“You sure you don’t need a bodyguard?”
Camryn laughed, “Hey ball boy, I am pretty sure I can out bench you.”
Tyler rolled his eyes but dropped it. He walked us out and kissed me more deeply. I fell into the moment but pulled away blushing red again. His satisfied dimple display made Cam stick her tongue out. “Hey, I’m just making sure she knows what she’s leaving behind.”
“You don’t know. She might not be leaving it behind, maybe I’m a better kisser, you don’t know, this is college after all,” Camryn raised her eyebrows and smirked.
Tyler grabbed me as I started to pull away, “I don’t share well.”
“Oh my gosh, stop it. This is stupid,” I pushed away from Tyler’s arms, “Can we go?”
“Of course, my love,” Camryn looped her arm through mine and winked at Tyler.
“Stop.” I looked at her, completely over this little game, “Good by Tyler, I’ll see ya later.” We walked toward the parking lot.
“So, how’s the hauntings going?” It had been a while since I had given Camryn the whole scoop. I prattled on until we reached the movie theatre.
“That’s pretty much all.”
She shook her head, “Damn, and I was worried about fitting homework around throwing drills.”
“It isn’t like it’s that big of a thing.” I fidgeted with my wallet.
“Ok, ok, I know, I know, moving on.” Camryn knew when I needed to let things go. She had become such an important person in my world this year.
The movie was the latest action speed movie. Girl leads, lots of guns and when it ended, I realized how much I truly needed a night off. A night of just girl time.
We grabbed a coffee and headed back towards campus. The snow had begun to melt during the day, but the temperatures at night were still frigid. We were giggling at movie lines when we entered the hallway.
“I know you know where she is.” I stopped so suddenly, I almost spilled my coffee.
Brock stood outside our door.
Camryn looked from me to the empty hall to my face and registered what was going on. She took a step back, angling herself behind me.
“Brock, I have said it before, you are not welcome here. Leave.”
His energy felt stronger tonight. “You know where she is. I can tell.”
“Brock, I will never tell you anything.” I took a deep breath intentionally grounding. It had become second nature, just a natural thing anymore. Tonight, I knew I needed to focus a bit. “You are not welcome here. Your place is no longer here, it is time you leave forever.”
“But you do know where she is. So, she is here someplace?”
My face faltered slightly. Had I just given him the victory he so desperately wanted? I focused and readied my hands. “I command you to leave this space. You are not welcome. You are no longer allowed to haunt this place. Leave now!” I forced my arms forward, but he only flickered slightly.
I swallowed hard. Now what? That was my big trick. If he was still here, it wasn’t working. My mind spun trying to figure out what to do next.
Then it hit me.
I close the curtain!
I remembered that I controlled his presence.
I smiled knowingly and waved. Then I inhaled, closed my eyes, and mentally dropped the curtain. I imagined the end of a play, the heavy fabric dropping, separating the actors from the audience.
I opened my eyes to nothing. I had done it! I had blocked him from my vision and eliminated his ability to interact with me.
“What exactly just happened?” Camryn had dethawed next to me.
During the altercation, I had almost forgot she was here. I turned toward her, “It’s fine. He can’t bother us now.” I smiled at her, and touched her shoulder, “Really it’s ok.”
She shrugged my hand off, “Dude you’re freezing! Come on, let’s get inside and get you a blanket.”
She approached the door, unlocking it and I followed her inside. There was a cold pocket of air by the door, and I knew it was Brock, but I honestly didn’t pause, I just kept going inside.
“I need a beer.” Camryn reached in the fridge and pulled out a bottle, “You want one?”
I shook my head. “I’m good. I think I’ll make tea.”
She took a drink, and I started the hotpot for tea. I was picking out my flavor as Camryn interrupted my thought. “So, the hallway? That’s normal?” She took another long drink.
“Um, I don’t know. Brock is by far the worst one I deal with. He is just pure ick,” I sat with my tea opposite of her. “Most of the time, it isn’t that intense.”
She took another drink. “Yeah, that shit's crazy,” she drained the beer bottle. “I do not know how the hell you do that every day.”
I shrugged, “Well, I’ve learned to control things. That’s been the biggest helper so far.”
“Do I want to know what that means?”
I took a sip, “It’s a way to block things, and keep myself protected.”
“Is that what you did out there?” she pointed towards the hall, and I could almost make out a shiver.
I nodded, “Yeah, eventually. At first, I tried to force him to leave, but it didn’t work. It had before, but today, for some reason it didn’t. I had to block him out completely.”
“What do you mean, like you just ignore him?”
“No, it’s like a window I close.”
She nodded, “You do realize how absolutely crazy this all seems, right?”
I blushed, “Yep, definitely crazy.” I took a gulp of my tea. I met her eyes, and sighed, “Try living it.”
She laughed and grabbed another beer, “So this weekend.”
I threw my head back. “I am just driving with him. I don’t understand what the big deal
