Raj did not know what to do with a week off. He almost wished that school had continued, then he could at least see how the other students were reacting. His closest substitute was to call his friends. Besides, he was really starting to get curious about Lisa's new boyfriend, if that's what he was. He called Lisa when he had finished his breakfast and returned to his room.
"Hello? Raj?" she said when she picked up.
"Ah, hello," he said. He was still slightly awkward about calling people up on the phone. Before he had met his film friends, he had almost never initiated phone calls.
"What's up?" Lisa continued.
"Oh, well, I just thought that last night was crazy. I sort of wanted to ask you what was going on," said Raj.
"Honestly, I don't know any better than you."
"Okay then…but what about your ghost friend? Did she, like, curse Carlita or something?"
"No! Of course not! Amber is really nice. She went to Heaven."
"Hmm. Well," said Raj hesitantly.
"Look, I know all this stuff sounds weird. It's still weird to me, too, believe me. But what it basically means is that Amber isn't coming back, and all the paranormal stuff is over."
"Well, that's a relief!"
"I'm still going to miss Amber. She was actually a pretty cool person when I got to know her. And she introduced me to all this new stuff. Y'know, fashion and stuff. I thought those types of things were lame before, but I was being narrow minded. Fashion can really help your confidence. And fashion makes you look like you know what you're doing."
"Okay."
"And you know what else…If it wasn't for Amber, I wouldn't have met my new boyfriend. He's so romantic! And he's really nice, and earnest."
"So that guy was your boyfriend?"
"Yeah! Isn't he cute?"
"Okay. So you don't really have any further information about Carlita's death?"
"It was definitely not a curse. It was just a fluke. Like Amber."
This didn't exactly comfort Raj, seeing how Amber ended up. "So…" he continued, "When do we get to really meet this guy? We didn't see much of him at Prom." The phrase felt terribly awkward coming out of his mouth, but he didn't know how else to ask the question.
"We have the next week off, so any time this week would be fine."
"You know, I bet Carlita's service is going to be sometime this week. Do you think we should go?"
Lisa paused. "I don't know, we didn't really know her…Wouldn't it be kind of awkward to randomly show up at her service?"
"I think it will be a public service. Besides, I think we should go to show respect."
"Okay, we can discuss it with the group. But when do you want to meet Aiden?"
"Oh, I don't know. Whatever works best for you."
"We can discuss that with the group, too."
"Okay. Well, I have to go now," said Raj, though he really didn't have anywhere to go. It was just the only way he knew how to quickly yet respectfully end a call.
"Alright. I'll talk to you later," said Lisa.
Raj ended the call, and tossed his phone onto the floor next to his bed. He put his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling, which was decidedly bare. Then he had the distinct impression of being watched, and suddenly spotted something in the corner of his eye. He jerked his head to the side to look at his closet, only to see Carlita Cash standing there, arms crossed, in full Prom Queen attire.
"Give me my crown, nerd," she said while rolling her eyes, and Raj scuttled backward against the wall, his heart instantly accelerating into a swift tattoo.
"Here, here!" he stammered while grabbing the crown and tossing it toward the apparition. "Please take it and leave my family alone!"
Carlita stepped toward the crown. She reached down to take it, but at the last moment she pulled away while shaking her head. Suddenly her face broke into a smile, and she let out a short laugh. "God, Kukuri, you really think I came here just for a silly little crown? You should have seen the look on your face." She followed her statement with another abrupt laugh.
"Then…what do you want?" Raj asked.
"Shut up. Stop blubbering. I'm here on a mission," Carlita replied.
"Am I dreaming?" said Raj.
"No. And like a said before, shut up. Now, apparently I was all set to go to hell because my actions on earth were 'selfish' and 'cruel' or something, but this angel guy told me that if I can get the least popular kid in school to date the most popular kid in school, I get to go to heaven. But I have to get it done within a week so we better get started."
"What?" Raj said weakly.
Carlita sighed. "What, are you slow? You are the least popular kid in school, and Dakota Tandy is the most popular kid in school. Let's go."
"Dakota?" said Raj, "I think I danced with her at Prom."
"Great. That means you have a head start, if she even remembers you," said Carlita.
So was this what had happened to Lisa? Raj supposed he had it easier than Lisa, though, since by now he already knew that ghosts existed. But never in a million years had he imagined this would happen to him. Stuff happened to Lisa, and his other friends, but not to him.
"I want to help you," said Raj, "but it sounds impossible."
"Look, all you have to do is approach her at school. Nothing could be simpler," said Carlita. "Besides, she's a huge slut, and you're not exactly bad looking."
Raj thought that Carlita was being pretty harsh for someone who was supposed to be friends with Dakota. But maybe she was just bitter about dying. Yeah, that had to be it. And now to break the bad news. "School is canceled for the next week," Raj said meekly.
"Wow, for me?" said Carlita. "That's way better than Amber! We didn't even get a day off when she died."
"Um, they're checking the wiring. They say it'll take a week. But they are going to have grief counselors." Raj added the last fact so as not to completely disappoint Carlita in her strange death competition.
"Still better than Amber," said Carlita. "Though school being out definitely puts a damper on things. Let me think."
Carlita paced-or glided-around the room, while Raj quietly picked up the crown from the ground and put it back on his nightstand. Tragedy or not, the crown was a symbol of Lisa's friendship.
"I know!" said Carlita, "Dakota loves hanging out at the mall. If you stay there long enough you'll find her, especially if you hang out in her favorite stores. She loves Lush, for example. You could be hanging out there, looking at stuff…Oh, but it's weird for a guy to hang out there on his own. Okay, let's say you're buying stuff for your mom. Then you turn around and see Dakota, and you say, 'Hey, didn't we dance together at Prom? You're a great dancer!' And you just take it from there."
Raj had been floating on the surreal nature of Carlita's ghost appearing to him, but now reality was starting to come back to him. He would have to date Dakota? But he wasn't even her friend! He had no idea if they had anything in common. Why was heaven mandating that the two of them randomly get together? And why use Carlita as a vessel? Besides, most important of all, he liked someone else…But he continued to listen to Carlita, just because he had no idea how to say no to her, and he honestly wanted to help. If only he could help in some other way.
"Now, I'm guessing it becomes official when you go on your first date. Or maybe it becomes official when you ask her to go on a date. But either way, we'd better make it quick. Let's go to the mall," said Carlita.
"Um…actually, today I was going to do something with my friends…but maybe the plans changed, ever since, you know…"
"What, ever since I died?" said Carlita. "You can say it. It's not a dirty word. I mean, look at me." She gestured toward herself. "You think I don't know how dead I am? Anyway, you change those plans right now. This is more important."
"I don't think Dakota will be at the mall today anyway. She's probably mourning for you," said Raj.
"Ha! That bitch?" said Carlita. "I doubt it. Besides, shopping is probably how she mourns. Do I have to remind you that time is of the essence?"
"…Okay," said Raj, "I have to call them."
Maybe Carlita was right, Raj thought as he found Colin's number, maybe the process would be quick and painless. And the heavens honestly didn't expect him to date Dakota forever, did they? Oh God, what if they did? What if he and Dakota we're destined to get married? Destiny never sounded so hopeless.
"What's up?" said Colin, shaking Raj out of his morose daydreams.
"Oh, Colin. Um, I'm sorry, but I can't go to filming today. Something came up."
"Man, is this about the girl that died? I know, it's tragic, but we can't stop living our lives because of her."
Colin didn't know how right he was.
"No, it's not about her. Just, family business," Raj lied.
"What family business? Can't it wait?" said Colin.
"No, not really. I don't have time to explain, I'll tell you later. I'm really, really sorry."
Colin sighed. "We're never gonna finish this film! This isn't how Hollywood directors work."
"Sorry, I'm so sorry, I have to go now, bye," Raj said hurriedly.
"Bye," Colin said with exasperation.
Raj felt guilty. But he'd have felt guilty no matter what choice he made.
"Is it all settled now? Can we go?" said Carlita.
"Yeah…"
