Mathew leaned over the back of the chair as Alfred talked a mile a minute about a ghost story he heard. "So, they say the ghost is around our age!" He explained excitedly, waving his arms. "They say he was always ignored by his classmates, then one day-" He made a sudden choking sound and jerked his neck to the side. His friends gasped. "He hung himself, right in this very classroom!" Yao, Alfred's Chinese friend, and a firm believer in ghosts, glanced around nervously. "You shouldn't say things like that! It's bad luck! You know ghosts know when you're talking about them?" Alfred's bravado faded in an instant. "Wait, really?" Mathew laughed. "Of course not, idiot." He told Alfred, but Alfred didn't seem to hear him, shaking in fear.
"That's like freaking scary, man!" Alfred looked terrified. Ivan, a schoolmate built like a rugby player, but with a sweet face, and a usually gentle attitude spoke up. "But why are you so scared of ghosts, Alfred? You aren't scared of haunted houses and zombies and stuff?" Alfred was shaking his head. "No, that's different! You can't punch a ghost!" "Wait, you punch the monsters in haunted houses?" Yao was horrified. "those are just people in costumes!" "Wait really?" Mathew face plamed at Alfred's dumbfounded expression. "No Alfred," he said sarcastically, under his breath. "there's real monsters that they import from hell just for Halloween."
Alfred suddenly shrieked as he recieved a sharp blow to his head from behind. "So it was your fault we got kicked out of the haunted house last fall!" Arthur Kirkland, Alfred's self-proclaimed "older brother" and his neighbour stood behind him scowling. "His best friend/rival, Francis, stood behind him, laughing a little at the exchange. Both were second years, while Alfred and his friends were only freshmans. " Now, now, "He soothed." No need to get violent, that's such an Alfred thing to do. " He leaned over Alfred's shoulder." What are you talking about anyways?" "The ghost of that kid who killed himself last year!" Alfred responded, a little too loudly, a little too cheerily. Instantly Francis turned cold.
"Suicide is not funny. That boy had family and friends who cared about him." He turned and stalked out of the room with a face masked in stone, something Mathew had never seen before on the normally nice, if not a little flirty, older boy . He swallowed a little past the lump that formed in his throat at those words, and resisted the urge to run after him and comfort him. After all, it wouldn't do any good. He looked at Arthur, pleadingly. "Please go after him, he needs you." Arthur smacked Alfred in the head again, except this time, the emotion was real. "You're so insensitive!" He hissed.
"Francis and they boy were really close before that happened, and he still blames himself for it!" With those angry words he too stomped out of the room, running after Francis. Mathew shook his head at the look on Alfred's face, a half self-pitying pout, half real chagrin. "Really now, can't you think before you act at all?" Mathew sighed. "That poor boy." Yao breathed, breathlessly, distraught. "We should burn some spirit paper for him." Ivan, choosing to be oblivious to the mood, simply changed the subject, suggesting they play a game of hockey after school.
Mathew like Ivan because they had similar interests. They both liked hockey, both came from cold places, as Mathew was Canadian and Ivan was originally from Russia, and they both seemed sweet until they got upset. Ivan's sudden proposal ruined the mood, and suddenly, it was noisy again, as Alfred laughed at him for being unable to read the atmosphere, although Yao still looked a little tense. "Nah dude, instead of playing hockey, why don't we come back here tonight!" Alfred suggested, forgetting his misdemeanor from only a few minutes ago. "We can see if the ghost really does exist!"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Alfred..." Mathew warned, but Alfred didn't hear. "if it's an evil ghost, Yao can beat it up with his Chinese magic spiritual stuff, and if it's nice, we'll make him our friend!" Yao, almost pitifully, added with a miserable sigh, "it's not magic. It's Ki." Alfred ignored him, pointing to Ivan, who just looked happy to be included. "And Ivan is our muscles in case of an emergency! Like if we get locked in, he can knock the door down and get us out." Ivan seemed perfectly fine with this role, and happily commented "I'll bring my metal pipe just in case." "And I'll get the key!" Alfred said happily. "Arthur's a total teachers pet, so he has an after hours key! I'll just swipe it!" He looked proud of himself for coming up with this idea.
"So it's decided!" America announced. "We'll all meet up here tonight!" Ivan beamed at this. "Da!" Yao, in turn, scowled. "You decided for us!" He snapped, but regardless, agreed to go. "Someone needs to keep you from destroying the school." He said, loftily, but not incorrectly. After all, Yao was definitely the most self controlled in the group. Mathew smiled, and couldn't help feeling excited. "Then, I'll see you all here tonight!" He said quietly, but excitedly.