Chapter 1 – Paul

"Oh my God, Paul! Can you believe what Debbie told me today?" Kelly asked as she got into my car.

I was giving her a ride home from school as usual. And this is also usually the time she chooses to complain about all the imperfections in her day. I'm not sure, but I think it could be her way of making it look like we have something in common. You know, because we're talking. I don't think she's noticed that it doesn't exactly work.

I don't really mind it though, it's Jack I feel sorry for. He's my little brother and I have to take him home from school as well. He just sits quietly in the back the whole time, while Kelly goes on about a bunch of people that he doesn't even know exist.

But I figure that there's no harm in having to put up with having to listen to 'Debbie said this, and then she said that,' every five minutes. I mean, Kelly is really hot. So it's worth it… I guess.

Speaking of Debbie, which one was she again? What? This is only my second week at this school; I can't be expected to remember who everyone is already. Especially when there are so many people to remember.

So, since Kelly seemed to be expecting an answer, I just went, "I don't think I was there, what did she say?"

Kelly explained quite happily, I get the impression that she actually enjoys these conversations we have. Well, at least one of us does. "Debbie told me that she was talking to Marissa Clarke – you know her don't you? You know… the senior?"

Right, the senior, of course.

"You know Kelly, I would be so lost in this school without you. How would I ever know who anyone was?"

Kelly scowled at me; I guess she doesn't like sarcasm much. "Shut up."

I just smirked back at her. "Relax, Kel. I'm only joking."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "So you don't know who Marissa is?"

Actually, I did know who she was. I hadn't actually spoken to her, but I'd heard people talking about her a lot.

"Yes I do," I said, "Now are you going to tell me what happened?"

Or you could just end it there, that'd be fine too.

Kelly seemed eager to get back to her story, though, so I wasn't spared. "Okay, so you know how Marissa was supposed to be my friend? Well, Debbie told me she was talking to her today at lunch, and she just totally went and called me a bitch behind my back!"

I raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"Yeah," she said slowly.

Wow, you know, if my life had almost as much drama in it as Kelly's did, then I'd never have to watch TV again. Seriously. I resisted the urge to tell her this, though, since Kelly didn't really appreciate my sarcasm all that much.

When I looked at Kelly I noticed that she actually seemed confused as to why I wasn't making a bigger deal out of this. "You don't even care? Oh my God, Paul. I can't believe you!"

"Why do you even care?" I asked. "You've got loads of friends."

You can probably guess that the conversation didn't really get much more interesting than that. I had just managed to convince Kelly to get over it when we arrived at my house. I usually drop Jack off there then carry on towards Kelly's house, but today I didn't get five minutes down the road before my cell phone rang. I answered it and Jack's voice sounded in my ear.

"Paul, there's no one home!" he squealed, sounding way more panicked than the situation warranted. "Mum and Dad have gone out!"

I rolled my eyes; Jack was a weird kid, he was paranoid about practically anything. "Jack I'm sure you can survive twenty minutes on your own."

"But – but what if any ghosts come? I don't want to be on my own if a ghost comes."

There was that as well.

I wasn't really surprised that Jack had brought it up - nobody who knew him would be – so I just went, "You'll be fine Jack. Just go to your room and you won't even notice I'm not there."

"But-"

"I won't be long," I told him, then I hung up.

As we drove to her house Kelly went on complaining about anything that popped into her head, while I just listened, commenting on something whenever I could be bothered. When we pulled up outside her place she smiled at me. "You can come in if you want to," she said. "My parents won't be home yet."

I was seriously tempted to just leave Jack on his own and take Kelly up on her offer, but, unfortunately, some insane part of me took over and I turned her down. "I would love to, believe me, but I have get back before my brother has a nervous breakdown from being left on his own."

Kelly seemed disappointed. "I guess you're right."

Before she got out of the car I leaned over and kissed her. I may not have had the sense to ignore Jack and stay at Kelly's house, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to make the most of what I had.

After a while Kelly pulled back and smiled at me. "Are you coming to the Clutch later?"

I smiled back, "Yeah, I'll see you there."

Paul,

Your father and I are visiting your grandfather; we won't be back till late. Look after Jack for us.

Mum

I scowled at the note left on the kitchen counter. Why were my parents suddenly so interested in visiting my grandfather anyway? We hardly ever used to visit him when we lived in Seattle, and now we've moved to California, just because the guy refuses to go into a home.

Not that I'm homesick. I'm not bitter because I miss Seattle or anything like that. Sure, I've lived there my whole life, but that doesn't really seem like a good enough reason to get upset about moving to California. What's irritating is that I'm expected to pack up and leave just because my parents say that they have to look after my grandfather. Yeah, like us moving is going to stop him from dying.

I picked up the note and threw it in the bin. I guess I'd have to call Kelly and let her know that I wouldn't be able to make it to Coffee Clutch later. I could invite her over to here though. At least then I'd be able to make the most of my parents being out. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and headed towards my bedroom.

I was halfway up the stairs when Jack came running out of his room. I could hear the music from Spyro, or whatever it was he'd been playing on, and I knew he'd been making a big fuss over nothing. He'd been perfectly fine here on his own.

"Why wouldn't you come back when I called?" he whined.

I shrugged. "What was I supposed to do? Tell Kelly to walk?" I carried on walking towards my room and Jack followed.

"You could have brought me with you," he insisted.

"You were fine," I said, beginning to get fed up.

"A ghost could have come," Jack said quietly. "Why wouldn't you believe me?"

"God, Jack." I snapped. "Aren't you fed up of asking that question yet? Because everyone's fed up of hearing it."

A hurt look appeared on Jack's face, but I ignored it. It was harsh, I know, but it was probably the best way to shut him up. For about five minutes, anyway.

Before Jack could say anything else I walked into my room and closed the door behind me. I got my cell phone out of my pocket and dialled Kelly's number, she picked up after a few seconds.

"Paul! Hi!" she chirped. "What's up?"

"Hey Kelly," I said sitting down on my bed, "It's about tonight, I'm afraid I can't make it."

"What? Why?" Kelly asked.

I was just about to answer when I noticed something; I wasn't alone in my room. No, Jack hadn't come in while I was talking, even though he was supposed to be the only other person in the house. It was a girl, perhaps the same age as me, with dark hair and pale skin, dressed in a sweater and jeans. She also happened to be glowing in that way that only the dead can pull off.

In other words, she was a ghost.

After glancing at her for a second, I turned away and answered Kelly, "My parents have gone out and I'm stuck looking after Jack."

"You're kidding!" Kelly exclaimed. "And there's no way you can get out of it?"

"No," I replied. "But you can come over here if you want. We could watch a movie…2

"Sounds fun," Kelly said. "I'll be there in an hour, okay?"

"An hour's fine."

At this point I glanced around again and saw that the ghost hadn't gotten the message and left yet. I groaned inwardly. "Look, Kelly, I've got to go now. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Alright then," Kelly replied. "Bye."

I hung up and turned to the ghost. "Whatever it is, I'm really not interested. So you can go."

Sounds simple enough doesn't it? Not according to this girl, though. "I need your help."

"I don't care," I told her simply.

She persisted, though. "I need you to tell someone something."

"Well you're going to have to find someone else to be your messenger. Because I'm not going to do it."

The ghost glared at me for a minute then dematerialised.

I smirked. Wow, if only the rest were as easy to get rid of.

A/N: Meh, I really don't like that ending, but I can't think of anything else to write. And I'm sorry if anyone found this chapter boring. Itwas just tointroduce Paul really; I'm hoping it will get more interesting in the next chapter.

Thank you all so much for the reviews! I can't believe how many I got. You all rock!

Now, I would love to know what you thought of this chapter, so review please!