that had occupied my thoughts for the entirety of my afterlife.
Laura wasn’t in our room, much to my relief. Her window was open, a sign that she was on the roof. I took a moment to wander around, ignoring the mess she had made since I left. If I hadn’t been a ghost I would have feared for the safety of my feet with Laura’s shell and rock collection strewn across the floor. While Paul Michael waited by the open window, I climbed up to my top bunk to see if everything was in its proper place: it wasn’t. Laura had completely taken over my bunk, with books and movie cases strewn across my PB Teen Surfer Girl quilt. She had erased all traces of me from the room besides the glow-in-the dark stars on the ceiling. They gave me no comfort now.
Paul Michael nodded toward the window. It was time to face Laura.
I climbed down from the top bunk as slowly as my arms would allow. My hands shook so badly that I could barely hold onto the rungs of the ladder. He climbed out on the roof first and slid over to the right. I climbed out after him and swallowed hard as I saw my little sister sitting to the left.
It was the first time I had seen her since the night I died, when I rode in front of her to push her out of the way.
I watched Laura carefully as I sat next to her, searching her for any signs of lasting damage from the night on the boardwalk. Besides the purple crescents under her eyes, there were none. Laura looked like me, long brown hair and abnormally small facial features, but with Paul Michael’s dark eyes.
“What are you staring at?” She looked directly at me as she spoke.
head. “Fourteen?” I asked. He nodded. I continued. “Why do you think you can start swearing?”