High school was a new journey for Jeremy Atticus Finch
His first semester showed him a whole new world. He had new friends, new classes, and new extracurriculars.
His heart was always set on football, but he found a second love in Maycomb County High School's drama department.
He wasn't too keen on the idea of acting at first, but quickly fell under the spell, earning the lead role of Romeo in the winter production of Romeo & Juliet.
He made quite a few friends and even found a girl who stole his heart, but that's not all he enjoyed about the department.
The department has traditions. Multiple ones to help ease the stress of production week. One of which was going to the diner downtown and telling stories of a mysterious entity.
That entity was a ghost. One which had haunted the school since it's early days.
The ghost was a young woman. He name was Barbara.
Barbara was a student at the school in its first two years of existence. She was supposedly in love with the founding teacher of the department. He returned her affections and gave her lead roles in the first three productions.
One day, the teacher decided to cut off the affair. He was married with children, and decided to stay with his wife. By that point, the whole town knew of the affair, including Stephanie Crawford, who told that to Jem in full detail.
Barbara was devastated and tried to keep herself hopeful. The next production was nearing, and she was yearning for the lead role. When the time came around, she didn't get the lead. In fact, she got no role at all.
She tried hard to be content with set work, but to no avail. Her depression deepened to unhealthy proportions.
Until finally, on the production's opening night, she ended it herself.
When the curtains opened, there she was, hanging dead from a noose right above the stage. Her ghost loomed the school grounds ever since.
She wasn't mean when she didn't want to be, but made it aware when she wanted to be alone and untouched.
She was fascinating. So much so, Jem told the entire story to Scout and Dill.
"Wow! Jem, that's amazing! She's really real?" Dill asked him.
"Yep!" Jem proudly proclaimed. He wasn't able to come up with something this good since they had written an entire play based upon the life of Boo Radley. Maybe the spring production would be that, he thought.
"Jem, why's she still there? Why isn't she in heaven?" Scout wondered, toying with the buckles on her overalls.
I don't know, she's just there, I guess."
"Well Jem, can we go see her?" Dill's eyes widened with curiosity, as they had when discovering Boo Radley all those years ago.
"I don't know, Dill. Today's Friday. It's when they close up the school!"
"That's perfect! We can sneak into the stage and go to the catwalk and.."
"Whoa, whoa! Dill, calm down! You know, I'd like to see her too. I think it's a good idea, as long as she's fine with it."
"Great! What'd ya' think, Scout?"
"I don't know.. What if she tries to hurt us?"
Jem rolled his eyes. "You don't have to go with us, you Angel May!"
"But I wanna!" She protested, while still apprehensive about her safety.
"Then, let's go! There's one last thing I've got to warn you about though."
"What's that?" The others question him.
"One thing you should never say. Ever. Or she'll curse you."
He writes a few words on a piece of paper and shows it to the others.
It read: Millie's a nigger lover.
Scout frowned, "It's racist, Jem!"
"That's why you don't say it! Barbara's an advocate for equality!" He tore up the paper and let the small pieces fly in the wind, "Let's go!"
The children walk into the school. By then, it was an hour before sunset. The main door was still unlocked and they were permitted access.
When arriving to the stage, they all quieted down. Jem had them line up single file, oldest to youngest. And also, he held out a flashlight for protection.
They began to comb out the wings.
There was nothing. They kept on going.
Jem assisted Scout and Dill in climbing the catwalk ladder and they immediately began searching again.
After fifteen minutes, something finally happened.
"Jeremy.." A feminine voice called, "Jeremy.."
"What?" Jem dropped his flashlight in shock.
"Romeo…"
"What… What's going on?"
Dill and Scout huddled together in fear while watching Jem.
An image of a woman flashed before their eyes.
She was almost like a hologram; she was green and transparent. She wore an expensive looking ruffled dress, lace socks, and Mary Janes.
Her hair was long and straight. She wore glasses, like Atticus wore, and they made her eyes look buggy.
"Do not disturb me. Do not bring those children here again!"
Barbara spoke her mind. Jem shook and Dill shook right along with him. But Scout took on Barbara, accepting her challenge.
"I just wanted to see you. I empathize with you." She looked at the woman, hoping that her words would change her mind. And deep down, hoping her high vocabulary would impress her too.
Barbara's expression softened. She floated towards Scout and put her hand on the young girl's shoulder.
"Thank you, dear."
Barbara them disintegrated and disappeared into thin air.
But not for long.
Turns out, another boy followed them inside.
He wasn't in the drama department, but was in the football team with Jem. He knew of the story through his elder sister and wanted to pull a prank on his teammate.
The boy stood behind Dill. None of them were aware of his presence.
Well, not until he said something absolutely unbelievable.
"Millie's a nigger lover!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping Jem would hear him.
Jem did hear him, but so did Barbara.
Barbara then reappeared in from of the boy, staring him down with evil eyes.
"Don't sya that. You will pay accordingly."
Then, she was gone.
So were the group of friends. And so was the bot, who was screaming all the way home.
Jem never forgot his experience with Barbara and told the story for years to come.
Neither did Scout, who later joined the department. She saw Barbara multiple times, all over again. And so did Dill.
And the boy, well, he certainly did pay.
He fell ill following the accident, and for a long while, he stayed that way. He almost died, but then got better.
He never said the phrase again.
And you, you shouldn't either.