Me: Hey everyone! Welcome to chapter two!

Danny: I hope you enjoyed the last one, which was actually kind of a prologue, although we forgot to mention that. Whoops…

Me: The story really starts to get a plot in this chapter, with a teeny bit of angst mixed in with some other stuff.

Danny: Well then, hope you like this one!

Me: Replies to the two lovely people who reviewed yesterday, taking the time during Christmas day to comment on my story:

Oak Leaf Ninja: Thank you very much! And I love your pen name. Ninjas are so cool XD

Hdjs: Thanks! Here's the next one!

Christmas Present, Chapter 2

Dinners were always strangely formal at my house when it was just me and Dad, even though we usually got along so well. We sat at opposite ends of the mahogany table with a bottle of wine for my father set in the middle. The one out for him at that moment was half-filled with deep red liquid. His glass contained another portion of it and the rest, I guessed, was in his stomach. I had bandaged my knee as soon as I got home and not told my father anything, for reasons which I didn't even understand myself.

Dad shuffled in his seat, visibly worried. I knew for a fact that he only drunk alcohol to dampen his anxiety, so something of significance was clearly troubling him.

I looked up at Dad, trying to work out what could be wrong. He shuffled again, this time clearly aware of my gaze.

"Paulina," he said hesitantly, "me and your mother have decided something together."

"Decided together?" I sat up straight, curious, "so you've spoken to her recently?"

"Yes," he replied, "over the phone. But I don't think it's the kind of news you'd be expecting, sweetie."

"And?" I asked, wanting him to get the point but nervous about what he could say, "what did you talk about then?"

"Well," he spoke softly, "we've decided that we don't want to be together anymore."

My eyed widened and I felt the whole world collapse around me. The dining room suddenly seemed twice the size and Dad looked tiny compared to it, just like how I felt. Mum and Dad… were splitting up? What was I supposed to say to that? It was just so… sudden.

"You're… you're… getting a divorce?" I stammered the only logical sentence that was swimming around inside my head.

Dad refused to look me in the eye. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on his dinner and didn't make an effort to look up. "We've decided it's for the best. Best for you I mean. Me and your mother hardly ever see each other anymore, Paulina, and we're aware of the pressure that it puts on you. It just doesn't work. But we both love you and it's… not your fault. That's all I want you to know, OK? It's not your fault, Paulina, it's not your fault." He kept saying those words over and over again, as if they meant comfort to him, to convince himself that I would be OK about it all.

"Don't worry, it's alright," I said quietly, my eyes beginning to water, "I completely understand, Dad." And with that I set my cutlery back down on the table and stood up.

"We are you going?" he asked, startled, as he watched me leave.

"To my room," I answered as simply and abruptly as I could, my voice breaking at the end.

I ran out of the room and up the stairs towards my bedroom.

When I got there, I threw myself onto the bed, my head buried in the pile of pink feathered pillows and my hands around my doll. It was one of the few things other than clothes Mum had brought back with her after long business trips and I held it sacred. I always used to dress it up in things that were too small for me. And now I probably wasn't going to see her again, let alone get any more stuff.

I knew I never usually paid too much attention to Mum but now she was really gone and I had no idea what to do. I didn't feel particularly sad, it was just more the shock of it all that was getting to me.

And how would I tell Star and my other friends? My main reason for my popularity was Mum's job. Having a mother who was the head of a modelling agency to everyone else was amazing and they all looked up to me because of it. Now she was gone I wasn't sure what was going to happen socially to me. Would she come back to our house to say goodbye, or would she move straight out? Would she stay for Christmas, or just send a card? Would she move to far away for me to visit her regularly? Or at all? Or even worse, would I have to go with her and leave my friends behind?

I didn't think I could cope with that.

Everybody knows that starting a new school in the middle of a year was hard. And how long would it take me to climb the popularity ladder again? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? I honestly didn't know how I would get by without all of that attention.

And not forgetting Inviso-bill. He would protect me if I moved away. He would stay right here in Amity Park. After all, people say that the town was his haunt, his obsession. A ghost might not have the ability to survive away from the last piece of evidence they hold of their previous life. But he seemed so strong. He didn't act like other ghosts, as I had experienced. But what made him so different? Why did he choose to help people instead of hinder them? To me, he was a hero, not a villain. The way he had helped me with my knee and stayed by my side for as long as he could – no evil ghost would have done that. And then he went straight back to fighting again. Maybe if I tried hard enough, I could be as strong as him.

Which was funny in the sense that I was older than him – well, appearance-wise. He could have been a thousand years old for all I knew. But he did act like he was only fourteen, so I wasn't too sure.

"Paulina!" my dad's voice came from the other side of my locked bedroom door, "let me in. Please, we need to talk about this properly, sweetie."

"You already told me what was going to happen!" I felt anger boil up inside of me. I was being horrid, I knew that, but for some reason I just couldn't help it.

"I just wanted to explain to you that you're staying right here with me," his voice was blunt, defeated, "I've decided it's better that way. You won't have to go through the process of making new friends again. I know you're happy at Casper."

I grunted in agreement and rolled over to face the window, still refusing to let Dad in. In the distance I could see the tiny, floating figure of the Ghost Boy fighting again. Wouldn't it be amazing to fly? Total, complete freedom. The perfect solution to every worry and every problem. Being a ghost must have been so cool, minus the dead part.

Sliding out from the blankets, I walked over to my phone, which I had set down on a small table next to my TV earlier when I arrived home. I knew it was late, but I needed to speak to someone. And there was only one person who would listen to me if I refused to talk to Dad.

"Hello?" I heard Star's tired voice as she picked up.

"Hi Star, it's me," I said, unsure exactly what I was supposed to say.

"Paulina?" her voice perked up a bit slightly when she recognised me, "it's so late. Why are you calling me? You haven't forgotten anything at my place, have you?"

I couldn't tell if she was angry or not to hear from me at one o'clock in the morning. It had taken me and Dad so long to get home and we'd had dinner only just after midnight.

"I…I just wanted to check if you're OK," I lied, "there was a massive ghost attack on the way home, and-"

"I'm absolutely fine, Paulina. Can I please go back to sleep now? You're my best girlfriend and all, but…"

"Yeah, I get it," I replied when she stopped in the middle of her sentence, "I think I'll hang up now, OK? 'Night."

"'Night," she said sleepily.

Yawning, I set my phone back down again and walked slowly up to the window, sliding on my slippers as I went. There was no way I was going to get any sleep tonight, that was for sure.

"Paulina, sweetie?" Dad's voice sounded again from the other side of my bedroom door, "who were you talking to just now? I hope you didn't try to wake Star up again."

Ignoring him, I continued to look out of the window up at the dark sky. The Ghost Boy was still there. Did ghosts ever get tired? Could he go on fighting forever and never wear out? He wouldn't ever get out of breath, I knew that for sure. Everyone knew that ghosts didn't breathe. They were dead, after all.

I stayed still until I heard a defeated sigh from my dad and the sound of fading footsteps.

Cautiously, I tiptoed over to my door and unlocked it, opening it up just enough see get a good view of the hall. It was completely empty.

Dad had obviously given up trying to comfort me. Not that he had done a good job in the first place, mind.

I then opened the door fully, being careful to do it extra slowly so that it wouldn't creak. Stepping outside, I shuffled quietly along the corridor and down the stairs.

The door to the front room was closed and I could hear the muffled sound of the TV coming from inside it.

Sneaking past, I reached for my coat and boots, then I slipped them on. I knew I was going to go outside, probably to head towards Inviso-bill. That was all I could think of to do. My brain never regarded the time and before I knew it, I was opening the front door and stepping out into the cold night, walking down the street and not knowing exactly which way I was going to go.

Danny: And… le fin…. On le cliffy.

Me: Awww, Danny's trying to do French! How cute XD

Danny: *grumbles* I would just trying to add variety. I say the same thing every chapter, Hayden.

Me: Fair enough. And remember guys, review! It's the only way I know if you like it or not!

Danny: Bye for now! See you tomorrow!