Vintage: A Ghost Story Read Online Free PDF Page A

grill of the car.
As the figure came nearer, my eyes began tearing from the growing wind and cold. We both remained quiet. I had never before felt so on edge. This was different from last night. Then, I had spoken to what I believed was just some other boy. Now I knew better. Trace must have been a storm inside, eager to prove her dreams right. One of her hands reached out and gripped my shoulder tightly. I’m not sure which of us needed steadying more.
Like a video replayed, the guy had the same stride, the same movements as last night. I think he might have walked right past us without realizing we even existed, if I hadn’t slipped in front of him, blocking his way. He stopped and lifted his gaze from the road to me as if suddenly awake.
Hey,” I said, shivering all of a sudden. Maybe from the cold.
His face brightened and then he smiled. He remembered me! A sense of relief filled me and, for a brief moment, I relaxed, basking in a boy’s attention. No vapor escaped his mouth when he breathed and I suddenly remem bered that this boy had been dead for decades. I struggled to keep calm.
“I had to see you again,” I said. Something moved on my left. Both of us turned and I saw Trace drawing closer, staring at the ghost. I had actually forgotten she was there. “It’s okay, she’s a friend of mine.”
Where are you walking to?” she asked him. Her voice trembled.
He never answered her. The weight of his stare left me weak. “I didn’t see you at the party.”
“Why isn’t he talking?” Trace tugged at my arm. I turned to her. “You can’t hear him?”
She shook her head. “No. He’s just standing there.”
I didn’t understand what was wrong, why I could talk with him and she couldn’t. I became her ventriloquist dummy, repeating his simple answers to Trace, who trembled against me.
“Ask him if he remembers reaching home.”
I thought that a cruel thing to ask but listened to her anyway.
All he said was, “Yes,” but that managed to quicken my heartbeat. Why me? Why after all these years, had he noticed me? I suppose I should have been worried but all I felt was the sudden sense of worth he gave me.
“Were you walking back from the party last night?”
“Yes,” he said softly.
I repeated his simple answers to Trace, who trembled against me.
“Ask him if he remembers reaching home.”
She shook her head. “No. He’s just standing there.”
I thought that a cruel thing to ask but listened to her anyway.
“Ask him if he remembers meeting you last night.”
He never answered me. Instead, he took a step back. Those beautiful eyes, a gentle blue, widened. He looked around the desolate road as if finally noticing his surroundings. He looked lost.
I took my gaze off of him for only a moment, just to chide Trace for upsetting him. When I looked back, he was gone, disappeared once more. I moaned in disgust. “We chased him away.”
“I’m sorry.” She walked over to where he had been standing. “They never realize they’re dead. That’s what the books say.” She spoke fast, almost breathless with excitement. “We saw a real ghost.”
“What happens when they do?
She turned toward me. “Hmm?”
“What happens when they discover they’re dead?”
“Oh.” Trace put a hand to her mouth a moment. “They usually fade away then.”
“So you’re saying we just killed him?” I looked around for any sign of him.
She frowned. “Hon, I didn’t mean to ruin this for you. But, honestly, did you think something could have happened between you two?”
“Maybe not thought.” My voice dropped low. “More like hoped.”
“I didn’t think he was your sort. Too… all American.”
I closed my eyes and imagined him still standing in front of me. Josh. That had been the name on the jacket. “He was different—”
“He was a ghost. An apparition.” She rubbed my back.
I turned my face so the wind would strike it. “Don’t you wonder what would it have been like to kiss him?”
“Cold,