Page 82 of Hidden

The answer is nobody and I already know that but tonight it just hurts more than usual.

That's the thought that sits at the bottom of all of it, the one I usually manage to argue myself out of. Tonight I don't have the energy to argue. Nobody is paying attention. Nobody notices when I'm running on empty or when a phone call takes something from me that I didn't have left to give.

Except. I can’t think about him, but… he noticed.

Whoever Ghost is, whoever has been leaving flowers on my counter and gets my coffee order exactly right, and sends a message saying focus on your dream the moment I needed to hear it the most. He paid attention. In the most unsettling, inexplicable, deeply wrong way possible, he paid more attention to me in the small amount of time I’ve been here, than most people manage in years.

He was there, and I pushed him away.

I wipe my face with the back of my hand, then I look at my phone. It’s been wo days of silence. Two days of me deciding this had to stop, that I was being reckless, that whatever this is, isn't safe and isn't right and isn't something I should want.

I open the contact saved as Ghost.

I stare at the empty message box for a long moment.

Sadie.

Are you still there?

I sit in the dark and wait to see if he answers.

Ghost.

I'm here. I've always been here.

Something in my chest loosens by one degree. Just one. I pull my knees up on the couch and look at the screen and type.

Sadie

I threw the flowers away.

Ghost.

I know.

Sadie.

I was going to throw the bracelet away too.

Ghost.

But you didn't.

I look down at my wrist. The violet charm sits exactly where it always is, against my pulse point, and warm from my skin.

Sadie

No, I didn't.

A pause.

Ghost.

Bad day?

Sadie.

My brother, And practice. And everything.