This would be the time that main characters will not believe that a being like a ghost would exist before it is too late. I am not one of those main characters. Besides, my best friend was a ghost, so of course, I believed him.

What Derek was claiming made sense to me. Astonish Ace was not messing with me. He could not remember what he - er, the ghost - did because he had been possessed. No. Not possessed. The ghosts of Forlot do not have the power to possess, so they use their human victims like lifeless puppets. I know a ton about the ghosts from Derek and doing research.

"The audience was under the ghost's control as well," Derek added. "That is why Principal Brown did not move a muscle when you begged for his assistance."

I placed my hands on my hips. "This powerful ghost does not explain everything," I stated. "Why did he or she decide to mess with us? What did he or she want?"

"First off, it is a he. As for why he was here, I am unsure. I am going to investigate and hopefully find some answers by tomorrow. Until then, forget about what occurred here this morning. Spend time with your girlfriend and her sister to get your mind off it."

"I will definitely do that." I pointed with my thumb to the double doors that separated the inside of the school from the outside. "You said that she is in the park, right?"

"The only one in Forlot."

"Okay. Thanks again."

We waved goodbye to each other, and I jogged towards the double doors and pushed them open. I turned to the left and followed the sidewalk. Not even a minute later, I reached the large opening that was surrounded by the trees. A sign hung on one of the trees by a nail and read that this was the park.

I pushed past a couple of trees that were blocking my path and stumbled into the park. Forlot's park was not your average park. You could fit a lot of kids and equipment in here. Other than that, it was just like a park should be. The ground was covered with green grass. There was a slide, a jungle gym, a sandbox, and anything else that you can think of.

My personal favorite are the swings, and the same can be said for Ariana. There were many, many times that we went on them together while she was battling cancer. We would talk and laugh and love being in the air. The nice, cool wind would relax our tense muscles.

And that is exactly where Ariana was at. She was sitting on the middle swing, however, she was not in the air and having fun. She was grasping the chains of the swing and kicking the dirt that was beneath the swing set with her feet. Her head was facing down.

"Ariana," I called to her as loud as I could without scaring her.

She slowly turned her head in my direction and flipped her hair back so that she could see. She straightened her back and said, "Daniel?"

"That is my name. Do not wear it out," I joked, trying to cheer her up.

"How did you know that I was here? Heck, how did I end up here?"

I had to lie. "Guess that magician had real magic after all." I plopped in one of the swings next to her. "Are you traumatized? Is that why you have the blues?"

She shrugged. "I do not know." She rubbed her temples. "I am so confused and shocked right now that I do not know what to think."

"It will be alright, Ariana. You fought cancer. You can surely get over this. You are stronger than you think."

My girlfriend stared at me for what felt like forever and embraced me in a hug. She buried her face in my shoulder as I hugged her back. She has always liked what I had to say, and sometimes, it would bring her to tears.

"I am incredibly blessed to have you in my life, Daniel."

"Glad that you feel that way because I feel the same about you."

We decided to chill for a few minutes before heading back to school and played on the swings. We swung high in the air back and forth like we did when Ariana was sick and held hands. Good thing that it was not cold outside.

Ariana told me that we had enough fun for one morning and jumped off her swing. I got off as well, and we held hands as we wandered back to the school. As we neared the building, Ariana asked me something. She invited me to the run marathon that was starting first thing tomorrow. It was to help raise awareness of all the types of cancer.

"I would be honored to go and see you," I said. "Better yet, I will participate."

My girlfriend quirked an eyebrow. "You sure, Daniel? You are not much of a runner like me."

"It is not about the running. It is about raising awareness and encouraging those who have had or are going through cancer." I gently squeezed her hand. "I am doing this for you."

"If that is what you want to do, I will not stop you."

The next morning was the marathon. It began at nine o'clock and ended at one o'clock in the afternoon. The runners were at the starting line and stretching. Ariana was at one of the ends and doing jumping jacks. Guess who was next to her? You guessed correctly. Laila.

Both sisters were participating. Ariana wore the number six, and Laila wore the number seven. I was wearing the number thirteen - how wonderful - and ran over to them.

"Hiya, girls."

"Glad that you could make it," Ariana said.

"Yep. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that nothing bad will happen to us."