Kat woke up with a start at the sound of a loud thud in another room. Shortly after, she heard the sound of shattering glass, followed by gales of laughter from the "Ghostly Trio."

She moaned, pulling the pillow over her head.

Ghostly Trio. What a lame name. Why oh why couldn't Dad just live in a normal house with normal neighbors and have a normal life?

She was usually a morning person, but this morning she was hoping to be able to sleep late. Last night was probably the funnest, freakiest, and weirdest night of her life. Her very first Halloween party ended early, no thanks to the "Ghostly Trio," and Dad was acting...different. In a good way. She didn't know what happened to him. Maybe it was the accident where Casper helped him out with the Lazarus and all, but she sensed a change in him. It was like before Mom died. He was happy. And that made Kat happy.

She, Casper and Dad danced all night. It was weird, but cool. It reminded her of when Mom used to put on the Beach Boys and dance all goofy around the apartment. Kat missed her so much.

She jumped again as there was another loud crash, and plaster from the ceiling flaked onto her head. She sat up angrily. Guess she wouldn't be getting to sleep late this Saturday.

Grumbling, she got out of bed and walked down the hall towards the bathroom. She yelped loudly as Casper suddenly appeared in front of her, grinning, his hands behind his back.

"Hi, Kat," he said shyly.

"Oh, hey Casper."

"Uh...Did you sleep well?" he asked, grinning at the floor.

"Yeah," she smiled, trying to get past him. He quickly whipped in front of her again.

"Hey, Kat...I-I had a good time last night. It was a great party, huh?"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." She tucked a wayward hair behind her ear, glancing at the bathroom.

"Um, I have a surprise for you," he said, blushing. She raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Let me guess," she said, "You brought me some roses?"

His face fell. " Hey, how did you know that?"

"Well, you kind of can't hide stuff behind your back when you're see-through," she chuckled.

"Oh yeah, heheh. I forgot," he chuckled. He held out the big bouquet to her. "For you."

"Thanks, Casper. You're so sweet," she smiled, taking them.

He chuckled again, smiling at her. She stood smiling back awkwardly for a moment, then slipped passed him down the hall. He followed close behind, gazing at her adoringly. She turned.

"Um, Casper?"

"Yeah, Kat?"

"I kind of have to go to the bathroom now."

"Oh! Heheh, sorry. Ok, I'll take these down to the kitchen for you then. See you at breakfast! I'm making your favorite. Blueberry waffles!" He swiftly scooped the roses from her hand and flew into the ground, absent mindedly smashing them to bits.

Kat stood over wrecked pile of pink petals, stems, and leaves. She sighed, shaking her head. She was afraid of this.

Last night was like one of those warped dreams she sometimes got whenever she'd eat one of Dad's crazy tuna fish hoagies with peanut butter sauce. All she wanted was to have a nice party and make some new friends. Some of the kids at school were jerks, but not all of them. There was that red-haired girl Emily. She seemed nice. And that funny guy with the glasses, Tyler. And then there was Vic...

She knew she was supposed to be mad at him. He and that snot-nosed Amber girl tried to ruin her party, according to Casper. But Kat was like her mother in the fact that she was a very good judge of character. She had a feeling that Vic wasn't a bad person.

Kat just wanted to have a fun night. Kind of sucked that Vic decided to stand her up and play that lame joke, but it wasn't really that big a deal. It was actually kind of funny. She was just disappointed that she wouldn't have anyone to dance with.

But then in the middle of everything, this random cute guy comes up to her and asks to dance with her. All the other girls were staring at him. No one had ever seen him in class before. And then things got weirder and weirder.

It was Casper...an older, cuter, more alive version, but still Casper. And then he kissed her.

It was kind of sweet. Kat guessed that it was his first kiss ever. She was flattered he wanted to have it with her. The only problem would be what comes after.

See, Kat had a secret that no one knew, ESPECIALLY not her father. Last night wasn't her first kiss.

Dad was so clueless sometimes. And it was times like these Kat wished her mom was still alive, so she could have someone to talk to about these sort of things without the person freaking out. But why else would she be so upset about leaving Santa Fe?

Back in Santa Fe, Kat got her first kiss. She even had a boyfriend. Almost.

His name was Kyle, and he played football for the school team, the Cactus Schooners. Kat had become friends with his sister Lisa, and one day he asked her to come to his game. After the game, he gave her his class ring and asked her to be his steady girlfriend. Then he kissed her. She almost fainted.

It was so romantic.

Then four days later, Dad announced that they were going to be moving to Maine. Kat had to give Kyle his ring back, and he was pretty mad at her about it, and she spent last period in the girls bathroom crying her eyes out. But what could she do? Dad decided to take the job in Maine, and that was that. He didn't even realize that he was ruining her life.

Her first kiss was something she would never forget. And even though she knew she would get over Kyle pretty quick (they only knew each other for two weeks, but oh! Those were the best two weeks ever!)... she'd never forget that kiss behind the bleachers.

But this was Casper's first kiss. And, well...

Kat washed her face and stared into the mirror. She was a pretty girl. She got her mother's big smile and heart-shaped face, and her father's nose. Her eyes were a hazel that was almost green, and all the girls at school (the nice ones, anyway) always complimented her thick, brown hair.

Boys liked her. And (except for Kyle...sigh) she didn't get excited about that. She always tried to decided of she truly liked them back first. Her mother always told her to be true to her heart. So she was.

Kat was a very practical girl. When your mom dies and your dad gets kind of nutty, you grow up pretty quick. She knew Casper had a huge crush on her. And while it'd be cool if he was alive, she knew that there would be no possible way that she could ever like him like that.

For one thing, there was the age difference. She was almost fourteen. He died when he was eleven, and he'll be eleven forever.

Then there was the whole being dead thing. Yeah, it's kind of hard to go steady with a guy if he'd dead.

She shouldn't have let him kiss her, but it was such a weird night, and so much had happened. Her dad died, came back to life, she was FLOATING for crying out loud!

As she dressed, she wondered what she was going to do about the sweet little ghost who had taken a shine to her. She thought he was a great friend, and after all he did to save her dad's life, how could she let him down?

She walked back into the hall towards the stairs and again saw the little pile of broken roses still on the carpet, and thought of him toiling away downstairs in the kitchen getting her breakfast. She felt a pang of guilt.

This was definitely not going to be easy. But she couldn't string him along. She had to set him straight and fast, before he got any wrong ideas. It's what Mom would have wanted her to do.