She sat on the steps of the nasty old house that was the portal between Earth and Apex.
It creaked like crazy and reeked of old, moldy furniture.
But, there was no furniture there.
Just old floors, walls, and ceilings, and a set of stairs.
Nothing else.
She sighed as she began to walk across the floor. Although she was weightless, it creaked beneath her like she was two tons.
Her mood felt heavy.
She dragged herself across the floor until she heard the running engine of a car.
It turned off.
She crossed her arms and stepped across the floor a couple more times.
She heard a voice.
She stepped again.
Creaks flooded her ears. Not her own creaks, but other, unnatural creaks.
She felt a tear roll down her cheek.
Gabriella was scared.
What ghost was scared of humans?
Of what could she possibly be scared of?
A murderer, a rapist?
No.
A ghost?
She was one.
Nobody could see her, so she stood and waited.
A voice was followed by the door opening.
Troy.
"How the hell did you get here?" She said, raising an eyebrow.
He walked upon the creaking floors, right past her, and she stood behind him.
Out of curiosity, she said his name.
"Troy? She tried to grab his shoulder.
He froze.
She felt his shoulder tense under her hand.
Gabriella let go of his shoulder.
Finally, her screams of help were heard.
"TROY!" She screamed as loudly as she possibly could. In her world, the scream rumbled the house, but to Troy, it was just a whisper.
He turned.
He stared into her.
She quickly ran around to the front of him, scared that he had spotted her…
He turned back.
He backed up as a scream left his mouth. His eyes were wide, his mouth was wide open, and he hit the wall with a thud. His breathing increased and he was visibly shaking.
"Troy?" She walked towards him.
"GET THE HELL AWAY!" He yelled.
What she didn't know was that all he could see was a white silhouette of her body.
"Troy!" She sobbed and broke down. "You can hear me?"
"Go away!"
She got closer and touched his chest.
She could feel him shaking so hard that he could barely speak.
"It's Gabriella!" She cried out, trying to get through to him.
In his eyes, her features became clearer. The white mist was morphing into someone he knew…
"TROY!" She screamed directly into his face.
Troy's eyes got wide. "Gabriella?"
"Troy? Can you hear me?" She said, a little hope sparked in her body.
Her body became fully visible.
She stood there, looking like her normal self. She was dressed in her holey jeans and her favorite purple and black Aeropostale t-shirt that fit her just perfectly and hugged her torso in a sexy way. Her hair was brown and shoulder-length and straight, and her makeup was just like it was before she died. She still had on her sandals for the summer.
She looked like she did the day before she died, after she had Talon, but even skinnier as if she was never pregnant.
Her skinny, petite little self.
And she stared at Troy.
He had on his jeans and his grey and blue American Eagle shirt which he loved and wore at least twice or three times a week. His black sneakers fit his feet just right and his hair was still straight, short, and medium brown. His blue eyes still cut their way through her body.
His breathing increased even more. "Yeah, I can hear you!" He reached his hand out. "GABRIELLA!" He screamed.
"TROY!" She screamed back and grabbed his hand.
Electricity flowed through their hands and she could actually feel his hand, his skin, and his soft touch.
He could feel hers.
It was like she was a real person.
"Oh my god, Gabi!" He sobbed. "Is that really you? This is a dream, isn't it?"
"No, it's not!" She looked around. "I don't know how this happened! Thirty seconds ago, I was at your house, and now I'm standing in front of you, completely visible.
He touched her face, traced his finger along her cheek, and down her arm, entwining his fingers with hers.
"You didn't die, did you? You've been alive this entire time- "
"No, I am really dead! I don't know why this happened, but can you really see me?"
"Plain as day!" He looked into her eyes. "I don't care how this happened! I need you!"
Troy quickly pulled Gabriella into his arms.
She bursted into tears quickly and let herself melt within Troy, letting him hold her lost body, letting him cherish what he had not had in 14 months.
"Oh my god, baby… " He held the back of her head with his hand and kissed the top of her head.
"I missed you so much… " She sobbed.
"So did I… " He sighed and rocked her back and forth.
"I love you so much… " She looked up at him.
He leaned down and kissed her lips…
That kiss felt like no kiss he had ever felt before. It was passionate and so loving, it made them both melt.
He pulled back and ran his hand across her head, a couple tears falling from his eyes.
"Stay, please… " He kissed her running tears away.
"I don't know how long it will be until I go invisible again." She stroked his chest with her hand. "Are you going to be okay without me?"
"No, I want you to stay- "
"Make love to me." She looked back up at him with innocence in her eyes.
"What? Gabi, I just got you back- "
"Come on." She pulled away from him. "This is our last chance to be together. Please… "
He ran his hand across her side, thinking about them for a moment.
He then grabbed both her sides and gently lowered her to the floor.
And love grasped itself within their bodies.
…..
Troy and Gabriella lie side by side on the cold, hard wood floor. Both were out of breath.
Troy had his arms protectively wrapped around Gabriella's shivering, bare body. She curled around him and closed her eyes, burying her head into his chest.
"I love you… " She said. "I've been almost two years… "
"Since you had sex? Me too." He stroked her hair.
"I'm cold… " She nuzzled into his neck.
"Here… " He pulled her closer, letting her body push against her. She curled up in a ball.
He looked over at her. "Is there really a heaven?"
She smiled. "There's a heaven and there's a hell, and then there's a place called Apex."
"Apex?" He raised an eyebrow. "What's an Apex."
"Apex means the top of something in Latin. Apex is the place where freshly dead people go. If someone doesn't want to move on, they stay at Apex. You get anything you want in Apex, other than to be alive."
"Anything?"
"Anything. I have a zoo all to myself and my best friend and I share a huge stable together. I have a horse named Colt and two dogs named Clyde and Ella. Big dogs. If you want to move on, you either go to heaven or hell, depending on what your life was based on. In both heaven and hell, at some point, you are reborn into another person. You basically get a second chance, like reincarnation."
"Oh." Troy said. "Do you get any older there?"
"You keep aging, but you never die. And you always look the same unless you go to Earth, like me. I'm sixteen. Do I look sixteen?"
"Yeah, you do look a little older." Troy kissed her forehead. "Do you like Apex?"
"It's hell without you and our baby there."
He rubbed her back a little "Would I go to Apex if I died?"
She nodded.
"Should I kill myself to be with you?"
"No… You should live your life. You don't deserve to die… " She stroked his hair. "I don't know if I can live without you… " He ran his hand across her bare side, staring into her eyes. "Just look at you. You're beautiful, sexy, and gorgeous. I love you."
"I love you too… " She kissed his lips a couple times.
Their love would never break.