Chapter 3! Finally! Sorry it's been awhile. I just finished getting my CNA, and I've been getting my clinicals done and everything. So, sadly I didn't have much time for writing in between working, studying and just being plain exhausted. But I'm done! And I only got one question wrong on my 80 question final, so I'm pretty pumped. But anyway, I'm hoping that I'll have more time for writing now, so my updates shouldn't take so long. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chpater, I was in a super-focused writing mood today so I think it turned out pretty decent. Let me know :)
Disclaimer: Still. Own. Nothing.
Chapter 3: Ghost stories and decaf coffee
"So, what do we do now?" Jo asked. We all thought for a minute.
"Well I know a pretty scary ghost story." Kendall suggested. "No better time for ghost stories than a power outage during a thunderstorm."
"Actually I'd say that's probably the worst time for a ghost story" Carlos said.
"Oh come on, Carlos. They're just stories. None of its true." Logan said, trying to convince him. Carlos rolled his eyes and reluctantly said,
"Fine."
"Alright." Kendall said, starting into his story, "It's 1960, in the busy streets of New York… A young man named Matthew was walking to work when he bumped into a beautiful girl, Emma. Matthew instantly fell in love-"
"Is this a ghost story or a love story?" James joked.
"I'm getting there, okay?" Kendall shook his head in annoyance and kept on with his story, "But Emma didn't love him back. He followed her around everywhere, never leaving her alone, until she was forced to move. She left the state, but Matthew didn't give up. He searched for her every day, traveling all over the world, until he died in a car accident in 2005. But his spirit still lives on, haunting the Earth looking for his beloved Emma and killing anyone who gets in his way." He looked around at us, and while we were waiting for him to get to the actually scary part, he was waiting for our reactions.
"Is that it?" Jo asked him.
"Yeah…" Kendall said, with a 'well obviously' tone.
"Dude. Lame." James said.
"Way lame." Carlos agreed.
"My grandma could tell a better ghost story." James said, just adding insult to injury. Kendall was getting really aggravated.
"My grandma's cat could tell a better ghost story than that one." Carlos said.
"I'd like to see either of you do any better!" Kendall challenged. "You probably don't even know a single ghost story."
"I do too…" said Carlos. "There once was a man from Nantucket-" Logan smacked him in the arm,
"Dude, that's NOT a ghost story!" he said.
"Oh yeah…" he thought for a few seconds, "Well, I'm out."
"See?" Kendall said.
"Too bad Stephanie isn't here, she would have great ghost stories for us." Logan said, and instantly I was irritated. I have been trying to work on my jealousy issues, but when it comes to Logan I just can't help it. It's like some crazed maniac takes over my mind and I won't listen to reason. When he talks to other girls, or even about other girls, I get a little jealous. But this wasn't just any other girl. This was a girl who not only was very pretty, but lives under the same roof and I can tell by the way she looks at him that she likes him. So when it came to Stephanie I wasn't just a little jealous, I was insanely jealous. So when he said he wished Stephanie was here, I wanted- no, needed- to prove him wrong.
"We do not need Stephanie here!" I said to him.
"I'm just saying you know, she played a ghost, creates horror stories… She would have some scary stories for sure." He said.
"Well so do I, and it's better than anything that Stephanie could come up with." I said, her name tasting like vinegar on my tongue.
"Well don't hold out on us, Camille." Kendall said. "Let's hear it."
"Okay…" I said, racking my brain for a ghost story. I was having a minor freak out, but using my acting skills to do whatever I could not to show it, because I didn't know any ghost stories! What had I gotten myself into? I just said I had this really scary ghost story, but I have nothing. I guess I was just going to have to make one up on the spot. "This story is also about a man and a woman who were madly in love, Amelia and Henry. They had a June wedding in a little church in their hometown. White and pink daisies, white silk streamers flowing across the ceiling, all of their family and friends gathered around them to share in the most beautiful ceremony any of them had ever seen. Henry had even surprised Amelia by hiring the most talented (and expensive) professional photographer in the area. Amelia had told Henry that she didn't want pictures, because the pictures in their memory would be better than any real ones. Which was a romantic thought, but Henry knew she would feel differently in the future."
"Camille, is this part of the story really necessary? We don't need to hear about their whole wedding." Carlos said.
"Yes you do, it's important. So, after their wedding Henry moved into Amelia's house. He came home from work early one day and found a package on their doorstep. It was their wedding photos. He went inside and sat at the kitchen table to look at them. He opened the package and found a note. It said 'Henry, this is really strange. I don't know what's going on, but I hope you do.' Henry didn't know what he was talking about, so he took the album out of the box and opened it up.
The first page was just a picture of the ceremony at the church. The left side of the church was packed with people, his family. The right side of the church had been packed with Amelia's family, but there was no one in the picture. He was starting to get a little freaked out. He had hoped that it was just a prank, that the photographer had convinced his family to go back into the church after the ceremony to take this picture to scare him.
He turned the page, and there was fancy cursive writing that said, 'The Bride'. But the picture was just a tree. Then Henry noticed something. Amelia's bouquet of pink and white daisies were floating mid-air next to the tree. Now Henry was getting pretty scared. 'Okay' he thought, 'This is just another prank picture. Maybe he just used fishing line to tie the bouquet to a tree branch so it would look like they are being held. Yeah, that's got to be it.' He tried to steady his breathing, his heart was running a mile a minute.
He turned the page again. It was a picture of him, sitting in the shade next to the tree. His arm was held out like it was supposed to be around someone, but again no one was there. This one proved it wasn't a prank. Henry remembered this picture being taken. Amelia had been sitting right next to him.
Henry got up from the table and rushed upstairs. He grabbed a suitcase and started throwing clothes and his other belongings in it. All the sudden he heard a clap of thunder!" Right as Camille said that, there was a real boom of thunder. Carlos and James screamed, but Camille kept right on with the story. "Henry went to the window and looked outside. The sky, which had been bright blue and sunny when he got home only minutes ago, was now a sickly greenish grey color. But it wasn't raining, and with the exception of the occasional clap of thunder, it was eerily quiet.
He went back to packing, knowing he had to get out of there, and fast. He zipped up the suitcase and was getting ready to leave when he heard a creaking sound coming from the staircase. His heart was beating out of his chest, he was sweating uncontrollably, he was breathing so fast it felt like he was gasping for air. He heard the noise again, and he knew someone was in his house. He grabbed the baseball bat from under his bed, not knowing what else to do. The footsteps got louder and louder as they got closer and closer."
Camille looked around at her friends, who all looked completely terrified. She couldn't believe this was working. "He could hear someone right outside the room. The person stepped in the doorway and Henry started to swing the bat, until he realized it was Amelia. He dropped the bat on the floor, relieved to see his wife, in all his terror he had forgotten about the wedding pictures. Then he remembered and yelled at her, 'Who are you? Or, what are you? Our wedding pictures came in today, Amelia. And do you want to know the funny part? You're not in any of them!'
Amelia looked at him and said, 'I told you not to take any pictures. Now you've gone and screwed everything up. My family and I are ghosts, Henry. But we're different. Visible to the human eye, but not possible of being captured on film. And I can't have you revealing our secret to the world, so now I am forced to do something I never wanted to do.' She picked up a vase off of the bedside table and hit it against the wall, breaking off the top half and leaving jagged edges of glass.
Henry quickly scanned the room, looking for an escape. His eyes landed on the window, and although he was on the second floor, he knew it was his only choice. He dove through the closed window, cutting up his arms and face, but somehow landed safely on the ground. He ran, as fast and as far as he could. Amelia didn't go after him, but she destroyed the evidence of the wedding pictures and left town.
Henry tried to live a normal life, but was placed in a mental hospital weeks later, diagnosed with early dementia. To this day he walks around his room, muttering about ghosts walking the Earth. No one ever believed him, and the only reason I know of his story is because… Well, Camille isn't my real name, it's Amelia." This time not only did James and Carlos scream, but they got up and ran out of the room. Camille cracked up laughing.
"Okay. That was awesome." Kendall said.
"Terrifying." Jo said, shuddering.
"You seriously had my heart racing." said Logan. "You're right, I don't think Stephanie could top that."
"Well, good acting skills come in handy when telling a scary story." I said. "Maybe someone should go get the scaredy cats out of their room?" Kendall and Jo got up and went to their door, which was locked, and tried to convince them it was all made up.
"That could take awhile." Logan said to me with a smile.
"Want to go make some coffee?" I suggested.
"Coffee? It's almost 11:30 at night. We won't be able to get to sleep if we have coffee right now." He lectured. He always has to be the sensible one.
"Fine." I paused. "We'll make decaf." I said, determined to get my way. I hopped up and grabbed his hand pulling him up, too. We walked into the kitchen and I was deliriously happy when Logan didn't let go of my hand after I he had stood up. But he did let go when I walked to the coffee pot to turn it on. He sat at the table while I walked around the kitchen, getting out two mugs, two spoons and our favorite cinnamon vanilla creamer. The coffee pot beeped as I sat everything on the table. I put the coffee pot on a hot pad that was sitting on the table and sat down. We both poured a cup, added creamer, and started sipping our coffee. We weren't talking, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence.
"I really missed you." He said suddenly.
"I really missed you, too." I said with a small smile.
"You know, I've never felt this way with someone before." He said, then looking away quickly, like he was embarrassed or something. It was too adorable.
"And which way is that?" I asked.
"I don't know, I've never felt this way before, remember?" he joked. I laughed,
"Oh yeah. Well describe it for me, it's my job to portray emotions, so maybe I'll know."
"Okay, well… when I'm with you it's like… like…" he sighed with frustration.
"Come on. Just tell me. What's going through that pretty little head of yours?" I teased.
"You just have this effect on me, it's like this automatic… feeling. Like I'm the happiest I've ever been. And when you're not around, even if I'm having a good time, I'm never as happy as that." I honestly think my heart stopped. I forgot to breathe. Did he really just say that? Did Logan, the guy I've been crazy in love with for months, just tell me that he's happiest when he's with me? It took me a few seconds to snap back to reality, but when I did I realized he was looking at me, like he was waiting for my response.
"Logan, that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. And the thing is, you just described exactly how I feel when I'm around you." And before I realized what was happening we were leaning in closer to each other. I immediately had butterflies in my stomach, I was excited but nervous at the same time. We were mere centimeters away from kissing when,
"Camille! Logan! Come on, we're going to watch a movie!" Carlos yelled. We both sighed and stood up, going to join our friends. I couldn't believe our moment had just been ruined. When we walked into the living room Jo eyed us suspiciously, like she knew something was up.
"What were you two doing?" she asked.
"Having coffee." I replied.
"At 11:30 at night?" Kendall asked, clueing in on the suspicion.
"It was decaf." Logan defended.
"Riiight…" Kendall said sarcastically. He and Jo turned back around and Logan and I glanced at each other, trying to suppress smiles.
"So what movie are we watching?" I asked.
"Right now it's tied. Kendall and I want to watch I Love You Man and James and Jo want to watch 50 First Dates." Carlos said.
"I Love You Man." Logan and I both said.
"Well it's settled then. Let's start the movie!" Kendall said. We all laid on our sleeping bags, and I was even more happy than before that mine and Logan's were right next to each other.
Within forty five minutes everyone was asleep except Logan and myself. Carlos started snoring, loudly, so Logan paused the movie.
"I can't even hear it, can you?" he asked.
"Not at all."
"Maybe we should go to sleep?" he suggested, but sounding like he was hoping I would have a better idea. I thought for a second, but couldn't think of anything.
"I guess so." I said, reluctantly. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but I was restless. And apparently so was Logan, he kept rolling around repositioning, like he couldn't get comfortable. After another minute that felt like an eternity, I sat up.
"I'm not tired."
"Me either." He agreed.
"What are we going to do?" We both thought for a few moments, with only Carlos' snores breaking the silence.
"I have an idea!" he said, excited.
"What?" I asked curiously.
"How do you feel about pulling some pranks?" he said with a devilish grin.
"Oh, I'm so in."
This chapter is a bit longer, too. Let me know how it was! Oh, and I wrote the ghost story myself, so if it sucks I apologize. I've never written a ghost story before, but I tried to channel my inner Edgar Alan Poe. Haha.