Ophelia didn't think those things she heard about being in a relationship was true until she was with Richard. They have been dating for a couple weeks now, and they were the happiest weeks she ever remembered having. She wanted him to be by her side, and there he was. She wanted someone to talk to, and so he listened. She wanted someone that she felt safe with, and that is how he made her felt. She wanted someone who she knew would be safe near her, who better than someone who's already dead? Everything that she would ever want in a boyfriend, he was just that. It was if he was made for her.
She was starting to adjust to the kissing, too, just a little. After a few more times, she managed to handle and process the bits of his psyche that would flood in. They became whole memories, thoughts, dreams, things that she assumed had happened when he was alive, things that she couldn't tell he was fully aware of. It was in those moments of looking over the bits and pieces that were the very essence of her main squeeze that the small, dark cloud hovered across the golden horizon that was her love life: the guilt of knowing too much. What if she accidentally said something about what she saw? How was she to explain how she had learn that? How can she explain her insight, a thing, like many things about herself, that she has tried so long and so hard to keep anyone from knowing, even her parents? Which led her to another, equally great fear: what if she ends up telling too much about herself?
Those fears swam across her mind when she was away from him. But then, somehow, when she was near him, those fears were extinguished like a flame, and she wanted to do nothing but be with him.
Right now, they were in the park. Ophelia had her head on his lap and he was stroking her hair.
"What are you thinking of?" Richard asked.
Ophelia smiled and looked up at him.
"Oh, just that I'm lucky to have you."
"That is exactly what I was thinking. Methinks our minds doth fall in sync."
"Methinks you need more tutoring sessions."
He bent down and kissed her. She let the new information come in, enjoying the things she saw. He pulled away and combed his fingers through her hair.
"You are the most beautiful creature in the world. You should let other people see that."
"Why? The only people that matter already know."
"How do you know who matter and who don't at a glance? And how are people suppose to know and love the real you if you hide yourself away?"
"I let myself show to those I can trust."
"And how do you know that they can be trusted?"
Ophelia eyes flashed as she gave a knowing smile.
"I can just see it."
His ran his fingers through her hair and leaned in for another kiss.

"Looks can be deceiving." He breathed when he pulled away.

"So, Ophelia, where's Richard?"
Ophelia came out of her dream-like state. She then remembered that she was hanging out with Owen in the art room.
"Hmm? Oh, he had to stay in to make up a history test."
"Weren't you tutoring him in History?" He said as he applied another stroke of paint to his canvas.
"I am, but-"
"Don't move!"
"Whoops."
She then remembered that she was modeling for his painting while she waited for Richard.

"For a girl who's technically half dead, you sure move a lot."
"For a boy who spends most of his time painting, you sure do it slowly."
"Painting takes a lot of time, a lot of focus. You can't simply push a button and sick it on a frame."
Ophelia's eyes flashed.
"Are you belittling my medium, Mr. Dodgeson?"
Owen looked up to the ceiling innocently.
"I didn't say anything."
"You better not." She said in a joking mutter.

Owen smiled at her before going back to his painting.
"You know, this is probably the first time we've hung out together since you started going out with Waltz."
Ophelia raised an eyebrow.
"No, really? That couldn't be right."
"It is, in fact I don't think anyone has seen much of you lately. You're always with Richard, I was starting to think you forgot you had a life outside of him at all."
"I'm not always with Richard." She defended.
"Right, I forgot about those ever small windows where he flunks a test or you're home asleep, but none of those are you with your friends."
Ophelia glared at him with smoldering eyes.

"Jeez, aggressive much?"
"You would be too if you were losing your friend."

"No one's lost anyone, Owen. So what if I forgot to talk to some people for a few days, it doesn't mean I haven't completely lost touch with the outside world."
"Oh really, did you know that Darcy met with a breeder for Baskerville? Or that Mick and Wal published one of their comics on the web? Do you even know that Em broke her wrist blading yesterday?"
Ophelia's eyes went wide.
"Em broke her wrist!?"

"That's exactly my point, Ophelia, you have completely disappeared. We've lost you to Waltz."
"Well, I'm sorry, forgive me if I thought about my own happiness first for once in my life! After all this time doing everything for you guys, you think you would at least be happy for me and Richard!"
"I am happy for you! I'm just saying we can both be happy without you being around Richard all the time."
Both turned to the door when they heard a knock. Richard stood in the threshold with his knuckles to the frame.
"Am I interrupting something?" Richard said innocently.
Owen dropped his brush into a cup of water, causing the water to splash and spill over.
"No, we were just finishing up. Go ahead and take her."

Confusion sprawled across Richard's face, completely oblivious to any reason for Owen's foul mood. He soon shrugged it off and turned to Ophelia.
"You ready to go, dearest?"
"Sure thing, Richard." Ophelia scampered off of the little platform Owen had put her on and straight to Richard. She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"How was the make up test?"
"I think it went well, more than I can say for him. What happened?"
Ophelia turned back to Owen. He was putting away his paint set and taking his cup of brushes to the sink for a thorough cleaning.
"Nothing, nothing happened. Let's go."
Richard smiled. He took her hand and led her away. Ophelia looked back to the classroom. She couldn't help but feel guilty for what she had said to Owen, she didn't mean to get him upset. Perhaps she'll apologize to him tomorrow, if he'd still talk to her, that is.

"Cujo, come back here!"
Once again, Cujo had escaped his leash and is running rampant across town. And like every time he runs off, Ophelia was the one who had to chase after him before he could cause significant damage. He made his way to the park when she started gaining on him. She pounced and grabbed him and they both rolled into the bushes. While Ophelia was still flat on the ground, Cujo stood on top of her and suffocated her in affectionate slobber.
"Come on, Cujo, stop it." Ophelia giggled. Cujo made a playful yip before he jumped off her and ran off again. Ophelia picked herself off the ground and headed in the same direction he went off to.
"If you weren't the cutest little devil, you would be in the ghost pound by now." Ophelia said with a laugh.
She went through the bushes until a faint light came to her eyes. She saw the light was from one of the many street lamps that lined the concrete path of the park. Underneath the light she saw a bench with two people entangled in each other's embrace. She turned invisible, embarrassed by spying on such an intimate moment. She saw Cujo scampered in front of the couple, sitting up in his eager "play with me" position. He let out a single bark that startled the couple. They pulled away from each other, the sight of the boy made Ophelia's heart shatter.

It was Richard… her Richard…. her Richard… was in the park at nighttime…. kissing another girl.
She shot her hand to her mouth. She had a desperate need to breath, but the air choked in her throat.
It had to be someone else, someone that looked like him. It couldn't be him. She kept telling herself that over and over but she couldn't deceive herself. It was really him.

Kitty and Trix found her deep within the Ghost Zone. She had beside her a box of things which she would take out, throw up in the air, and try to shoot it with her ghost rays. The masses of floating debris and handful of unharmed objects told the two that she had been there for quite a while.
"Phé, what are you doing all the way out here so late?" Kitty scolded, "You're mother called me to ask where you were, she's worried sick about you."
Ophelia said nothing, she just continued to pull stuff out of the box to shoot.
"Ophelia, are you even listening to me? Ophelia!"
"Perhaps we should call Richard," Trix suggested, "he'd certainly calm her down."
At the sound of his name, Ophelia calmed from her anger and stopped shooting. Tears swelled, her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Kitty and Trix immediately ran to her side.
"Nice going, Trixie."
"What did I do? All I did was mention Richard-"
Ophelia cried harder. The ghost girls exchanged looks.
"Ophelia, did something happen between you and Richard."
Ophelia couldn't stop sobbing.
"He-he…I saw…kissing…cheating…on me!"
"What!"
"Cujo…park…bushes…other. girl…"
"It's okay, you don't have to tell us any more."
The three of them sat on the ground looking ahead at the empty space beyond the desolate rock.
"I can't believe he'd do that to you. I mean, after all you did for him. And you two seemed to really like each other."
"You should have seen them at school, they're practically inseparable."
"Apparently we weren't if he found some other girl to suck face with!" Ophelia screeched. She hugged her knees. Her eye glass from the tears that kept trickling down her cheeks.
"What did I do wrong, you guys? Did I not give him enough? That girl looked like a junior, did he think I was too young for him? Not pretty enough? Why did he even want to be with me in the first place!" She dried her eyes. With a sniffle, she added: "Maybe, maybe I'm just not human enough."

Trix and Kitty's eyes met. Kitty rubbed Ophelia back in a soothing, comforting motion.
"Hey, Ophelia, hey, it's not your fault. You've done nothing wrong, you're-"
"If you're going to give me the 'you're perfect just the way you are' speech, I'd rather not hear it right now."
"Fine, I'll just get to the bottom line: Richard's a jerk. He's a creep and a lying pig. You deserve better, way better."
"He should never show his face around the Ghost Zone again," Trix said, "If he knows what's good for him."

"Wait until your old man deals with him," Kitty said, "He'd wish he never laid eyes on that other girl."
Ophelia let out a small laugh.
"That does make me feel a little better."
"There you go. You wanna keep destroying his stuff."
Ophelia nodded.
"Here, we'll throw them for you. Just give us the word."
Ophelia smile and nodded again.
Trix grabbed the box and both she and Kitty pulled out something to throw.
"So, what are you going to do?" Trix asked.

Ophelia smiled her mischievous smile that both of the girls came to know so well.
"You'll see tomorrow. Pull!"

Richard didn't see Ophelia at school that morning. It worried him greatly since they would always meet up in the morning before class. What if she got sick and had to be put under quarantine? What if a bus hit her before she could turn intangible? What if she got abducted and held hostage while under obligation of the Contract, again.

He asked her friends, they didn't know. Owen, that boy who had that desperate crush on Ophelia, gave him an evil glare.

"Did I do something wrong?" Richard asked.

"I don't know, did you?" Owen said with a bite Richard never knew he had.

"What are you talking about?"
"I'm just saying that you two spend a lot of time together, a lot of time. Maybe during that time you would see what could've made her cry so much."

"Cry?"

"The Fentons' house is right next door to mine. Ophelia's room is right across the way from mine. When she cries, I hear it, and a heard a lot of crying last night. With your name mentioned between the tears."

"My fair Ophelia is upset with me? I did not do anything." At least not anything she knows about.

"Listen, Ophelia's my best friend. I've known her longer than you have, three months sure, but it's still longer. She's a nice, caring, sensitive girl, and I wouldn't want to see her heart get broken by a jerk like you. So, as her friend, I am warning you. If you've done anything to hurt her, if you ever do anything to hurt her, I will hurt you worse."

"Such words for someone who claims to be just her friend." Richard said with a sly smile.

Owen's face flushed.

"Excuse me?"

"I know pine for her. Ophelia knows as well. The fair she tried to hide our relationship so it wouldn't break your little heart. I couldn't care less about how your adoration for her, because you are no threat to me. She is mine, and I am hers. I have won the suit, and you just have to live with that." Owen was taken aback by the comment. Richard let out a light chuckle before he continued. "Your threats are cute, but we both know that she would do anything to protect the people she cares about. Imagine what she does when she loves them."

Owen's face darkened. Now he looks like he could pose a real threat.

"She doesn't love you."

But not a good threat.

"I think she does, and I think you cannot handle it. And if you cannot handle seeing her sweet face smile because of me, then I advise you never see her face again. So if you will excuse me, I need to find my sweetheart. Do you not hear her lips just begging for mine?"

He walked away, leaving a stunned Owen standing at the steps. He scoured the halls, finding no sign of her. When the bell rang, alerting him that he had five minutes to get to his first period class, he finally saw her. She was with her human girl friends, talking to them happily as ever. He didn't understand what Owen was talking about. She didn't look like she had spent the whole night crying over him, she looked perfectly happy. The girls dispersed as soon as they heard the bell. Ophelia eyes finally fell to him. Her eyes flashed with a sweet yet icy smile. It was her mischievous smile she would give to someone in her fights. He had never seen in directed at him. Now he was worried.

"Richard."

It was Courtney, the girl he was seeing on the side. His eyes widened in surprise as he glanced back at Ophelia's direction. She was gone. He was relieved. The last thing he needed was for Phé to see the other girl, especially since he had worked so hard for her not to know she even existed.

"Oh, hello Courtney." he asked while cooling his nerves. He just then notice Courtney's anger. "Is something wrong?"

He then noticed the box in her arms. It had an enveloped taped to the top of it with his name written in neat little cursive letters. Ophelia's neat little cursive letters.

"That Phantom girl just walked right up to me, handed me this box and said 'Give this to my ex-boyfriend Richie, he's all yours now.' Is there something you're not telling me? Were you really her boyfriend?"

Richard ignored her and took the envelope from the box. He opened it to find a note in equally neat cursive letters as the ones on the envelope.

We're through.

Here's your stuff back.

-Ophelia

"Hello? Richard, I'm talking to you! What is going on! Have you been seeing someone else? Or was I the someone else?"

He put the note back in the envelope. He took the box from Courtney.

"It is nothing for you to worry about. I'll see you later, okay?"

He walked off, leaving her screams of protest behind him. When he got to his locker, he opened the box. Just like the note said, it was all the stuff he left behind in her house. Or at least, what was left of them. They were all burned and broken into pieces, as if they were al shot by lasers. Or a ghost ray. He could hardly tell what was left in the rubble.

Irritated, he shut the box and opened his locker to put it away. When he opened the door he was toppled over by the many ashes and burned objects inside. A good amount were pictures of him with Ophelia. Some were intact, but some were just borders and a big hole where a ghost ray shot through. When he sat up, a note fluttered onto his lap. He picked it up and read it.

Here's all my stuff that I don't want anymore.

P.S.-

I left the hero shots intact in your new girlfriend's locker.

Thought she should know.