LENNON WATCHED as customers walked in and out of the café.

Mainly all the regulars and just a handful of new people every once in a while.

She smiled as a familiar face walked in. A regular of course. Lennon hadn't seen herself ever get close to customers before, but regulars were different.

"Should've been here yesterday. They messed up my order."

"Nice to see you, Mr. Covington."

How was Lennon supposed to know that Caleb was a ghost? To her, he was just another regular customer who liked his coffee dark.

A ghost nonetheless. Caleb knew Lennon could see him after he just walked into the small establishment. Hoping to find other ghosts to join the ghost club.

He never expected to see a lifer interact with him. So, when Willie mentioned Lennon he already knew who she was.

No one ever looked at Lennon funny when she looked like she was talking to absolutely no one. She had always worn a headset to better hear her coworkers who worked in the back. No one ever questioned who was talking to who in the café.

"Nice to see you, Lennon." He smiled.

If we're being honest, Caleb had no issues with Lennon. The girl wouldn't hurt a fly if it wasn't bothering her. He was pretty sure that she was still upset about the events from the night before and had expected her to not come to work today. All he wanted was to get Luke and Lennon as far apart as possible and if he could succeed, they could possibly stop being each other's soulmates.

Luke Patterson and Lennon Sunder had several things Caleb Covington couldn't have for himself. Those things being a life, for one, a soulmate, and the ability to be seen by lifers anytime he wanted. The only exception being Lennon.

"Your regular?" Lennon asked.

Caleb nodded. He didn't know how to bring up the topic of Luke without making it seem like he knew of her situation. Last night was somewhat of a fail as he didn't get the true result that he wanted.

If he had to, he would make Lennon feel the same type of pain Luke, Alex, and Reggie were currently going through. He needed Lennon and Luke to separate to get him ( and hopefully Alex and Reggie ) to join the ghost club. The only person getting in the way of that was Lennon.

As Lennon made his order, he stood by the counter with his thoughts. Lennon wasn't the type to start a conversation with Caleb. It was always him who would start the majority of the conversations. I mean, what girl would ask someone about their "taxi service". Lying about his occupation was just to help hide who he truly was.

"How's everything?" Caleb asked.

"Good." She answered, "Things are pretty good."

That was the truth. She was doing pretty freaking good compared to how she felt that morning. Whatever sadness or worry she had was completely gone.

"That's good." Caleb half-smiled.

Compared to last night she did look okay. That's not what he wanted. He wanted to see her pout, he wanted to see her slump around, he wanted to see just how sad Lennon could get. This is not what he wanted.

"How about you? How's everything?" Lennon asked.

"Peachy." He gritted.

It was obvious that Caleb had somewhat failed in this part of his plan. So, now he had to do something different. If he couldn't separate Luke and Lennon in the way he wanted sure enough he was gonna find a way to make everything go his way.

Lennon softly smiled as she passed his coffee towards him.

Caleb held his coffee in his hands, "Thank you. I can always trust that you've made it correctly."

"You can always count on me, Mr. Covington."

Caleb nodded as he reached in his pocket to grab any cash from his pocket. He placed it in her hands, his own hands grabbing at her wrist and smiling as he did so.

He was pretty shocked that he could hold her wrist. Important information that he would now use to his advantage.

"Have a good day Lennon and keep the change."

She smiled as she felt some type of burning sensation on her wrist. She ignored it as she watched someone open the door for themselves and Caleb. Supposedly.

She put the money in the tip jar and flipped her arm over to see a marking on her wrist and watched as it slowly faded into nothing.

Lennon thought she was seeing things. She continued to look at her wrist. The burning sensation had died down and at this point, she just wanted to pretend that whatever she saw didn't just happen.

She felt a wave of shock go through her arm. Nothing that caused her pain or anything. It felt like she was had been shocked by the doorknob if that made sense.

She looked up and out the windows of the café. Caleb was long gone and nowhere that she could see. She had never felt a need to worry about her surroundings at work, but whatever was on her wrist wasn't there until Caleb left, until Caleb put the cash in her hands.

Caleb didn't want to have any harm come to Lennon. He was going to make sure she just felt a little something just like the others, it just wasn't going to be as painful. Like said, he didn't have anything against Lennon, but he needed her out of the picture. Regardless of the circumstances.

IT HAD grown dark and Lennon was still working. It was rare that she worked this late but since tonight was one of the biggest nights the café would be having, it was important ( according to her boss ) that they have whatever staff they could have onboard.

She was currently wiping a table off as she felt someone grab her shoulders.

She turned around cautiously and saw Carrie smiling at her.

"What's up? It's like you've seen a ghost." Carrie smiled.

Lennon held a tight smile. She had been wary of her surroundings ever since Caleb had left. She hadn't felt another shock since the first one but she was still somewhat just worried. The shock could have been nothing, the marking could have been nothing, could've been all in her head, but she also thought Luke was an in her head thing also, and look how that turned out. She didn't want to assume that Caleb had been the reason she was shocked but it was the most logical thing to think.

"I'm about to go on." Carrie smiled.

Dirty Candy had gotten on the list at the very last minute. Lennon didn't know how especially since the final calls for acts were this morning. Lennon wasn't going to question it anymore. She knew Carrie had her ways of getting what she wanted.

"Good luck, there's a ton of important people here." Lennon said.

"I know! This is probably one of the biggest things for Dirty Candy. So, whether or not your passing coffees and cupcakes out I hope you can listen to the song."

Lennon threw her rag over her shoulder and faced Carrie. It was obvious to anyone looking their way that the two of them were completely different. Different in attitude, different in style. Different in how they grew up, etc., etc.. It was obvious that the two of them were different, but somehow the two of them were friends.

"Yeah, I'm always listening." Lennon smiled.

Carrie softly smiled. The friendship between Carrie and Lennon had grown very quickly. It was almost too fast for Carrie to even comprehend. Lennon was a good person and before meeting/hanging out with Julie, Flynn, and Carrie, she would always keep to herself. She was the quiet kid who just did what they were asked. Never bothered anyone and people barely bothered her. Carrie didn't regret her friendship with Lennon and she didn't regret trusting her quickly either.

"I have to get ready to go on, but I'll see you after the show, yeah?"

Lennon nodded as she watched Carrie make her way towards the stage.

She watched as Dirty Candy danced across the stage. Not feeling the presence of Luke behind her.

She gently bopped her head to the somewhat condescending song as she saw Alex poof onto the stage.

Lennon smiled as Alex looked around the stage. Looking at Carrie and somewhat following her actions as she danced with the rest of Dirty Candy.

Luke looked down at the girl in front of her as she continued to gently bop her head to the song and watching Alex dance on stage.

"He's pretty good isn't he?"

Lennon nodded, "Yeah, he is."

She turned and faced Luke. She simply walked through him and made her way towards another table to take their order.

Luke followed behind, "Are you gonna be here all night? You're gonna be able to watch us perform, right?"

Lennon smiled back at the couple at the table as she wrote down their order and made her way back to the counter to make it herself; Luke still following her around.

"Yes, I'll be able to watch you perform. Wouldn't miss it." She smiled.

Luke nodded softly and watched as she made whatever the couple at the previous table had asked for. She was pretty quick with everything which let Luke know that she had been working at the café for awhile.

She looked back up at him, "Everything all right?" She asked.

He nodded again, still watching how quickly she moved. Lennon held a tight smile and began piling things on top of the tray.

"If you're nervous about anything, don't be. Yeah, there's a lot of important people here and those people could change your undead life, but you know you're gonna do great... I know you're gonna be great. Everything's gonna be fine."

She grabbed two cupcakes from their stand and held the tray close to her.

"Do you think we talk after this?" He asked.

He wasn't gonna tell her about the very painful shocks just yet. It wasn't at the top of the list either. Luke just wanted to talk to her because he wasn't so sure that Lennon was as one hundred percent okay with how everything went. Yeah, she was hesitant with him earlier today but she still seemed to be worried.

Lennon nodded as she headed off to the table to deliver the order to the couple.

"You should probably get ready to go on." Lennon said, "Remember, you'll be fine." She smiled.

Luke sent one back and returned to Julie's side.

"Okay, it looks like we're closing
the night out with one more group, "Julie and The Fat Ones.""

Lennon sighed as the name was read aloud. She faced another couple at a table jotting down their orders and making her way back and forth from table to table making deliveries.

"Hi." Julie chuckled, "It's actually Julie and the Phantoms."

No one responded to her and she let out a soft "okay" as she began playing the piano.

The people were loving it. No matter how many times Julie and the boys would perform, everyone would be shocked by the unexpected presence of the boys' poof on stage.

Lennon softly smiled as she placed the drink down for the person at the residing table.

She took a couple of steps back from the table, her tray tucked under her arms as she watched Julie approach Luke with the microphone.

Maybe it was the way Julie and Luke looked at each other or the blinding stages light that made Lennon see things, but to her, and possibly everyone who was watching, they could she every grain of chemistry the two of them had.

Carrie looked back at Lennon. She had realized that she was walking closer towards the stage but not to the point of her being front and center.

Green was not a pretty color on Lennon. Carrie glanced back and forth between Lennon and Luke. How Lennon looked somewhat disappointed in the interaction between Julie and Luke.

Carrie Wilson wasn't stupid, but she felt like it. From the moment Lennon mentioned her soulmate, Carrie should've known. That boy on stage was the person Lennon had utterly adored. That boy on stage was Lennon's soulmate. Carrie could tell by how Lennon simply looked at him.

Carrie took one more glance at Lennon who was now in some type of distress. She ( Lennon ), now having one arm tightly around her stomach. She was bent over slightly and now had one of her coworkers' arms slung around her shoulders to make sure she was okay. It was evident that she was in some type of pain.

Caleb Covington ( if you excuse the language ) was being pretty much bitchy at this point. Watching as Lennon was in the pain she was in. He had been watching since the start of performance. Jealously would be the reason the shock now ran through her body. Oh, boy was he gonna make her jealous with everything he could. Like said, he liked Lennon, he truly did. Had only the most positive things to say about her, but at this moment in time, he didn't care. Green, to him, was a nice color on Lennon.

The shock also didn't go unnoticed by Reggie Peters either. One minute smiling at Julie and Luke and now the slight worry he now grew as he watched his friend clutching her stomach and someone making sure she was okay. He couldn't just drop his bass and make sure she was alright, I mean, he wanted to but this gig was important to the entire band.

"Lennon, you can go home. I can take your shift if you want?"

Lennon fluttered her eyes open and took one final deep breath. That shock felt worse than the first. It felt like she had put a metal fork in an outlet, but times it by ten.

She finally stood upright. Julie and the band still singing and playing on stage. She handed her tray over and as quick as she could made her way towards the back entrance of the café.

She needed air. She needed to feel like she could breathe. That shock felt like it took the wind out of her.

Lennon, at this moment in her life, was thankful she could drive, because walking home after whatever just happened wasn't even going to be an option.

She rested her hands on her knees, closing her eyes again. She hated to admit to this because her entire time working at the café, whenever Caleb Covington walked through that café for the first time, he had been nothing but nice to her, same vise versa. He had done something to her, something about that stupid marking that was on her wrist earlier.

She opened her eyes and glanced back down at her wrist, and just like before, nothing. It was like nothing was there in the first place.

She stood upright and sighed. First, it's her weird invisible wrist tattoo and now she has the thoughts of Luke and Julie.

No, duh Luke and Julie would be close, but Lennon didn't really know what the two of them did when they were alone.

She pushed the thought of them away as a small shock ran through her body.

If Caleb had anything to do with this, for sure Lennon was gonna be upset, but not as upset as her soulmate may be.

Speaking of, Julie and the Phantoms had drawn their song to a close. The applause from the crowd growing as the guys poofed from the stage.

"Thank you. We're Julie and the Phantoms. Tell your friends." Julie smiled and headed off stage.

The boys along with Flynn had been by one of the counters waiting for Julie to approach them.

The only person missing was Lennon. One moment she was smiling as they played and the next gone.

"Have you seen Lennon?" Luke asked the other two.

Alex simply shook his head and Reggie sat for a moment before slowly shaking his head also.

Luke held a tight lip as he looked around the vicinity of the small café. No sign of her being in the front of the establishment and he definitely didn't know if she was in the back.

Reggie kept Lennon leaving to himself. She, after whatever had happened, looked completely drained. She looked very drained of energy very quickly. He had taken a subtle glance at her throughout the time they had gotten on stage and from the time she had felt. He didn't see any shock and if he had he would've said something about it.

Luke finally brought his attention back towards the others. His mind still wondering where the girl was.

WITH HER face buried deep within the blanket she wrapped herself with, she felt slightly better as the movie played as background noise.

The shock may have been quick but the pain it brought with it lasted a while.

She felt herself dozing in and out of sleep before finally shutting her eyes. Just in time for her phone to buzz with messages after messages from Carrie and Julie.

Hey, thought you would there for me to be able to talk after the preform. Hope everything's all right.
- Julie

Your soulmate, the guy in Julie's band. The one who wears no sleeves. It's him, isn't it?
- Carrie

Also, are you all right? You looked completely out of it for a moment.
- Carrie

Pretty sure Luke is gonna stop by your place.
- Julie

She wasn't bothered to pick her phone up and check whatever was being said. She could only hope nothing horrible happened for her phone to be buzzing, what felt like, every five seconds. If it was truly that important they might've called instead of mass texting her phone.

She had felt her body relax more and more as she fell fast and faster into sleep. The last thing she could remember seeing from the movie was Kat laying in bed as Casper spoke to her.

Moments after, Luke poofed into the room. He was ready just to talk to her, but from how she was currently positioned, it was evident that talking wouldn't be something the two of them would be doing tonight.

He let out a sigh. Luke walked over towards the desk lamp that was on and shut it off and shut her slightly ajar door. The only light now was from her laptop and her window.

"Kat? Can I keep you?"

The same scene from the previous time he had poofed into her room and was sleeping, or deep in thought as Lennon sometimes called it.

As Luke watched the scene unfold, he slowly reached and shut the laptop.

To Casper, it was so much more than a kiss. His first crush that hadn't been so scared of him. A girl who was willing to be with him, a friend, or something more. Regardless if it was a kiss on the cheek or the lips. Casper genuinely liked Kat. He was a ghost and he found his "soulmate".

But she was living. That was the only issue.

Luke stood upright and threw another blanket over Lennon's body and poofed from the room.

Only to return, holding a tight lip and looking up for a moment. Not knowing what he could expect, truly nothing at that point, just for him to phase through her again.

He was gonna chicken out.

No, he wasn't.

The longer he stood there the more awkward he began to feel.

He took one final breath before bending down he gently ( maybe not ) kissed her cheek, feeling nothing like he had expected, and worked himself up for no reason.

He stood upright and squinted as Lennon's shoulders seemed to drop along with her arm ( the one with the marking ) twitch ever so slightly.

It was worth the shot. you know?

He held a tight lip and finally poofed from the room and back to the boys. Who were celebrating their somewhat unsuccessful chances of getting signed tonight.

The twitch from Lennon's arm wasn't enough for her to wake up or for her to stir around in her sleep but it was something that she felt and ignored, just like the air that brushed her cheek.

- lucy has something to say !!
(word count: 3415 three thousand four hundred fifteen)

no human girl is gonna die from caleb i swear :))))

my casper dvd also came in the mail yesterday now i can watch it with anyone complaining the tv is too loud 😌

i just checked my stats for spotify and the number 2 song is all eyes on me and number 5 is perfect harmony. we will not talk about the placement of other songs :))))

anyway

my fic 😤 my rules 😳

🧍‍♀️
bye :)