Hi. I'm a terrible person. I updated this soooo late. I don't even know how many people read this, but I still feel terrible for not updating like a normal updater should... So here's chapter 2.

A cool breeze rustles through the pages of his book, but Nick could care less. So enraptured by the book in his hands, he wants to soak in every single line. To feel that sense of adventure the black print had to offer.

He knows that he'll never have the chance to actually feel the adventure. The risk. The danger. He was never the one to put his life on the line. So the only way that he will ever do that was through books and his vivid imagination.

Back home, Nick has a whole stack of books on his bedside table, ranging from mystery and suspense to adventure. The books in that stack never failed to impress him. Piled up high next to his bed, the stack had never gone less than four books.

Nick was currently sitting under the big lone oak tree at the other side of the park. The perfect place to isolate oneself from all the screaming and chitter-chatter from the park goers at this time of day. But in his mind he was in the world of the supernatural.

Vampires. Werewolves. Witches and wizards. Ghosts.

Eyes flying through the pages at an amazing speed.

Nick Duval always preferred reading over anything else really. He was never the one to strike up conversations. Never the one to go out and party, like the rest of the students at North Westerville High. He was – to put it lightly – anti-social. An introvert. But Nick liked it that way. He kept to himself, and that's how he liked it.

This lifestyle was alright with Nick, but there was always those times when he felt lonely. He had no friends, and Nick could never strike up the courage to make any. That was his problem. He couldn't make any friends. He didn't know how.

And Nick learned to live with it. It was just him and his books.

Too engrossed into the newest book he had just acquired, Nick did not notice a pale figure moving towards him, nor did his notice the look of pure curiosity upon its face.

Walking – or in Jeff's case, floating – wasn't an ideal activity for a ghost, like Jeff. It was boring, and it sucked. He didn't have anything else to do, considering that, in fact, he was a ghost. A ghost that still can't find his way through the twenty-first century. He was born in the late 1930's, and asking a random bystander for directions or help wouldn't be good for him or the person he encountered. He's done it before, and it didn't end well. He probably scarred that poor human for life. He shouldn't have told him that he was a ghost.

This encounter happened in 1978. A year when he finally had the courage to ask someone for help. And since then, Jeff decided to keep himself on the down low. He really didn't want a repeat of what happened.

And now, it's the year 2012, and Jeff's still clueless as ever. Thirty-four without any encounter with a human can do something to a…supernatural being. But it would be better that way. Right? At least he's not scaring anyone, so that's good.

Yeah. That's really good.

But all this loneliness was getting to him. Jeff never really liked being lonely, even when he was alive. It was getting too hard to bear.

All of his friends were dead or really old. He would know. He's attended his friends' funerals, not to be seen of course. And if he did meet up with one of friends right now, they would have died just by looking at Jeff. And the guilt that he killed someone would have taken over.

So Jeff was as lonely as ever.

No other ghost or supernatural being was around to keep him company. And Jeff could never wrap his mind around it. People died all the time, whether from sickness, accidents, or old age.

So where were all these dead people? Why hasn't Jeff seen one of their ghosts?

Oh, right.

Because they've all moved on to Heaven, the afterlife, or whatever.

And Jeff couldn't.

That's what sucks about Jeff. He's unable to move on because apparently he's one of those "special" cases.

He saw the light, and he knew where he was going to go as he walked towards it. But he was told that he was meant to stay on Earth for some bizarre reason unknown. A reason that even the person – or angel, doesn't matter – who told him didn't know either.

So he was brought back to the place where he died, watching the ruins of the old theater be demolished with every passing year.

He has been given one task and one task only before he came back down on Earth. A task he must accomplish in order to move on.

And that was to help someone find their path.

But Jeff didn't understand. How could a ghost help someone? What did this task mean? What was he supposed to do?

Millions of questions were asked. But the one question remained unanswered – well, to him, it was.

Who was he supposed to help?

They never told him. All they said to him was: "You'll know."

And with those two words, his was on solid ground, wearing the same clothes as he had died in. But they didn't look tattered or burnt. They looked as good as new, as they did before the incident.

You'll know.

Like that's going to help.

And still, after fifty-five years, Jeff still hasn't known who this person was. He didn't know it would take this long. Jeff has been wandering around the town of Westerville, Ohio, hoping to find the person he was supposed to help.

And all of sudden, there it was. This weird feeling in his chest, a nagging in his mind. It was like it was trying to tell him something. But he didn't know what.

He stopped to take a look of his surroundings. He was in the quiet – isolated – side of Westerville's only park. And there was a boy, around his age, sitting under the lone oak tree with a book in his hands.

And like an electric shock, Jeff finally realized. He knew what these feelings were telling him.

That boy over there.

He's the one.

Feeling a cold presence upon him, Nick slipped his hand into the book, saving his page, and looked up. What he saw took him completely off guard. Right before him was a boy smiling down at him. Nick didn't think this was normal. At all. Nobody in this town talked to him.

The boy couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen years old. He appeared young, but Nick didn't want to make any assumptions.

Nick discreetly did a onceover, raking his eyes on the newcomer, slowly taking in the boy's appearance.

His bright blonde hair, his pale skin that almost looked transparent, and his dark, dull brown eyes, which, despite the color, were shining with excitement. The smile plastered on this boy's face did not look fake at all, to Nick it seemed. So it was rather unnerving as the blonde boy continued staring down at Nick, who still had his back against the oak tree, book forgotten on his lap.

Nick quickly took in the mystery boy's simple clothing. Just a blue plaid shirt and some blue jeans. Nothing too flashy and bizarre about that.

Feeling a slight tension in his neck from looking up too long, Nick ducked his head down, completely uncomfortable by the other boy's stare. He decided to break the silence, the awkwardness and confusion too much to bear.

"Um…Hi. Who are you?" Looking back up, his eyes met those of the mystery boy's, still dull and brown as ever and so very uncomfortable. It was like he was staring straight into Nick's soul or something. It was just plain…creepy.

The boy's smile brightened – if that was even possible – and replied in a tone that perfectly matched the smile on his face.

"Hi! I'm Jeff!"

Nick's uncomfortable-level had risen an incredible amount as he had never seen a person so chipper, like this Jeff-guy.

It seemed like the boy in front of him had never talked to a person before or for like a really long time. The look on Jeff's face made Nick think that he had accomplished something by just talking to him. But talking to Nick would never be called an accomplishment. To other people, talking to Nick would have been a punishment.

So if this blonde guy, standing directly in front him, appeared to actually like Nick, then Jeff was new to this town. Completely new. Like just moved here kind of new.

But little did Nick know Jeff was indeed new, but just not the same kind of new he was thinking of. New to the century was more like it. And it was Jeff's first encounter with a human in a long time.

"Hi…I'm Nick," he said in an even tone, "Nice to meet you."

Nick then turned back all of his attention back to the book in his lap, hoping Jeff would just leave. He was completely comfortable in the peace and quiet he established before the overly-enthusiastic blonde came along. But unfortunately, luck was not on his side, and it never was. It was like some force on the face of this earth just wanted Nick to be miserable and make everything not go his way.

And right then and there, Jeff didn't go and leave the other boy alone, leaving Nick in his internal misery.

"Watcha doin' there?" Jeff asked as he plopped himself down next to Nick.

Nick really didn't want to talk to him. But seeing as Jeff didn't seem like he was leaving anytime soon, Nick just answered blatantly.

"Reading."

"Well, I can see that," Jeff rolled his eyes, gesturing to the book in Nick's hands.

"Well, you asked me what I was doing," Nick retorted, acting a bit defensive. And here he thought Jeff was actually being nice to him. He just came here to make fun of him, that's for sure.

Jeff sensed the defensiveness in Nick's tone, but didn't call him out for it, not wanting to aggravate the boy any further.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just thought you would tell me what you were reading," Jeff spoke softly. "That's all."

Nick's cheek tinted pink, as he blushed in embarrassment. He just made a complete fool out of himself in front a boy that was clearly not from here as far as Nick could tell. His assumptions were wrong.

"Oh…"

Jeff gestured to the book in Nick's hands. "So are you going to tell me what you're reading about…?"

Nick quickly recovered, covering up his embarrassment with a blunt response. "Oh, you know…stuff."

"Wow…stuff. That must be pretty interesting," Jeff drawled out sarcastically. He crossed his arms behind his head, leaning back against the tree trunk.

Nick chuckled at that, surprised that this boy was actually amusing and didn't appear that he wanted to hurt in any way.

"Yeah. It's pretty amazing."

The two boys laughed at that. As the laughter died out, the two fell into a comfortable silence. Something that Nick never thought would happen around Jeff. Another breeze blew by, and Nick went back to his book as Jeff stared out into the open. It was…nice.

It was still a mystery, though, as to why the pale blonde was here. Nick really didn't expect for another person to be here. No one actually went to this side of the park at this time of day.

But something still nagged at the back of his mind.

Why did Jeff have to notice me?

It was an unusual occurrence to have somebody notice you and not say hurtful or mean things at you. It was a change. A good change.

Glancing to his right, he noticed Jeff's eyes flitter across the back of the book jacket, reading the summary of Nick's book. Nick thought he heard him mutter something about ghosts under his breath, but he wasn't sure.

Nick moved the book slightly, taking Jeff out of his trance, or whatever it was.

"Huh?" Jeff blinked, looking back up at Nick.

"You kinda zoned out there."

Jeff shook his fringe out of his eyes as an attempt to clear his head, "Oh, yeah. I do that a lot." But he had a question that he was dying (no pun intended) to say right when the word 'ghosts' caught his eye.

"You're into the supernatural?"

Reviews are welcome.

Don't kill me if the next update will be done next year.