. I couldn't bring back the memories I'd shoved into the back of my mind.
I ended up getting onto a bus, I had no idea where it was going. It was fully packed, so I had to stand up next to a few teenagers in the Domino High School uniform.
I saw one of the boys look at me for just a second in curiosity, then turn back to his friends. Turning away to look out the window, I looked at the passing buildings until I felt someone staring at me. The boy was looking at me again, he looked away shyly when I caught him. He had these perfect dark eyes, that held a curiosity and just a hint of an invitation.
'Well, that's strange.' I thought to myself.
"Kadri!" I jumped a mile in the air when Katryn appeared next to me.
I tried not to look too conspicuous as I talked to her quietly, but I still got quite a few stares.
"Kat, if you're here to make me take a side trip to Burger King, forget it." I nearly snarled.
From the corner of my eye, I saw her looking at the teenagers I had seen. More specifically, the boy who had been looking at me.
"You're not even listening to me!" Rolling my eyes, I pressed the stop button and got off at the next stop.
She followed, probably only because the Domino High students had gotten off too. "I am so listening to you."
Feeling around my bag, I pulled out the pack of cigarettes I always kept hidden there. It was hard to find my lighter in my messy bag. "Shit, where the Hell is it?" I muttered. When I eventually found it, I lit the smoke and took a long breath.
"You do realise that stuff only makes your anxiety worse, right?" I swear, sometimes Kat never gave up.
"Right now, I don't give a shit. You're giving me a headache." I started walking away from her.
She began to run after me, but I just walked across the road.
The last thing I remember was a thumping noise and Kat yelling my name.
