Cole was good. Cole was good. Cole was good. Cole was good. Cole did not lie. Cole did not lie. Cole did not lie. Cole did not lie. Cole has a secret. Cole has a secret. Cole has a secret. Cole has a secret. 

Cole wanted to keep the secret to himself. Cole wanted to keep the secret to himself. Cole wanted to keep the secret to himself. Cole wanted to keep the secret to himself. Cole wanted to protect me. 

Cole wanted to protect me. Cole wanted to protect me. Stop panicking. Stop panicking. Stop panicking. Stop panicking. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away.

"[Y/N]!" The voice of my mother tore me from my thoughts.

Oh thank heavens! It was just a dream. It was all just a dream. A very messed up nasty dream. But it was gone now. What happened in there was gone. Was everything that happened early on just a dream?

Please don't let Cole be a figment of my imagination. Please! I don't want him to be. He's the only thing I've ever actually understood that happened in my life.

I trudged out of bed and threw on my day clothes before walking into the kitchen. Johanna and mom were there still as far away as possible from one another.

"How did you sleep, sweetheart?" Johanna asked me.

To be totally honest, I didn't know. The dream I had witnessed was still foggy in my mind and I couldn't quite grasp it. But it installed a feeling inside of me.

"I don't know." I said.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Mom asked placing a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of me.

"I had a dream, and it was weird." I explained.

"Weird. Weird how?" Johanna asked from the sink and turned towards me.

"I don't know. I don't remember any of it, but it gave me a weird feeling. Hey, do we have any burgers? I want to make Cole a lunch since I forgot his dessert yesterday." I explained.

"You have a friend?" Mom asked.

So, Cole wasn't real? He was just a figment of my imagination. Probably some cartoon or anime character. Because there are plenty of fanfictions out there with that ending. I was disappointed by that answer.

"Cole is her friend that's our number one customer. She likes him." Johanna explained.

"I don't like him!" I exclaimed jumping up.

"Sure you don't. We have burgers in the freezer." Johanna said.

**

Okay. I think I'm late to the bus stop. Because it was ten minutes after I, initially, do leave the house. And I was booking it down the sidewalk to get there on time. Because I had made Cole both a lunch and a dessert.

The bus was pulling up! The bus was pulling up! Run faster you stupid legs. No!

"I'm here!" I cried out.

The doors to the bus were closed and the bus driver started to pull away. Is that even legal? Can a bus driver refuse a student with no priors to getting on the bus?

"Did I-. Did I just miss the bus?" I questioned out loud.

And Cole was on that bus. If I moved fast enough, I could keep up with the bus. But that was foolish. I would look like an idiot and I'm not that fast. I'm that slow to not keep up with it. Should I call mom? 

No. She'll just yell at me to figure it out. I have no money on me, so an uber is out. Not to mention uber doesn't do background checks. Why the hell would I do that brain? I wasn't yelling at my brain for the uber idea. 

It was something entirely different. Something me and my mom ran away from. I ran off towards an alley. To do my wonderful idea. Actually, it was awful. Actually, it was stupid awful. But world. You leave me no choice. I'm going to do the awful of the awful. In an alley.

"I'm going ghost!"

I'm going to turn into a ghost and fly to school. I got there before the bus (or any bus for that matter) arrived. I flew into the school and into a bathroom where I changed back. Well, that was easy. 

Totally plot convenient, bus still easy. I walked out of the bathroom before walking to the cafeteria (where I knew someone would be with his friends, so I can give him his lunch). I sat down at a table and started playing on my phone.

And my hope was that he would notice my presence. Hopefully.

"Hi, [Y/N]." Yes! Score! No. No cheering, brain. You don't like him. Well, you do otherwise you wouldn't be friends with him, but... not in that way.

"Hi. I'm sorry I forgot about your desert yesterday. So here." I handed Cole the bagged lunch I made for him.

I hesrd snickering which made Cole blush. Actually, I'm not so sure it was that, that made him blush. I looked over to the snickering table to see his friends all staring at us before going back to reading. I know the only ones within your sorry excuse for a group that read are the blondilocks: Zane (novels) and Lloyd (comics, mangas, and graphic novels).

"Thanks, [Y/N]. You didn't have to do that." he told me.

"Well, I did. I forgot and had to double up. And considering, something like last night could happen again, I might as well get this done sooner rather than later." I said.

"What happened last night? Did something happen? Should I get worried?" He asked as I saw the girl and three of his friends share a look, one I couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. If you count my father banging on the door demanding I go live with him nothing, then yes nothing." I lied through my teeth.

"I thought your father was dead. You never talk about him." He said.

"Mom and him are getting divorced, because he's been in love with my best friend's mother since college. And a criminal. Brought my home of Amity Park into the Ghostzone, tried to kill me multiple times, and tried to turn me and my best friend evil." I explained.

"So, what happened after that? Him coming to the bakery I mean." he wondered.

"Mom threatened to bash his head in with a frying pan Tangled style." I lied.

Why was lying so easy? It shouldn't be this easy or this simple. To lie in general. But my secret was a secret for a reason. And it would have to stay that way.