Day seven, post-ghosting:

Thanksgiving Break had given me a ghost haunting, a birthday party, and a girlfriend before putting me back into the "natural" swing of things. After all of that and my new stepbrother, I was back in high school. My first class was done, and I was minding my own business, humming a little Olly Olly tune as I gathered my notebooks from my locker. The drone of chatter and laughter from my peers kinda drowned out as I thought about where I'd take Nona for tonight's date. My mind always works best under last minute panic. She had texted me and hinted at something Italian, so I wasn't totally lost.

A very firm grip on my shoulder woke me up, just what I needed for a Monday morning. I was turned around and slammed into my locker. The shock jolted my hands, and all my shit dropped to the floor. Most people ignored the sudden commotion, 'cause it's high school on a Monday morning.

"Alex!" Clarissa welcomed, gripping both her hands on my shoulders. "What the Hell did you do?!"

"Hello, Clarissa!" I offered with a knowing grin. "Finally back in town, I see! You're a bit pale, though." Showing my teeth, I raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Did you see a spooooky ghost?"

She pulled me a few inches off of my locker, only to slam me against it again, this time konking my head on the metal. "What. Did. You. Do?!"

Day one, evening:

I had a lot on my mind, as it was just the first day after the Triangle Haunting of Edwards' Island. I wasn't even using my phone in the Silverado, I just kept both hands on the wheel and thought about shit. Jonas was off, doing whatever, and I had texted Ren asking to come over.

He agreed, said his parents were still out of town and that we needed to talk about stuff.

So when I performed "Yankee Doodle Went to Town" on his doorbell, he answered with an even frownier frown. We sat down on his sofa, him on the left side with his feet on the ground and me on the far right. I splayed out and challenged him to a foot war.

He wasn't too amused.

"Alex," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I gotta know, man, what happened? You weren't like you yesterday."

Curling up, I wrapped my arms around my legs and reminded him, "We were kinda in the middle of a ghost haunting, Ren. Someone had to step up and take charge, and it wasn't gonna be you."

"No, yeah, I get that," he admitted. "But, like, you were gonna stomp my nuts, dude. That's about as cool as your emergency stash of beer."

"Hey, if one of your sisters drowns, and you can't save her, you'll get accustomed to a warm beer," I shot back. He looked at me like he didn't even know me. Sighing, I shook my head. "Sorry, Ren, whatever I did, you know I wouldn't deliberately be mean."

"You treated me like a retarded cat," he scoffed. "You told Jonas to hold me down if he needed to! That's not how you treat a friend, Alex!"

"You weren't a friend in that moment, Ren!" I told him, plain and simple. "You were getting high! You were a liability! You stopped being a teamplayer and started being extra weight that somebody had to carry!"

"It wasn't even that bad!" Ren shouted. "I just saw colors, it wasn't anything that anyone had to worry about."

"Well, there wouldn't have been any way for me to know that. Sooo, better safe than sorry," I decided. "You wanna get mad about your own choices? Fine. Just don't take it out on me, 'cause I saved everyone's ass yesterday."

He fumed, he argued, he yelled. In his tantrum, he threatened to not show up to Nona's birthday party. I asked him why, if she didn't feel comfortable around him before, why would she feel comfortable around him now.

And in that moment, his dreams of successfully manipulating Nona into being his girlfriend were shattered. He didn't take it well. In fact, I'd say that "running up to your room whilst sobbing and slamming the door shut" is the opposite of taking it well.

I texted him, "You're my friend, Ren. But you can't win everyone. Nona isn't looking for a relationship with you, so back off and show her some respect. When you calm down, come over, and we'll load up halo 3. We'll use the shitty sentinel beam weapons and pretend we're ghostbusters."

He never texted me back. He just showed up two weeks later, and Jonas kicked our asses in Griffball.

Day one, morning:

The morning sun rose up in the cloudless sky and beat down on Jonas and myself. We sat atop the highest bleacher in my vacant school's outdoor soccer and track field. Taking a long, toxic, rewarding drag from my cigarette, I reminisced and planned, the faint echoes of traffic bubbling in the distance. I'd made it a point to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with my awesome, new, ghost fighting brother.

He was still kinda out of it, since he'd just gone through a body possession thing yesterday.

"This will be great," I told him as we watched a lone crow perch atop one of the floodlights we'd use for nightly practice. "My new brother, storming the scene and partnering up with little, nobody Alex, and together they'll become co-queens at prom and win the hearts and minds of a young, influential generation!"

"Oh boy. It's what I've always wanted," he huffed with indifference to my grand vision of greatness, puffing away on his own death stick. Taking off his beanie, Jonas let his ruffled, thick hair flow free. "Alex, I get what you're goin' for, and I'm really grateful that you wanna do so much to make me feel good."

Grinning, I deduced, "There's a bigger 'but' there than in my Playboy magazine."

"What, you only have one?" he shot off in return.

Our combined laughter scared off the crow, and we would never see it again.

Sighing, Jonas said, "Alex, I think that, after going through a ghost haunting, bodily possession, and my mom dying, I'd rather just... just be in the background, y'know?"

Scrunching my lips, I turned my head and looked the handsome man in the eye and asked, "You don't wanna be my co-pilot?"

Smiling, he shrugged. "Maybe just the stewardess."

Chuckling, I imagined him in a skimpy skirt telling me to get off the plane, because my skin color meant I was a terrorist. "Okay, Jonas," I sighed. "I'm still hooking you up with my dealers, though."

"Oh, totally," he laughed as he took another drag. "I wanna get in on all of that."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company. The gentle wind brushed through my hair, and I languidly stretched. Jonas didn't notice.

"Say, Alex," he finally asked, "when's that birthday party? Has Nona talked to you about that. I, uh, never got her number."

I hesitated, I paused. I just stopped, because I was conflicted. Jonas had been there for me as a friend, as a trusted, impromptu second-in-command. He had been in my life for just two days, but it felt like he'd been with me for two decades. He had been with me through thick and thin.

"Jonas, Nona doesn't want you at her birthday party."

Now it was his turn to pause. He looked at me, raising both eyebrows. "What? Alex, I know you like to joke, but that's not funny."

Shaking my head, I told him, "I'm sorry, Jonas. Nona just wants people she feels comfortable around, y'know?"

"Comfortable?" he scoffed, throwing his cigarette to the wind with beautiful form (should've been a pitcher). "I went through a body possession ghostfest with her! How could she not be comfortable with me after all that?"

"I asked her the same thing!" I told him. "She knows about you beating the shit out of a guy."

Slumping his shoulders, he put his elbows on his knees and placed his head wearily in the palms of his hands. Groaning, he wondered, "Why the Hell does that keep coming up?"

"I'll be blunt," I told him as gently as I could, "a lot of people are going to be wary of you. It's high school Jonas. The only thing that spreads faster than a dirty story in high school is a plague in the Byzantine empire."

In hindsight, I shouldn't have compared his one little anger break to a disease that killed a fourth of an empire. He groaned like a train coming to a halt, and I just kept patting his back.

"Cheer up, big guy," I offered. "You're my stepbrother, so everyone will respect you, including Nona."

"Do you know why?" he kinda begged. "Did she say why that made her uncomfortable with me?"

I held him, placing my head on top of his. "Jonas, some people just don't act right. Give Nona her space, and maybe she'll warm up to you in the future."

Growling, he decided, "It's bullshit, Alex."

"This whole thing has been bullshit," I told him.

I held him like a prized vase full of ancient Greek coins, until he chuckled. And then he started laughing.

I let go and leaned down with him, only for him to arch back, so I had to follow suit. "What's so funny?" I asked with a grin of my own.

"Oh gee, where to begin," he sighed, clasping his hands over his face as his cheeks went a bit red. "First my mom dies, then I meet you, then I get sucked into a ghost haunting." Looking to me, he decides, "But what really gets under my skin is that some girl I barely know doesn't want me at her birthday party." Shaking his head, he scoffed, "I can't believe myself."

Chuckling, I shrugged my shoulders and asked, "Hey, whatcha gonna do? At least you could yell at the ghosts. With Nona, you could try glaring at her, but she'd probably just ask Clarissa to beat you up."

"Oh no, I think she'd definitely have Clarissa beat me up," he agreed, pulling out his pack of smokes. "But if you backed me up, I think we could take her."

"She'd better like gardening, 'cause we'd plant her in the ground," I definitely knew for certain. "Aaand, she'd come with her own fertilizing system."

Rummaging through his pockets, Jonas had to give me a groaning laugh for that one. "Okay, I know you two have a history and all, but I want this to be a defensive alliance, okay? No invading Russia in the winter or breaking non-aggression pacts, okay?" he warned firmly as he fumbled through his pockets, having misplaced his zippo.

"Aaaw," I moaned as he popped a fresh one into his mouth. "Can we at least get a rival power addicted to opium to ensure profitable trade deals?" I asked as I offered him my own lighter, a fancy Vietnam-knockoff one that read "to Alex, love Michael" on one side and "smoking = bad, u bad grl" on the other.

It was the last gift he ever gave, and I was kinda shocked at myself for sharing it.

Jonas smiled, admiring my priceless relic. "Maybe once or twice, but no promises," he conceded as he lit up.

"Good," I sighed. "Now, let's finish our smokes and get the Hell out of this trashhole of a school. I have a nasty habit of burning things down, so it's best I don't linger around a potential target."

Jonas took a nice, long drag before giving me his official opinion.

"You've got a bit of acid in that heated blood of yours, Alex."

"Alex! What the Hell did you do?!" Clarissa demanded again, her voice echoing through the school hallway.

Having her handling me was not as romantic as I thought it would be when we first met, before Michael got swept up in her cold embrace. Now that I had actually been given my own turn at the woman's undivided attention, I wondered why I'd ever wanted it in the first place.

Having sufficiently slammed me against my locker, Clarissa had turned a few heads, so I dropped my grin. "Clarissa, I don't know what you're talking about!" I shouted, letting fear drip into my tone.

"I text Nona, and she doesn't text back. I call Nona, and she hangs up on me?!" she snarled, her pride wounded. Moving her hands to my throat, she demanded, "Start talking. What the Hell did you do! I leave for a few days, and my best friend won't say shit to me!"

Keeping my hands firmly by my pockets, I told her, "She and I are dating, that's all."

"Bullshit," she instantly spat, tightening her grip. I actually had trouble breathing. "You never even talked to her before Edwards' Island! I know you, Alexandra, Michael told me all about you, so don't try to pull the wool over my eyes!" she threatened as she constricted my breathing even more. "You'd better explain now while you still have teeth to enunciate!"

With my last breath, just as people started murmuring and taking videos of the incident, I reached into my pocket as I reminded her, "You took Michael from me."

She loosened her grip a bit. Her eyes twitched, and her jaw slackened as she actually thought about what I'd said, giving me the opening I needed to pull out my lighter and aimed it close to her expensive, Burberry denim jacket.

Taking a deep, much-needed breath, I winked. "I took Nona from you."

I ignited my zippo and successfully set fire to her jacket at roughly the same time she smashed her fist into my left eye.

I used to steal from mom and dad to buy beer. I got thrown into juvie for grand theft auto (I'd dispute that one, but a record's a record). I made friends with the smart people in class so that I could cheat off 'em. I never did anything for anyone that wasn't for my own gain. I engineered the perfect opportunity to deal the final blow to my grand vision.

I'm not a hero. I never have been, and I never will be.

Ren never figured it out. He was considering a "reconquest" of sorts and asked Nona out for real before school started back up, but every reconquest needs the money of a Justinian and the cunning of a Belisarius. Ren had neither, he was more of a "John the Gluten" kinda guy. Once he asked her out for real, Nona told him about us, and he never tried again. He did, however, resume his friendship with me after he saw how bad my black eye was.

Nona and I are still dating. She really likes me, especially after I let her play nurse with me and soak in her own guilt. She got it into her head that it was partially her fault, because she had let Clarissa push her around so much. I think she's not half-bad either. Her kissing's a bit slobbery, but she's never done it before, so I can't really blame her. She also doesn't speak to Clarissa anymore, so I'd call it a win-win-win on all fronts for me. We've moved on from Clarissa and are writing that book together, as co-authors.

Clarissa got hauled away, kicking and screaming bloody murder. The next day, she didn't show up to class, and then a week went by without any trace of her, and then the following week the news finally reached me: she got kicked out. She's out there, somewhere, trying to pick up the pieces and start over.

Jonas never got wise to me. He and Nona became friendly acquaintances, neither wanting to touch on the subject of her birthday party. Jonas didn't care when we made ourselves an official couple. In fact, he gave me his official seal of approval and best wishes. He wasn't too confident about the longevity of high school romances.

He was the first to introduce me to his new friends as his sister, minus the 'step' part. It was weird at first, but it's true. He's my brother. I couldn't see myself going solo anymore.

He also tackled Clarissa to the ground and cracked one of her ribs as he stomped out the fire. It was great. I'm saving up to buy him a really nice beer, like a German kind or some shit. It all depends on what my dealers can get.

It's funny, I would have nightmares every night, and I'd run to Jonas, and we'd hold each other as we both tried to sleep. Then, it got down to just weekly nightmares and a shaky smoke with Jonas on the patio. And then a week would go by without us ever thinking about it at all. It's still a work-in-progress.

Anyways, I asked Jonas what he wanted to do after graduation, and he plans on attending our local community college. I'm going to join him, and I'm in the process of convincing Nona to give up on her dancing and come do entry level courses with me.

But, anyways- what time is it? Oh, shit! Sorry, I gotta run! I promised mom I'd use her Silverado to go pick up my brand new, fresh-off-the-shelf stepbrother Jonas from the airport. The handsome bastard never accepted my steam invite, so I'll have to make him feel bad about that.

Ren's dragging me out tonight for that yearly beach party thing, and I'll probably try to dump Jonas off here and then haul ass to the ferry.

Whatever, I'm sure it'll be fun. I might even bring him along if he's not a total ass. Either way, it'll be something to do, right?