CHAPTER 2- So, yay! Update!

I've been so busy lately. I made Homecoming court, I have three projects due this week, I'll be on the radio on Thursday, which is also my friend's birthday, and my brothers birthday is on Sunday. Plus I'm taking SATs on Saturday. Sigh. Life.

SmileyAuslly: Well thank you ;) I'm glad that you like it so far

Koryandrs: Yeah, that's kinda what I was implying (:

MissFlutterPie: Yay! I'm glad to see you here!

I don't own Austin and Ally. If I did, Ally probably would have taken longer to get over her stage fright.

"Austin, I'm so sorry," whispered Olivia. "But you're…you're dead."

GENERAL POV

Shock surrounded the boy, blocking out every sound possible. The only thing he could hear was silence.

And that was wrong. He needed to hear his heartbeat…his heartbeat-beating like that. Great, now not only was he dead, he was going insane!

Austin shuddered again and looked up, a sick feeling in his stomach as he studied Olivia. "You're serious, aren't you?" he whispered to her.

Olivia bit her lip. "I'd like to say I'm not, Austin, but I am. You saw…"

"My body," the boy muttered harshly. "I saw my body."

Olivia winced. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Austin."

"If I'm dead…does that mean you're dead, too?" Austin asked slowly, looking over at her. Olivia grimaced, proving that the topic was a sore subject, but she nodded.

Austin took a deep (metaphorical) breath and stood up on shaking legs. "I…I need to do something," he said finally, his open hands grasping at the air.

"All right," Olivia said soothingly, "but first we should get out of here."

Austin cocked his head, glancing back anxiously at where his body lay. "Why?"

The girl shook her blonde head of hair quickly. "Austin, we just need to go. Like, right now. We can't stay here or else-"

A scream filled the area and Austin spun around on his heel, almost falling over as he saw his parents standing at the edge of the crowd.

His mother had been the one who screamed, and now her face was buried in his father's chest. Austin had never seen his dad so pale. His large hand rubbed Austin's mother's back gently, but his other hand was clenched into a tight fist.

A female police officer quickly led the parents away from the scene, sitting them down on a couple of lawn chairs an elderly woman had provided from her house.

Austin, against Olivia's wishes, walked quickly over to his parents.

His father spoke up just as Austin reached them. "Ma'am, who the hell did this to my son?" he whispered vehemently to the cop.

Austin stood still, shocked to his core. He had never heard his father swear. Ever.

The female officer, whose nametag read Hope, shook her head. "I'm sorry for you loss, Mr. Moon. We don't have all the details yet, but this was definitely a hit and run. Officers are getting tire marks from the pavement now," she said, indicating a spot where Austin could see black marks that had been left on the pavement.

"We do know already that your son died immediately, so he was in no pain," the woman said gently. "He was found early this morning, about ten minutes ago by a young man who was going to the early service at his church. Unfortunately, it seems the hit and run occurred later in the night, and not at six am, which is what time your son was found."

The first thought that went through Austin's head was his fascination with the idea that the guy who had found him got up at six in the morning to go to church. The second was that he had just been lying, dead in the streets, for over five hours, and no one had found him.

He sighed, and then looked over at his parents again. His mother had finally looked up, revealing her tired and teary eyes. "Did…did he make any calls or anything before he was hit?" the woman asked softly.

Hope shook her head of dark hair. "Afraid his cellphone battery was dead."

Everyone winced at the word choice used by the cop and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, that was a poor choice of words."

Austin's father shook his head. "Just find the bastard who killed him."

Austin flinched at his father's language, and then bit his lip when his mother spoke again.

"Honey…we need to call Dez, Ally, and Trish."

No. Oh dear Lord, no. Austin hadn't even thought about their reactions. His best friends…

The boy quickly gulped back the lump in his throat, pressed his fist to his mouth, and stepped back to where he had first met Olivia, turning his back on the scene of his death.

"Austin, are you ok?" Olivia asked gently, sounding so much like Ally it was ridiculous.

The boy shuddered and leaned heavily against a tree. "I just…I have a lot of questions," he said.

Olivia settled next to him. "That's what I'm here for," she said softly, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Austin sat down in the grass and sighed, staring at his glaringly white jeans. "I…I don't even know where to start," he finally confessed.

Olivia smiled gently. "Then how about I start? I died two years ago in July…actually, like a week from yesterday. Anyway, I lived here in Miami, and I was heading to a music competition with my boyfriend. I played trumpet, and he played…plays violin. He's still alive. He was a real jerk, though. I was planning on breaking up with him after the competition."

She took a deep breath and Austin could tell that this was hard for her.

"I didn't know it, but he was hung-over from the night before. And of course he was driving. He pulled out in front of another car that hit the passenger side dead on and…well, here I am," she said, trying for humor.

"I'm sorry," Austin said softly.

Olivia shook her head. "Okay…um, right. So, the question most people ask is 'Where do I go when I die?' That's kind of hard to explain. Everyone goes to the same place, but it's different based on your religion, or lack thereof. Like, I'm Catholic and you're Methodist, so you'll end up in pretty much the same place as me. But people who like, worship Greek gods or something, not that many do, end up in their minds version of Hades, or the Underworld. Make sense?"

Austin gave her a look and she held up her hands. "Hey, just checking. Anyway, after being dead for two years, a spirit, no matter what religion, can apply to be a guardian angel."

Austin glared at her and Olivia quickly shook her head. "Okay, bad choice of words. Sorry. We can't prevent you from dying. We just keep an eye on you so that when you do die, we can help you understand what's happening. You uh…you're my first case."

Austin winced. "I'm sorry. I haven't been very cooperative, have I?"

Olivia gave a small smile. "Always the gentlemen. Austin, you just died. You behaved ten times better than anyone else I've ever seen."

Austin cocked his head slightly. "So is that how you knew who I was? I thought it was just cause of my videos…"

Olivia smiled. "Yeah. We're given a file on the person. So I know who your family and friends are, as creepy as that may seem. They try to match up people based on their ages. I was seventeen when I died, and you're seventeen now."

Austin gulped, dreading his next question. "What about babies or toddlers? Little kids?"

Olivia grimaced. "That's a sucky job for those people. It's hard enough having to guide a teenager who knows what's happening. But a kid who doesn't know what's going on and just wants their mom? We usually get a super sweet person who used to be a babysitter or mom or dad. They can often times calm the kids down."

Austin nodded, glancing back over his shoulder. His mother was on the phone, tears streaming down her cheeks while Austin's father gently rubbed her shoulders.

"What about my parents?" he asked softly.

"Your parents will be ok. They'll never get over your death, but most parents get better after a while. Your friends can help them through this period of time."

As soon as Olivia said that, a bicycle slid into the area, kicking up dust on a relatively dustless road. Austin winced as Dez ripped off his helmet and chucked his bike and safety gear to the ground.

The boy sprinted over to Austin's parents, who merely pointed to where the team had been checking over Austin's body for evidence on who had hit him. His body was now covered with a sheet, and Dez collapsed to the ground, his face drawn and pale, tears already flowing down his cheeks.

Austin turned away quickly, backing into the shadows so he wouldn't have to watch his friend.

"Hey," said Olivia, "want to know some of the, uh, perks? I guess?"

"There's perks to being dead?" Austin said harshly.

Olivia bit her lip and looked away, and Austin winced. "I'm sorry, Olivia. It just seems hard to believe…"

"That being dead can have its up moments?" Olivia said softly. "I know. That was my reaction to that comment as well. I should have asked in a different way."

Austin shook his head, glancing back at the scene of his death just as a car squealed to a halt on the street that joined with the one Austin had been hit on.

Trish fell out of the passenger side, her father jumping out of the driver's seat. The curly black headed girl spotted the emergency personnel lifting Austin's body into the ambulance and she fell to her knees hard, making Austin wince.

The girl's face was flooded with tears immediately, her shoulders shaking. Dez, amazingly, got to her before her father could, and he sank down next to her, wrapping his arms tightly around the girl's shoulders.

Trish turned herself so that her head was buried in Dez's chest, and Austin felt tears come to his eyes. He turned away from his friends, and that had to be one of the hardest things he'd ever done.

"Come on," Olivia said gently. "Let's get out of here before Ally shows up."

Austin looked up, his eyes hurting. "Why?"

Olivia sighed and gently took his elbow. "Trust me, Austin. It'll hurt worse than anything else to see her reaction."

Austin gulped, but allowed himself to be drawn away.

Olivia walked him to the park a couple of blocks away and let him sit down on a bench for a minute. Austin stared blankly at the ground for a bit before looking up again.

"How come…if I'm dead, why can I touch things?" he asked softly.

Olivia smiled, relieved to be able to answer a logical question. "Anything inanimate you can touch. It just takes concentration. Since you haven't been dead for that long, your mind hasn't yet registered that you shouldn't be able to sit on that bench. When that does take effect, you could still sit on it, but it would take a lot more concentration."

Austin nodded. "Okay. What about living things?"

Olivia rubbed her neck. "That's a lot harder. Most times, you can just walk through anything living. You can walk through anything, actually, but it's easier to walk through living things. Like a tree. Right now, you could probably lean against a tree with no problem. But in an hour or two, it will be so much harder. But for some reason, the ground always stays under you, unless you want to go through it."

"Is there anything living that I can touch?" Austin asked curiously.

Olivia shrugged. "For some reason, all animals can see, smell, and touch ghosts. So if you had a pet or something, you'd be able to hug it or pet it or whatever. I think it's just because animals are so comforting to dead people."

Austin gave a weak smile, and then looked down at his hands, which were settled in his lap.

"So…those perks?" he asked.

Olivia smiled impishly and Austin had a feeling that maybe, just maybe, he'd be okay.

I hope you liked this chapter!

Review please! Hopefully the next update won't take quite as long.