The following day, I decided that I had to learn more about her. I had to get her comfortable and alone. Maybe if I make her feel at ease she’ll talk to me about why she won’t touch me and why she’s constantly running off. I do like her, I really do. I also truly believe that she likes me back, but I have to know. She has to tell me what’s really going on. I want to hear the truth. I’ve got to hear it.

Nikki and I met up at a fancy restaurant for dinner. She was wearing an elegant, black dress and she looked amazing I must say! It hugged her curves in all the right places and she looked breathtaking!

I watched as she twirled her spaghetti beautifully. God... everything she did was perfect. I felt so vulnerable. She barely had to do anything and she was capable of putting me into a trance just like that! I was like clay, and she was the artist. She could sculpt me into whatever she wanted.

“This is nice,” she told me as she took a bite of her dinner. I smiled.

“Thanks, I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” I told her.

“Michael... are you doing this for a certain reason?” she asked me suspiciously. I had a feeling that she was catching on to my true intentions.

“I just feel really attracted to you that’s all. I just wanted to prove it to you in the form of a romantic dinner date,” I explained to her. She chuckled a little bit.

“You know I don’t believe that,” she told me. I blushed. Looks like I wasn’t that good at covering up my true thought after all.

“Well... there are a few things that are on my mind that I’d like to discuss...” I hinted. Her smile vanished and she started playing with her spaghetti. She didn’t seem too keen on telling me anything and I haven’t even told her what!

“I thought you’d say that...” she muttered. I reached my hands over the table and reached for hers, but she pulled back (not to my surprise) yet again.

“See! Right there! What’s that all about?” I blurted out. I covered my mouth as soon as I said it. I definitely didn’t want it to come across as rudely as it did. She looked shocked at my outburst, but she didn’t yell back at me. She only sighed.

“Michael...” she started.

“Please don’t give me the whole ‘it’s complicated’ or ‘now isn’t a good time’ speech! I’ve heard it all before. I’ll spare you the breath,” I said bitterly as I rolled my eyes.

I didn’t know what was coming over me! I guess I was just frustrated that she was keeping things from me. Who knows, it might be a boyfriend she’s keeping from me?

He looked down in disappointed and I saw her fiddling with her napkin. She looked back up at me with grey eyes. Yes, grey. Like, actual grey eyes! I don’t mean it as an expression for saying that she looked sad, they were actually grey! But not just any grey, they were grey like haze, or smoke, or fog! Odd right? I can’t be the only one who thinks that it’s odd. She looked out of the restaurant window. The sun was just falling behind the mountains. She looked back at me.

“We need to go for a walk,” she told me. I nodded and she led me outside of the restaurant as soon as I paid the bill.

She took me for a walk through a small forest and we ended up appearing in a large, grassy field. The wind was whistling and the grass rustled. It was like a scene out of a bad horror movie. Any moment now I expected something to pop out at me!

When we got to the middle of the field, she stopped and faced me. Her skin looked like it did when I first saw her. Almost translucent. It must have just been my eyes playing tricks on me. I watched her movements carefully.

“Michael... I wanted to wait to tell you this...” she started.

Here we go... this speech! Every sappy love story has this speech! The ‘I’m waiting for the right time’ speech. Yup... this was going to be interesting.

“What is it?” I asked. She placed her finger on my lips to silence me, but I couldn’t feel anything. All I felt was the cool air wrap around my body like a cloak. Why was she now touching me? Why couldn’t I feel anything? Were my lips numb? No, that would be stupid. Why would my lips be numb?!

She pulled her hand back slowly and looked back up in the sky. There were clouds covering the beautiful moon. She looked back at me.

“Michael... I need to first tell you what I’ve been through,” Nikki started. I waited for her to continue. She let out an exasperated sigh. “A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I went on a date-“

“Your boyfriend?!” I screamed.

“Shhh! I’m not finished yet,” she told me. I decided to keep quiet. I definitely wanted to hear this! “Anyway, we went on a date in the woods. He was an outdoor person, so I understood. We went walking, and about an our and a half into it, he pulled out a knife and stabbed me. He stabbed me until I fell to the ground and remained motionless. I screamed and cried out in pain, but we were too far away from any civilisation for anyone to have possibly heard me!” she shared as she started tearing up.

Wait, what? She was stabbed until she fell to the ground motionless? What the hell is this girl talking about? She noticed my confused expression.

“I’m dead Michael. I’m a ghost,” she told me. My mouth dropped.

The clouds moved away and revealed the moon. It’s light shone down upon us both, and she turned almost transparent and her she physically changed. Her beautiful, black dress became torn and tattered and blood dripped from her mouth and chin onto her chest and dress. One of the straps were torn off. She had stab marks on her chest and there was a large red patch above her heart. Her hair was matted and dirty.

“B-b-b-but,” I stammered.

“That’s why I never touched you,” she told me. Her voice sounded old, musky and dirty. She even sounded like a ghost! “When I touched your lips earlier, you didn’t feel a touch did you? That’s because I’m not really real. I’m a ghost. You just walk right through me,”

“Wait? Are you a dream?” I asked. She shook her head.

“No! I’m a ghost but I’m not physically here,”

“Okay... but what does this have to do with you always running off?” I asked.

“The moonlight turns me into this ghost girl. All of those times I ran off was because it was getting darker and I couldn’t risk you seeing me like this. I didn’t want you to find out this way, I wanted to tell you like I am now,” she explained.

“Are there more ghosts?” I asked as I looked around frantically. She nodded.

“Yes, but contrary to popular belief, we aren’t here to freak people out. After we die, we’re sent back to earth to fulfill a final mission,” she informed me.

“Well... what was yours?” I asked her.

“Well, since I was murdered by a boyfriend who didn’t actually love me, my mission was to find love,” she told me. I smiled.

“Am I...?” I asked. She smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, you are,” she replied. I smiled and went to give her a hug, but I walked right through her. She giggled.

“Michael! I’m a ghost remember?” she reminded me. I smiled and laughed a bit myself.

“Oh yeah. You know, that’s kind of a bummer because I’d really like to kiss you right now,” I told her. She smiled and looked around embarrassed.

“So... are we okay now that I’ve told you? Will this change anything?” she asked me. I shook my head.

“Of course not, you’re my Nemo and I love you just the way you are,” I told her. She smiled and we both leaned in, and then we stopped.

“Sorry! Even I forgot that I was a ghost! I guess I was just caught up in the moment...” she said a little embarrassed. I smiled.

“It’s okay, I forgot again myself,” I told her. She smiled at me.

Finally, the truth.