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listen to two ghosts ~
harry styles
for this chapter

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A thousand different feelings rushed through me, as if I'd walked under one of those weird air curtains near the doorways of stores. He still looked the same. Aqua blue eyes like a merman's, chiseled jawline, dimpled cheeks, honey brown hair, and beach-tanned skin. How did this guy get to look like a freaking sea god? I shook the thought away. He wasn't as pretty as he looked.

I attempted to mask any sign of emotion and regained my composure. I was thankful that I was pretty good at acting. Arden, on the other hand, was not so. His face had turned into a crimson so deep that he looked like the Gryffindor emblem. I silently thanked god for giving me the ability to not blush, or I'd be the Hogwarts Express to match with Mr. Gryffindor right here.

"Miss Azalea, this is Arden Walters, new student here at Ridgewood. He's a senior too, and I thought you could show him around," Principal Moore smiled, "I trust that you can take up this responsibility?"

No. No, no, no. No way in hell.

"Sure, I can show him around," I replied, my jaw clenched.

Okay, look I know I'm pissing off, but this time I'm right and you know it.

I ignored the voice in my brain. I looked at Arden instead and said, "Come on, I'll show you around," with a sickly sweet smile that awfully reminded me of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland that I despised with a passion.

He simply blinked and gave me a tight-lipped smile, following me out of the office.

The bell had rung, and first period had started, so there was no sign of Alayne anywhere. Right now I'd kill to be with her rather than this numbskull, although the things she said sometimes muddled my brain up like fro-yo.

But right now, a mushed-up fro-yo brain sounded a hundred times better.

We walked in an uncomfortable silence which was completely fine with me, right until Mr. Gryffindor decided to open his mouth.

"River?"

I flinched at the sound of the name and continued walking as if I didn't hear.

The name opened a floodgate of memories. A particular memory played in my mind, like an old cassette tape on roll.

"So your name literally means 'River Moon Flower'?" he asked, stifling a laugh.

"Yes. Yes, to put it vaguely, yes," I scowled and looked at him, displeasure clear on my face.

"That sounds like one of those fairy names in kid books."

"You talk as if you're not a kid."

"I'm not! I'm 10, I'm a preteen!"

"I'm not one for fancy words."

"Says the kid with the fancy name."

"Hey! I didn't decide to name myself after some river in Egypt, my parents did!"

He threw a pillow at my face.

I gaped at him. "Oh no, you didn't," I said, sneering.

"Oh yes, I did," he mocked, grinning immensely.

I hurled the pillow back at his face, "Your name means 'forest', and that sounds like a fairy too, FYI."

And that was the beginning of a blossoming relationship.

Uh, no. Who made you the narrator?

Uh, I'm your brain. That makes me the narrator by default.

Shut it.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"...River?"

Ugh, he was still here? Why couldn't he just go and drown in his newly-gained popularity?

"What?" I spun around.

He faltered. "Um, hi," he said, his eyes flitting around in nervousness.

"Could we please not talk unless it's absolutely necessary? I'm not exactly one for small talk," I said, my jaw clenched.

"River, I'm so sorry, I—"

"Don't 'River' me. My name's Araxie. Shove that down your brain, numbskull."

"Okay, Araxie, can I please explain myself? I didn't mean to—"

"Didn't mean to what? Didn't mean to ruin my life? Didn't mean to take my best friend away from me? Didn't mean to what, Arden?"

"River, please—"

"My name. Is not. River," I gritted my teeth.

"Araxie—"

"Why are you here anyway? More importantly, how are you here? I'm all away across the country, and you just happened to be here. Out of all places. On EARTH?"

"I—"

"YOU'RE THE REASON I LOST DEVYN!" I bellowed, "YOU'RE THE REASON THAT SHE'S GONE!"

At this point, I had tears in my eyes, threatening to spill over.

He stayed silent. He tensed up, his jaw clenched and his eyes averted my gaze.

"Stop," he said, his voice dangerously low.

"Why? Does it make you feel guilty? Because if it does, I'll know you're capable of at least feeling something."

"Stop."

"Why? You deserve it. You deserve every bit of it, and you know that."

"Please," he said, softer, this time, his eyes begging for me to stop.

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding in. "Just leave. I don't want to talk to you, so it's better that you stay out of my life. Please."

With that, he slowly nodded, his head hanging low, turned on his heel and left.

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I spent the rest of the day replaying the entire scene in my head over and over again, as if the first time didn't create an impact large enough. I hadn't told any of my friends about Arden, nor had I told them about this chance encounter. I wasn't quite ready, and I felt like I needed some time to truly wrap my head around it.

How long, pea-brain?

You do realize that you're insulting yourself, right?

Yes, I do realize that. I specialize in self-deprecating humor.

Shut up.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

I walked home and quickly went upstairs, not wanting to engage in any sort of conversation. I looked at the photo frame that adorned my dressing table. It was a photo of Devyn, Autumn, Arden and me. I grabbed the picture off my dresser, clutched it close to my chest, and cried. I cried until there weren't any more tears left to cry.

♪ AIN'T GOT NO TEARS LEFT TO CRYYYY ♪

Please shut up.

I stared blankly at the walls, clutching the photo frame close to my chest. I looked out the window to the neighboring house, in search of Autumn.

She was the only part of my past that came along with me to this new city, this new life. She and I knew each other since we were wee babies, because our moms were best friends since high school. So it was no surprise when we both too bonded and became best friends. After what happened two years ago, both our families had to move out, so we came here. She went to a different school, though. Other than that, we were practically like sisters. She knew me best, and it was great to have her around to talk to anytime.

And right now, I needed to talk to her.

I crumpled a piece of paper and threw it at her window, in hopes that she would respond. Sure enough, her window slid open at that.

"Hey! Wait—Ari?" she asked worriedly, her tone changing in the middle of her sentence.

I simply looked at her, my puffy, bloodshot eyes filled to the brim with tears.

Guess you still got tears left to cry, huh?

Seriously, leave me alone.

"What happened, Ari? Who hurt you? Anyone I need to karate chop?"

I sniffed and chuckled at her infamous karate line, knowing that she was too nice to actually do that. "It's Arden. He's back."

"WHAT? I'm coming over, sis, hang on."

I nodded and waited till she came. I heard the thumping of footsteps and Autumn swung open the door, ran over to my side and hugged me. I hugged her back, tears seeping through her t-shirt, forming blotches.

After a while, I broke free and quickly explained what happened, sobbing throughout the story.

After listening to everything I said, she held my hand and looked at me with her golden-brown eyes with a fierce determination and said, "Araxie Moon Azalea, you're the strongest person I know. You're not gonna waste your tears crying over some nimrod with behavioral issues. Do you understand?"

I nodded, wiping my tears as I whispered, "Thank you. For everything."

She smiled, knowing exactly what I meant.

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That night, I couldn't get any sleep, so I decided to draw the curtains open and look outside at the sky, the moon, the stars, like I used to back in California. Here, when I looked up, the sky was lit up, sure. But it wasn't by the stars or the moon. It was the city lights, forming a curtain of reflection between me and the celestial bodies.

Stars. It reminded me of us. Of him and I. We used to say that we were like stars. Perfectly aligned and beautifully intimate. But now I realized, there was nothing romantic about the stars in that manner. We were like stars. Just not in the way we thought we were. We were like stars, seeming so close, yet in reality, infinite miles apart. So close, yet so far, distant and forlorn, glistening in the night, with people forming imaginary ties between us, linking us, binding us into sparkling constellations. But I'd rather think that the stars didn't like to be bound. They were beautiful just the way they were, individual, lone and beautiful.

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A/N: i'm so proud of myself, i usually don't write chapters this quickly lmao. especially when i'm overwhelmed with a shit ton of workload ahahah. tell me what you think of this chapter! so much going on here, so many secrets. i'd love to hear your own theories, do comment them below! this is also a longer chapter than the last one, so *pat on my back.* also, apologies if arden's description seemed cliché sksksks. i promise you, although the story seems cliché at first, all is not what it seems, and the plot twists later will be worth it. please do leave a vote and a comment if you loved this chapter! i love hearing from you guys, it keeps me motivated to write. :)

much love. ♡