Ashton kept driving me home after that. Even when my bike was fixed, he insisted he give me rides. Sarah threw me dirty looks in the hallway, but kept her distance like everyone else. Sometimes Ashton and I would talk, for hours, even, just to get to know each other. By the end of the week, I felt I knew him since the day I was born. And I knew he felt the same. One day, after Ashton drove me home, he walked me to the door instead of waiting in the car. I fumbled around for my key, worried I had lost it. Ashton produced a set of keys from his hand. I took them, raising an eyebrow. "You dropped them." he said. I turned back around and put the key in the lock, turning it until I heard a sharp click in the lock's chamber. I reached for the doorknob, when Ashton gently reached out to stop me. His hand on mine, I turned around. Ashton was close. Too close, but I always felt safe with him. He gazed deeply into my eyes and brushed a lock of hair from my cheek. "Crystal..." I opened my mouth to reply, but Ashton leaned in, and brushed his lips against my collarbone. I shivered. "I was wondering, would you go to the next dance with me?" he softly asked, his mouth right next to my ear. "I...I" I couldn't answer, he was so mesmerizing. Ashton smiled at my expression. He leaned so our noses were touching. "You're m-making it too hard to answer." I stuttered. When he kissed me, it was clear my answer was yes.
The night of the dance, I wore a short black party dress, with a pink stripe across the middle. Ashton showed up in black dress pants and a dress shirt. He put a corsage on my dress and helped me into the car. The music bursted out of the gym when we parked outside. Ashton walked me to the door, and he went inside to buy our tickets. I stood there, not caring Sarah and Piper were close by. Sarah spotted me and walked over. "Well well! The loser's finally at a dance! Did you come with your cousin?" "No." I said, surprised at my courage to speak up. Sarah glared at me. "Well who is it?" "Ashton." Sarah and Piper burst out laughing. "You're a liar! Ashton never goes out with anyone! And he even said no to me!" "Maybe he said no because you're a"- The door swung open, and Ashton stepped outside with two tickets in hand. "Ready, Crystal?" I looked at Sarah. She was shocked, her eyes wide and face pink. "Ashton chose you over ME? But you're a loser!" "Don't call Crystal a loser! She's not!" Ashton said angrily. Sarah ignored him. "I'm better than you! I'm prettier and more popular! You're just a stupid loner who doesn't know her place!" "No!" I shouted. Everyone went silent. "I'm tired of you torturing me every day! You're cruel and controlling, and a total bìtch! So just leave me alone!" Sarah glowered at me. And all of a sudden, her hands shot out, and I fell backwards. Everything went in slow motion. Sarah's expression went from mean to freaked out as she screamed. Ashton rushed forward and tried to grab my hand, but he missed it by an inch. "Crystal! No!" I felt the stairs hit my back, one by one, each step more painful than the last. I slammed against the last one with a horrible crack to my head. Everything went dark. And that was the day I died.
I was floating. Like, literally floating. Above my body on the stairs. I saw the students crying, I saw Ashton call for an ambulance, and I saw Sarah get shouted at by everyone there. Soon an ambulance and police car came, and the principal escorted Sarah into the police car. My parents rushed over and were held back by an EMT as my body was put on a stretcher. Funny. I didn't feel anything. Inside the ambulance, they checked for a pulse, and found nothing. I looked at my hands. I FELT alive. I could feel my face. But nobody could see me. I struggled to float over to Ashton, and he was crying next to the ambulance. I waved in his face. Nothing. "Ashton!" I called. He turned in my direction, looking confused, but he still didn't see me. I started to cry. The only one at school who cared for me couldn't even see me. I was invisible just like before. Only this time I was a ghost. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I spun around. A girl was there. She was my age, and had a short, cute haircut. "Uh, hi?" "My name's Fiona." The name was familiar. "Fiona?!" I finally realized. This was the Fiona that died in a car crash about three months ago. It was all over the local news. I sympathetically nodded at her. "I'm sorry"- "There's nothing to be sorry about. Besides, you're dead too."
I started to cry more, until Fiona cut me off. "Why are you crying?" "Why? Because I just died!" Fiona took me by the shoulders. "Look. The whole 'crying ghost' thing is so last century. So calm down. Just get this straight: you're dead, and always will be. Okay?" "I...okay." The ambulance drove off, and my parents were bawling as they followed. I was surprised to see even Trisha and Piper crying. Good. At least they felt guilty. All of them should. I looked to Fiona. "Is there a way to contact the living?" She snorted. "Just answer me!" I shouted. "You can just make yourself known and talk to them. But that's a power you get later on." "Ghost's have powers? You're kidding me right?" "Not at all. I can almost talk to people." "But I..." I looked over at Ashton. His face was buried in his hands. "He heard me. He just couldn't see me." I said, pointing towards him. "But you need to be a ghost for at least six months to do that!" Fiona said, surprised. "I don't know. I just can do it. And I have a question." "What is it?" "If we're dead, where's Heaven and Hell?" "We died because of someone else. So until that person dies and we can 'finally be put to rest', we stay on earth." I sighed. I didn't think Sarah would die anytime soon. She was young. It would have to be an accident. "Are we watched over here?" "No. Why?" If it had to be an accident, then I could cause it, and get revenge. That's what I wanted, right?
At my funeral, it was not the greatest. The whole school arrived, and told stories about how they knew me, and it was "tragic" how I died so suddenly. I knew the truth. They all hated me. Or they all ignored me. Except Ashton, who was up to speak next. "Even though I only knew Crystal for a month... I felt that I've known her all my life." I smiled. Ashton's expression grew angry. "And for those of you, who say you were her friend, and always there for her, we all know it's a load of shìt." The crowd quieted down. He was right. "When you were supposedly there for her, you stood by and didn't do anything... or you were the ones causing the problem." He glared at Trisha and Piper as they sank in their seats. Ashton walked away from the podium, while the line to give speeches withered away. Everyone still standing there had a lie ready to make themselves look better. The priest said the final prayers, and they lowered my casket into the ground. I floated away, I didn't want to see myself get buried. It wouldn't feel right. I hovered near Ashton. He was standing silently next to a willow tree far away from the funeral. A few tears plopped against his shoes. "I never got to tell her..." he whispered. What would he tell me? That he- "I loved her." he said simply, and the tears flowed freely down his face. I couldn't bear to see him so miserable. "Ashton." I said. His head snapped up, and turned towards me. "...Cryst- no. I must be hearing things." he shook his head. I put out my hands, and they simply went through him. A chill went down his arms, and he shivered. "Ashton!" I shouted in his ear. He turned his head towards me, and his eyes widened. Suddenly, I could feel the grass beneath my feet, and the wind moving my hair. Was I still a ghost?
"...Crystal?!" Ashton exclaimed. He reached out and touched my cheek. I felt it, his warm hand on my skin. How was this even possible? I was dead! Right? "Ashton, I... I think I'm a ghost." I shakily said. "But you're right here. And I felt your cheek." "I was just buried over there." I nodded back to the funeral. "I'm dead. I have to be." Ashton lowered his head. "You'll have to leave." "I don't even know how long I can stay like this, or if I'm breaking a dumb ghost rule." I walked closer, unsteadily since I was so used to floating. "I tried talking to you before. Like right when I died." I said. "I heard you. But I thought"- "It was impossible? Yeah, well I thought ghosts weren't real until a few days ago." Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced my side. I cried out, fell forward, and Ashton caught me. "I wish I was close enough to do that on the stairs." he said sadly. I half smiled at him, still wincing from the pain. "I think I'm fading away, Ashton." I whispered. "No... don't leave." He leaned over, and just as his lips touched mine, I was gone. Ashton stubbled forward a bit, and opened his eyes. I sighed, and turned around, to see Fiona floating across the field, arms crossed. I flew over. "That wasn't a good idea." "What? Why?" "You made contact with a human. He KNOWS about us. Do you know what that means?" "But"- "It means we could be killed. By the ghost guardians, they'll"- Fiona's eyes widened in fear. She suddenly disappeared in a black cloud of smoke, her screams echoing along with it. I turned around. A large, gruesome creature, along with a hovering person in a hood, were right behind me. I fell to the floor, unable to control my movements, and the hooded person waved a glowing hand across my face. The last thing I saw was smoke, before I blacked out.