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Troy watched the grave so closely that he thought that the image would be imprinted on his memory forever. But around two in the morning, even Troy was tired. Gabriella was already asleep, and Troy joined her.
He awoke not half an hour later to a rustling sound. Immediately, Troy was awake and watching. Then from behind the grave stepped a figure who looked startlingly familiar.
"Ch-Chad?" Troy gasped, unable to believe his own eyes.
The figure stepped towards him. If Troy had been a little less "out of it" he might have realized that the ghost never showed its face. But that didn't matter.
"Chad, man I'm so sorry!" he said , speaking in a whisper without meaning to. The ghost drew back, startled.
"Why?" it asked, and Troy noticed that the voice was much, well, higher, then he'd remembered it. That also didn't matter.
Troy was surprised. "For killing you! I pushed you into that counter, Chad. You didn't deserve to die." Troy's voice cracked.
The ghost looked away, across the graveyard. "Does anybody deserve to die?" the voice was still raspy. And something else, too. Sadness?
"No," Troy agreed, looking at the tombstones as well. "Nobody deserves to die, 'cause everybody's somebody's baby..." his voice trailed off, the became bitter.
"And everybody's somebody's best friend."
The figure knelt next to Troy. "Listen, you can't keep doing this. You have to, you know, get over it."
Troy was taken aback. "How could I just get over it? Everybody's asked me to get over it, but you know, Chad? You had it easy; dying means you don't have to live through life, knowing somebody's never going to be able to do it."
The ghost's voice became cold. "Others have suffered, Troy. How about my parents? And the team?"
Troy hadn't thought about them. "I don't know."
The ghost seemed to be getting frustrated. "I know that you don't know. Troy? You remember that movie we saw a while back? With that little guy? He was right, you know, you can't be sad about the past, or you'll suffer it forever."
Troy slammed his fist to the ground. "I don't want to forget."
The ghost boy knelt down and touched Troy, "You won't have to." The ghost backed up and stood next to the coffin, leaving Troy gaping at it.
A transition chapter, by the way. Review!