Page 36 of Vile Boys

My mother always said she doesn’t believe in ghosts, but I do.

I see the flecks dance in the light, watch their spirits mingle,longing to connect in the endless solitude of death.

I take another deep breath when I finally reach the grave at the top of the small hill. The flowers from last time have already wilted.

I go to my knees, remove them from the glass vase, and put in the new ones. A few I plucked from the field beyond the college and one additional bright red rose. Just like the rose he always gave to me.

I place it on the grave, separately from the other flowers, and then close my eyes.

“I brought you some new flowers,” I mutter into the wind.

The wind blows into my ear, brushing past my hair.

“I miss you, Daddy,” I whisper.

The faint sound of the wind pushing through the leaves of the trees above almost makes them sound like they’re whistling, and somehow, the tune puts me at ease.

It’s almost like he’s actually here with me.

Tears form in my eyes, and I let them run.

I need him.

I need him so desperately I can’t breathe.

But he isn’t here anymore, and nothing I do will bring him back.

But his soul… still lingers. I can feel it. And it gives me all the strength I need to push on.

Fight, Crystal. Don’t ever give up.

Flashes of a symbol with bones on it flicker in front of my eyes, and I look up at the building at the end of the graveyard. But the symbol vanishes.

It only exists in my memories. Just like my father.

I swallow and make the tears stop.

“I will make it right,” I say, placing my hand on the grave. “I promise on my life.”

An hourlater

“How are your studies coming along?”my mother asks.

I was drinking my coffee, but I pause halfway through, swallowing after a while. “Oh, I’m doing fine.”

I don’t want to lie to her.

It’s not going well.

But if I told her the truth about my latest issues with a couple of boys, she’d have a heart attack, for sure.

“I heard that the university has been having some problems with certain individuals making a whole scene and the police being involved. Have you heard anything about that?”

“Um, no, not particularly.” I take another quick sip.

That’s also a lie.

I did hear about it from Penelope because there was a huge fight between the Skull & Serpent Society and the Phantom Society. Supposedly involving the previous dean of Spine Ridge. But I don’t know the full gist of it, and I don’t think I want to. I just know that it’s over now, so I don’t want my mother to worry about it.

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