School finally ended, students were leaving the premises, all except Jay. He left the nurses' office earlier, much to Belle's dismay. Jay insisted that he was fine when in reality he was still in pain. But, he didn't care about that now; Jay wanted to look for Carlos.
"What do you think it was?" A familiar voice passed by, Jay immediately hid behind a wall. Carefully peeking out as Chad and his goons stepped out of the building. Phew, that was a close call. Jay watched them leave the premises until it was just him.
Glancing around, "Carlos?" Jay called out, walking at the same place where he first spotted Carlos. "Carlos?" He called out again as he looked around his surroundings. There was no response, which made Jay sigh.
"He's not here. What did I expect?" He took a couple of steps away when a voice suddenly spoke up. "What do you want? Come to yell at me again?" Carlos questioned as he appeared behind him.
Jay jumped back, out of reflex. "Where did you come from?!"
Carlos shrugged and sat down on a bench. "You should hurry home before it gets too dark." It was almost like a warning. "It gets creepy here at night." Carlos looked at the school and shivered.
"But it's barely evening?" Jay slowly sat down beside him, Carlos blinked by the sudden bold movement. "You'd be surprised how time passes."
"And, what about you? Shouldn't you be heading home as well?" Jay countered as he raised his eyebrow.
Carlos paused. "I don't have a home." Jay frowned, how can Carlos not have a home? Everyone should have a home or somewhere to sleep. Now Jay felt bad for him. "If you want you can come and stay at my house. My dad is always gone for a few days so..."
"You would invite a complete stranger to your house?" Carlos' eyes widened in shock, and then he laughed. That laugh, it was nice to hear. "What if I'm a killer or something?"
Jay chuckled, "I may not know how to fight but I can certainly handle a shorty like you." He joked, causing Carlos to pout.
"Thanks, Jay. But, I can't." He politely declined. Jay frowned, "Its fine. I won't hurt you." He attempted to smack Carlos' shoulder, but to his shock it went through him. What?
Jay swiftly stood up, backing away from Carlos as fast as he can. "That's why," Carlos sadly frowned.
"What are you?!" Jay inquired. Suddenly everything made sense why Carlos would randomly disappear and how no one could see him. Yet, Jay could. He was slightly terrified, but when he saw the expression Carlos wore, Jay couldn't help but ease up.
"I'm a ghost, I think. I've been wondering for so long around here that I don't even know what year this is." Carlos placed his hands on his lap; he felt so alone and scared. He was slightly happy that he could actually talk to a real human being for the first time.
Jay felt sympathy for Carlos. In a way he can understand where he's coming from. Being a ghost must be lonely and terrifying. That's how Jay felt every single day, the only difference was that Jay can have physical contact while Carlos can't.
After a few minutes of hesitation, Jay sat beside Carlos again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak out. But, how is it possible that I can see and talk to you?" Jay questioned.
"Beats me. You're the first person I ever talked to." Carlos stated. You're the first. So that's what he meant by that. Jay was his first real physical contact.
"Well, I can be your first friend."
Carlos snapped his head towards Jay. "Really?!" He was so excited that Jay couldn't help but laugh by the boy's happiness, in a good way. "Yeah. Let's start over since we got off in a rough start. I'm Jay."
Smiling, "And, I'm Carlos." They were both each other's first friend and they couldn't be happier.
"And this is where I live," Jay waved his arm around the living room. Carlos merely nodded and weakly smiled, the place looked awful and unsanitary. He found it hard to believe Jay would leave here. "Sorry, if the place is a mess. I haven't clean up yet."
Carlos gaped as he stared at the mess everywhere. "You have to clean up all this? By yourself?"
"Yeah. Otherwise, my dad would get mad me." Jay headed to his room, motioning Carlos to follow him. "And, this is my room! Don't worry is much cleaner than the living room."
Entering his room, Carlos couldn't help but wince at the sight. There was no bed, the window was boarded up with two by four wood, and lastly, the ceiling had cracks.
"Where's your bed?" he asked as he walked around the room.
Jay cleared his throat and pointed to the rug on the floor. Carlos made a 'oh' expression, that explains the pillow and blanket. "At least this room is clean." Was all Carlos could say. He didn't want to be rude or say something unnecessary.
"What about you? Where do you live?" Jay wondered as he slid against the wall on his rug, having his full attention for Carlos.
Pausing, "I actually don't know." Carlos admitted, "I have no memories of my past or where I came from." He sat down beside Jay against the wall.
"Really? I though ghost are supposed to get vengeance or haunt people." Jay joked, which caused Carlos to roll his eyes. "Look at me? Do I look like I can scare someone?"
"Good point." They were quiet for a few minutes before Jay spoke up. "So, what's the deal with your outfit?"
Carlos looked offended, "What's wrong with my outfit?! It's howler!"
Jay burst into laughter. "Howler? Dude, no one says that anymore!" He laid his head on the wall as he continued laughing. Carlos blushed in embarrassment. He already made himself look like a fool to his very first friend.
"Well, I still say it!" Carlos huffed, glancing away to avoid further embarrassment. "Anyway, this is my style. I love wearing black and white leather. Makes me look cool. Not like others who only wear pants and a hoodie." He looked at Jay to make his point, grinning.
"I'll have you know that this is the most comfortable thing to wear," Jay interjected, a smile forming on his lips. "But, you do dress awesome. It's like you're dress from the old times."
"Are you calling me old? I'm only fifth-teen!" He teased. "How old are you anyway, Jay?" Carlos shifted his legs so that they were on top of one another.
"I'm sixteen but in a few months I'll be seventeen," Jay stated, "I'm one step closer to leaving out of this place."
Carlos saw Jay's genuine expression, "You really want to get out of here, huh?"
"Yeah. I mean look at where I live, look at my room. My dad barely acknowledges me... I just want to get out of here and start working somewhere." Carlos wrinkled his noise in disgust.
"Work?" Carlos snorted. "You need to live out your life, Jay. You're still young." He folded his arms as he playfully glared at Jay.
"I know, but I'm not really good at living my life. I have no friends and barely do anything in school. You saw me getting beaten up today, what makes you think I can do anything?" Jay countered. He's just a boring teenager that hasn't done anything with his life yet.
Carlos smirked. "I'll teach you! Tell you what, from now on I'm going to help you. I'm going to help you excel from everything and be more approachable with people."
Jay chuckled. "I highly doubt that." He turned to his side to look at Carlos, but he was already gone.
"Just you wait and see." Carlos' voice echo throughout the room, follow by his laughter. Jay was in for a surprise.