chapter ten:: kiss me kiss me

"GOD, Evan, just drop it!" I groaned loudly, as I worked on my sheet music.

Evan paced my room, regardless, "Dawn, you don't even want to know why?"

"No!" I huffed, "He left and now he's back, and I don't care."

"Yes, you do," He argued, "I know you do." And he was right. I do care and I do want to know why he was here, but I sure as hell won't admit that or put myself in a position where I could fall for Hayes' antics. Not again.

"Evan, just let me finish this. You're distracting me," I told him, continuing to critique my sheet.

"He's back for a reason, Dawn," He went on and I rolled my eyes, "After a year being gone, he's come back and instantly trying to be on your good side bringing your favorite coffee and coming to your show."

"Which I could care less about," I informed him, "Hayes is in the back of my mind-"

"But he's on your mind," I give Evan a look as he interrupted me.

"Yeah, as the bastard who basically chose to break up with me by getting the hell out of dodge," I pushed my hair behind my ears, "He's had an entire year to give me his reasons, but now it's too late. I don't want to hear it."

"Yes, you do," He disagreed, and I groaned. It's like he was reading my mind, "You should get closure."

"He's a sociopath, Evan," I stated, "The moment I sit down with him, he's going to manipulate me and the situation and make it seem like the I'm the reason he left yet I should still take him back. That's how he is."

Evan then walked to my mirror to look at himself fixing his hair and I was about to go back to writing out my music until I saw Luke appear in my room. I furrowed my brows, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

Evan then turned to look at me and Luke looked over at him before at me as well, "Sorry, I didn't know you were busy."

"It's fine, Evan was just going home," I then turned to Evan and he slightly gasped, knowing who I was talking to.

"You know, what? Fine, I'll leave you and your little ghost boyfriend alone," He smirked when I gave him a look as he grabbed his bag and turned to me, "But I'm serious about this whole Hayes thing. Just talk to him."

I hummed, "I'll think about it." He nodded and said goodbye to me and Luke, though he couldn't hear Luke respond or see him wave until he left. I then looked at Luke, "What's up?"

"I just wanted to apologize for just ghosting like that today," He said, laughing lightly at his choice of words, "And also interrupting your conversation."

"Oh, that's okay. I know it was probably a lot to take in," I told him and watched him sit on my bed. He crossed his legs just like me and sat across from me so we faced each other.

"Everything is just going so wrong for me," He huffed out, messing with my pen that I laid down, "I died before I even got play at the biggest stage in Hollywood, my song got stolen from a douche who has a helicopter with his face on it, my parents don't even know that one of those songs were for them, and now.." He paused to meet my eyes briefly before back at my pen, "Now I'm going to disappear off of the face of the earth right when I finally have a second chance to be great."

"Luke, we'll figure this out," I assured him, and grab his hand, causing him to quickly look up at me with a soft smile. I smile back, "What?"

"I finally felt that from you," He told me and I furrowed my brows, "I usually never feel you hug me, but I felt that." I then look at my hand and raise it up for him to hold his hand less than an inch from mine. It was as if you were trying to not make magnets connect, but with no gravitational pull- more just the curiosity trying to pull our hands together. I watch as he laid his hand flat against mine, just to look at me, "Did you feel that?"

I shook my head, but kept my hand up, "I think it's just you. You probably thought you felt something."

He chuckled, but examined our hands before slowly intertwining our fingers, "Not even this?"

"No, I guess you have to be half dead or something," I joked, "I never felt any ghost I ever interacted with. I can hug my father, but feel like I'm hugging nothing even as he sits in front of me. I can only feel if you walk through me."

He nodded slowly, but still watched our hands. I was going to pull away, but he spoke up again, "So, you're going to go talk to Hayes?"

"I don't know, Evan wants me to because I could find 'closure'," I huffed out, now watching his thumb caress my hand. I stared at it for a moment, but cleared my throat, "It's only because he came over after you guys left."

"Seriously?" He asked and I nodded, "What did he want?"

"To talk, I guess," I shrugged, "But I was too mad to give him the chance."

"Oh, I would kill to see you mad," He laughed, "You always seem so collective and calm all the time."

I laughed with him, "Only sometimes, depending on who it is."

He nodded, "Well, I don't think you should talk to him." I raised and brow at him, so he went on, "From what you told me, he doesn't sound like he's the best candidate for boyfriend of the year. You deserve something- someone better than that."

I meet his eyes again and smiled, "I think I'm doomed then when it comes to love."

"How?"

"I don't think anyone would want to date a girl that sees and communicates with dead people," I dryly joked to lighten the situation, "It's not the greatest factor to have in a relationship."

"Okay, then date a ghost," He suggested and I give him a look, "What? They're reliable in love, they're always there in spirit, if they leave you, you can just summon them back, and you can always talk to them. It's a win-win."

I laughed and he grinned, "Yeah they seem like they're my best fit." After a moment, I pulled away my hand and got out of my bed to put away my sheet music, but I can see him frown a little bit before laying out on my bed. I put my stuff away in silence and he didn't mind as he sat there quiet as well, but after almost ten minutes I spoke up, "I think I should talk to him, but on my terms."

Luke then furrowed his brows, sitting up, "Well, it's up to you, but I-" He paused and scratched the back of his head, "I just don't want to see you get hurt by the asshole."

I smiled and went over to him, ruffling his hair a little, "Thank you for worrying about me. It's rare for a ghost to do that since they're so concerned with themselves and the afterlife."

He chuckled lightly, "Well, it's because I care about you," He then cleared his throat, "I mean, it's not everyday I meet a girl who can actually see ghost all the time."

"It's not the best gift," I laughed before I noticed him furrow his brows, "It used to be hard in the beginnings of all this- I would wake up in my middle of sleep, hearing cries in my head, and it would be so loud I would think it was in my room. Then there used to be hallucinations, I would see myself in the mirror and it would reflect a spirit as they were bloody, their faces all covered in dirt. It was horrifying to deal with at the time."

"How did you overcome it?"

"I didn't," I told him, sitting beside him, "One day, it just stopped and I went into another phase where I could call upon spirits of my choice. But there's a consequence with that- my power weakens and I can't do much. One time I couldn't even leave my bed, it was so bad, so my mother forbid me from summoning anyone but my father."

"But you summoned us," He argued and I put a finger to his lips, causing him to laugh when I pulled away, "I guess no one in the supernatural business has it easy."

"Yeah, they need to start making a handbook for us or something," I joked, but looked to my left when I seen Reggie and Alex appear.

Reggie smirked at Luke as he sat on my bed, though Luke quickly got up, "Not creepy, huh?"

"Shut up," Luke huffed out, crossing his arms, "What's up?"

"Do you not remember our show at Julie's?" Alex him and Luke hit his forehead.

"I remember, I just got...distracted," He told them, but Alex and Reggie then looked at me, before laughing amongst themselves.

"What show?" I asked, hitting Luke's leg, "Why didn't you tell me about a show?"

"Yeah, we're performing at Julie's," He then told me, looking down at me, "Want to come?"

"Oh my god, say yes!" Reggie shrieked, suddenly pulling me off the bed so I could stand up, "Come, Dawn, please come!"

"Okay, okay," I chuckled, having him pull me in a tight hug, forcing me to jump up and down with him.

"This is amazing!" He squealed before suddenly pulling away from me and fixing his clothes, "You, Dawn, will be there or be squared!" He snapped his fingers and pointed his index fingers out to me before disappearing and having Alex shake his head in embarrassment.

Luke then looked at me and smiled, "Uh- I guess, I'll see you there."

I nodded briefly before he left as well and I was left with Alex, who was grinning wide. I raised a brow at him, "What are you smiling at?

"Don't tell Luke I said this, but," He let out a light laugh, "But he totally has a crush you." My mouth hangs slightly open, ready to ask him more about what he meant, but he disappeared before I could. I stood frozen in my room, lost on his words. A crush on me?