The autumn air was crisp as I walked to my car, my school bag over my shoulder. My best friend, Tiana, was already gone, probably to be at work on time. That meant that I was alone in the parking lot, our student government meeting having run late. The other members were still inside, but I wanted to get my homework done quickly so I could have the rest of the afternoon to myself. I was so lost in my thoughts that I wasn’t paying attention, and found myself running into a boy about my age walking in front of me.
“I’m sorry!” I automatically said, motioning to walk around him, but something stopped me. Perhaps it was the shocked look in his eyes when I spoke to him, or the way he seemed to draw into himself. Whatever it was, it made me take a second look.
He was cute, with black hair falling in his light blue eyes. He was pale, paler than even I was, and wore nondescript dark jeans with a dark jacket. He was the type who would easily fade into a crowd, someone who probably wasn’t noticed often.
“It’s alright,” he responded after a moment. He didn’t say anything else, just stared at me.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” I said, breaking the awkward silence. He shrugged noncommittally.
“I’m new. Most people haven’t seen me around,” he explained. “I’m Lucas.”
“Hi Lucas. I’m Ryleigh.”
He smiled slightly. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Did you start school today? I don’t think I saw you.”
“You wouldn’t have. I’m home schooled.”
“Oh.” We lapsed back into silence. “You know, if you wanted to, I could show you around town.”
Lucas smiled again, almost as if my offer humored him. I brushed it away as nothing. “That sounds lovely. Thank you Ryleigh.”
I checked the time on my phone and winced. My parents were expecting me to be home by now. I looked up at Lucas, who was watching me intently.
“I really have to get home now, but if you meet me here tomorrow, I can show you around then.”
“That will work for me as well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Ryleigh.” Lucas turned on his heel and walked away. I found myself staring at his back, wishing that he didn’t have to leave so soon. I didn’t even have his number.
Shaking myself a bit, I climbed into my car and drove home.
~
“So, you’re just going to run off and show some boy you just met around town? Ryleigh, he could be a serial killer!” Tiana hissed at me. I rolled my eyes at her.
“I really think you’re worrying over nothing. Lucas was really nice.”
“Do you even know his last name?”
“No, but he doesn’t know mine either, I’ll be fine, Ti.”
Tiana groaned and pulled her curly black hair out of her face. Her dark eyes narrowed at me. “I think you’re too okay with this. Where’s the Ryleigh that would never go out alone with a boy she knows nothing about? And I do mean nothing. Just because he seems nice doesn’t mean he isn’t a psychopath.”
I sighed. “Ti, I get it. I really do. But you don’t know him.”
“Neither do you!”
“He’s not like that.”
“You can’t guarantee that!”
“Tiana. Everything will be fine.”
“Ryleigh, you-” Tiana cut off as our teacher glanced over at us from where he was writing
down our next homework assignment. I flipped open my math book to find the section we were doing that night, trying to make it look like I was paying attention.
“Tiana, I know you’re worried. If it helps, I’ll text you the entire time I’m out with Lucas. But I really don’t think that there will be an issue. He seems really nice and really sweet. If you had met him, you’d think the same. It will be okay, I promise,” I whisper. Tiana sighed, slumping her shoulders in defeat.
“Fine. But if you turn up dead, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
~
As it turns out, Lucas was not a serial killer. At least, he wasn’t that night. In fact, he was a perfect gentleman, and I gushed about him to Tiana for weeks. Soon, I began seeing him for hours every day. My grades were slipping and my parents were furious that I was neglecting school for a boy, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Lucas was different, and I couldn’t understand why no one else could see that.
Weeks turned into months, and before I knew it, I was skipping school altogether just to have more time with him. Lucas encouraged me.
“What’s the point of being alive if you don’t break a few rules?” he would say. “They’ll get over it.” I wondered when he found the time to do his own schoolwork, but I never bothered to ask. Lucas seemed smart enough already. I was sure that he was completing it quickly when I wasn’t around.
It really shouldn’t have surprised me when Tiana stepped in, but it did. Maybe it was because I hadn’t spoken to her outside of school in months, and even then, I was talking about Lucas. Honestly, it should have surprised me that she didn’t step in sooner.
“Ryleigh!” Tiana yelled, snapping me out of my daze. I looked up wearily at her. I had been out very late - or early, depending on how you saw it - with Lucas, and was exhausted. Tiana looked furious. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes.”
I shrugged.
Tiana wasted no time getting to the point. “You need to stop hanging out with Lucas. it’s not good for you.”
That fully pulled me from my daze. I felt white hot anger rush through me. “I think you should stay out of it.”
“As your best friend, I have to say something. You’re failing classes, you’re sneaking out… Ryleigh, Lucas is a bad influence on you.”
“Lucas makes me happy!”
Other people were starting to look over at our lunch table, but I couldn’t care less. How dare  Tiana say these things? She didn’t even know Lucas.
“Happy? You call this happy?” She waved a hand at me.
“You’re just jealous.”
“I’m not jealous, I’m being reasonable.”
“Just leave me alone about it!” I yelled.
“Lucas won’t even let you bring me to meet him, Ryleigh. How does that not scream creepy and abusive to you? He refuses to meet your parents, too. He’s alienating you from everyone who loves you.”
“Lucas loves me.”
“Ryleigh, you’re rationalizing. You know this is a bad situation, but you’re scared to leave him.”
“You just don’t understand.”
“Maybe I’m wrong. Just let me meet this guy, and then we’ll see. If I’m wrong, I’ll apologize.”
“I’ll have to ask Lucas first.”
“Just bring me along. Or text him now.”
“Lucas doesn’t have a phone.”
Tiana gave me a strange look. I knew how ridiculous it sounded, but it was true. Lucas didn’t even have an email address. That was probably why I spent so much time with him.
On some level, I understood what Tiana was saying. I knew Lucas was acting oddly, and I knew I should leave this relationship before something worse happened, but I couldn’t bring myself to. There was just something so captivating about Lucas.
“I’ll ask him tonight,” I said finally.
Tiana took a deep breath. “Ryleigh, I know this is hard to hear, but you should really just consider breaking up with-”
I got up and left the table.
~
“Tiana thinks I should leave you,” I told Lucas. He was waiting in our usual meeting place, a under a large oak tree in the park. I wondered how he knew to come here, since this was the first place I had stopped since walking away from Tiana at lunch. The early May heat was pouring down from the sun high in the sky, but the look that flashed across Lucas’ face still made me shiver. “I’m not going to.”
Lucas visibly relaxed. “Good. I’m glad. I couldn’t exist without you, Ry.”
I smiled, but something felt off about all this. “Lucas… Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Where do you live?”
Lucas’ easy smile froze in place. “In town.”
“I’ve never been to your house. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
“My house is a mess, Ry. You wouldn’t want to be there.”
“Well, what about my house? You could finally meet my parents. Or if that’s too much, you could meet Tiana. Once she meets you, I’m sure she’ll love you, and we can put all of this crazy talk behind us.” I beamed up at him. Lucas sighed, looking away from me.
“I can’t.”
“I’m not saying you have to, I’m just asking you to think about it.”
“Ry, I would love to meet them, but I can’t.”
“Why not?” I had never questioned him like this before. I wondered where all of this was coming from.
“Because they wouldn’t be able to see me.” Lucas was stubbornly refusing to look at me.
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t they be able to see you?”
“Ryleigh, I’m a ghost.” I laughed, a little nervously.
“Lucas, are you okay?”
Lucas glared at me and I pulled away, suddenly frightened. As I watched, his face became grotesque, the skin stretching and pulling, almost melting away to expose bone. I screamed, wrenching myself away from him in blind terror. I tried to run, but suddenly he was in front of me, holding me still while I screamed.
“Sh, sh, Ry, it’s okay,” he soothed while I got my breathing under control. “This doesn’t have to change anything.”
“How does this not change anything?” I demanded. “You’re… You’re…”
“Dead. I was in a fire and died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. That’s why I’m not bound to one specific place. Ryleigh, you have no idea how lonely it is. For almost fifteen years, no one could hear me. No one could see me. It was almost enough to drive someone insane. But then you bumped into me.” His eyes lit up at this. “You saw me, you could touch me. It was like living in the darkness all your life and finally seeing the sun. I can’t let you walk away, Ry. I love you. You’re everything to me. You’re the only person I have.”
I shook my head. “Lucas, you… You died. You have to move on, or do whatever it is that people do after life. You can’t hang around like this.”
“I can’t. I don’t know how.”
“Find out!”
“Ryleigh, don’t leave me like this!” Lucas pleaded. I pulled away, shaking my head again.
“This can’t work, Lucas. You’re dead. Oh God, you’re dead.” I slammed a hand against my mouth, feeling bile rise in the back of my throat. Lucas looked at me in horror.
“You’re leaving me, aren’t you?” Lucas whispered. “No, no, you can’t be.”
“Lucas, I can’t do this.”
“NO!” Lucas was in front of me again, but this time, his hands were tightening around my throat. His eyes were wild. “NO, you can’t just walk away! I’ll be alone again Ryleigh. You can’t do that to me. You don’t know what it’s like. But you can.”
BA-BUMP
BA-BUMP
Everything was going hazy, black pressing in on the edges of my vision. I gasped, trying to pull air into my lungs and finding none. My heartbeat roared in my ears. I pushed weakly against Lucas, but it had no effect on him.
BA-BUMP
BA-BUMP
“I love you, Ryleigh. You have to stay with me, and you’re going to stay. If you die here, you’ll be bound here. You’ll have to love me - forever.”
BA-BUMP
BA-BUMP
Lucas was grinning madly, and his face was twisting again, but everything was black and my lungs burned.
BA-BUMP
BA-Bum...