“Where do you wanna go?”
“Someplace without people.”
“My fraternity has met a few times in Blachley.” he pointed.
“No, not Blachley.” We made our way to the doors.
“Cool, no Blachley. How about Jewett. No one is ever in there.”
Jewett was the large auditorium on campus. No classrooms, no practice spaces, so pretty much perfect. I nodded.
We walked silently across to the doors and I followed him down into the basement. He sat on the large sofa, and I folded my legs under me on the love seat across from him. His arms stretched out across the back of the sofa, completely distracting me. His arms were so long, and lean. The long sleeve t-shirt hugged the curve of his biceps and his overly veined hands reached the length of the overstuffed back.
“So.” His words pulled me back.
“What?” I flushed thinking of all the images of his bare arms wrapped around me that had flashed through my mind. I shook my head, “Right. Sorry. What is wrong with me?”
“Are you pregnant?” His eyes were stone cold serious. “I mean, it happens and I’m not judging.”
“What the hell?” My voice cracked at the top, “No I’m not pregnant! Good lord!”
His casual stance didn’t change. “Hey, I’m just saying I am not one to judge. You do you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ok, well. I am not pregnant. So, let’s take that off the table immediately.”
He turned his hands up in a questioning expression.
“I told you the other day I see things.”
“Yeah, you said you see things that aren’t there.”
Oh. He did listen.
“Yeah. Well, I see – people.”
He tilted his head. “People?”
I swallowed a drink from my water bottle. It was now or never.
Jump.
I took a deep breath and met his eyes, “You have an older man with you. He wears denim and I bet he is your grandpa? Maybe?”
His arms drooped. His face fell.
“Well, whoever he is, he is with you-like–all the time. His face is rounder than yours, but he is about your height. His hair is grey, but I think it was black or dark brown when he was younger, and he has the bluest eyes.” My gaze had drifted off, losing focus when I started explaining him.
“What the holy fuck are you saying?” His words were only a whisper.
“I see people. I see people who are not here anymore.”
Tyler pulled his hat off. His brain was trying to process, and his fidgeting continued. He ran his hand through his hair. At one point, putting his head in his lap.
I sat still until I noted Tyler had stopped moving. Silently, I picked up my bag and started towards the stairs.
It was worth a shot. What did I expect him to do?
“Would you wait a sec?”
I stopped on the stairs. “Tyler, it’s ok. I get it. It’s a lot to take, and bottom line, you can’t even be sure I’m telling the truth.”
“What the hell, do you read minds too?”
I smiled softly. “No, Tyler, you’re normal. It’s ok. Seriously, I get it.” I smiled again, “Look, take all the time you need. If it’s too much, no stress. We never had this conversation. Cool?”
I kept walking up the stairs. I could almost feel his conflicted feelings letting me walk away. It really needed to be this way. He needed to think, to see if this was ok. He had to take a beat and know for sure he could hear more.
I took the last steps, knowing not everyone would take it like Camryn did. Not everyone would be as knowing as Darcy was. And I had to be ok with that because I couldn’t change their reaction.
Walking out of the building, I realized for the first time I had owned my curse. I admitted I could see people who were no longer on this earth.
The next day, I woke feeling lighter. Calm. More at peace. Part of me knew that it would hurt so badly if Tyler stayed away, but the other part believed he had to come to his own peace with it. Either he could handle it, or he couldn’t. Either way I’d told him. I’d been honest. And that was a huge step.
I looked for Camryn and finally found her at lunch.
“You got a sec?” I asked, trying not to interrupt the whole table.
“Of course. Here”, She looked at the girl next to her, “Hailey, move over, would ya?”
I turned beat red, “No, it’s ok really, I just need a minute.”
“You’ve gotta eat, right?”
“Well, yeah, but...”
“Sit down.” I thanked the Hailey girl for moving, and she smiled briefly before going back to her conversation with the other girls at the table.
“What’s up?” Cam asked, taking a bite of her French fry.
“I told Tyler.” I took a bite of pizza.
“Told him what?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I told him.” Lowering my chin, “I told him.”
“About the guy in the hall?” Camryn’s voice lowered and her eyes widened. “Holy crap. What did he say?”
I shrugged again and kept chewing with a smile on my face. “I don’t know.”
“Back up. You told him, and what did he say?”
I washed down my pizza, “I haven’t talked to him. I told him he could think about it and get back to me.”
“Do you think he believed you?” Camryn had completely abandoned her lunch. “I mean”, her eyes looked around the table. “You know what I mean, right?”
“Did he believe me like you?” I was
