Page 1 of Origins
Chapter One
Haunted
“The place where I’m house-sitting is haunted.”
My statement was brave—considering—and I hoped I spoke loud enough to be heard by the intended recipient. If possible, I didn’t want to repeat myself. It had taken a lot of courage—or foolhardiness on my part—to say it the first time.
The paranormal was one of those difficult-to-approach topics, especially with my best friend. History had already proven our differences of opinion. Despite being together for over ten years, I knew this was something that we were unlikely to reach a consensus.
But at this point, I was desperate. I might be going crazy, and only Finn could help me.
Yet, there was no response. No reaction.
I glanced at him. Across the small cafe table, Finn furiously typed on his laptop—obviously undisturbed by my nervous confession. He had made no outward movement after I spoke, and it made me wonder if he even heard me.
The coffee shop was rather loud, after all.
“Finn.” I pressed my foot against his shin, trying to get his attention. “Finn, did you hear what I just told you?”
Finn’s perfect lips turned downward and he glanced up, meeting my eyes. His grey eyes were normally playful and light, but at the moment were sharp—disapproving. At once, I was thankful for the fact that his black-rimmed glasses slightly hid his judgment.
“I heard you,” he replied. His distinctive baritone was an octave lower than normal, signaling his annoyance. “But considering the absurdity of what you said, I chose to ignore it.”
Then, without further ado, he refocused his attention back to his laptop.
I gasped, shocked by his attitude. How could he be so callous and uncaring?
Even if he didn’t believe me, he could at least hear me out. He was my best friend and the only person in the world I cared about besides my parents. But he could be such a jerk!
I was beinghaunted. I coulddie.
“Finn, but what if I’m not wrong?” I asked him, desperate. I only needed him to take me seriously. Just this once. I was opening a can of worms, I knew. But I didn’t know what else to do at this point. “Wouldn’t you feel terrible if I were killed by an angry poltergeist and you didn’t do anything to stop it?”
“Iwouldfeel bad if you were killed by an angry ghost.” Finn pushed his glasses up on his nose as he focused on me. “However, I have nothing to be worried about.Ifghosts and demons even existed, then it certainly wouldn’t be a harmless poltergeist that ended up killing you, anyway. Not with the kind of trouble that you tend to attract. You need to learn to relax.”
My heart fell, as I took offense at his statement.
Trouble.I never got into any kind of trouble. I was the opposite of a troublemaker. How rude. Some best friend he was turning out to be.
I glared at my untouched coffee while Finn nonchalantly returned to his homework—or whatever he was working on.
Now there was nothing left for me to do here. I could have started my own assignments, which I had brought along. But my mind was full of worry about my impending death by spiritual forces. I would never be able to concentrate.
Besides, only Finn—who was probably finishing up his last assignment of the semester at this very moment—enjoyed doing schoolwork. Finn was a prime example of a hot nerd in the only way it was possible for hot nerds to be. He woke up early every morning to exercise, and then dedicated all other hours of the day to learning.
I—on the other hand—preferred to sleep in late, to not get sweaty unless for my hobbies, and only read on subjects that interested me. Sometimes I wondered how it was possible for people with contrasting personalities to be so close.
We became best friends in middle school. So when Finn told me to attend the same university as his, I jumped at the chance. We lived on campus—something which neither Finn nor I were happy about. But it was a university policy for freshmen that couldn’t be avoided.
Finn preferred for me to be close so he could keep an eye on me. He said that next year, when we could move off campus, things would be different. I assumed that he meant we’d share an apartment at that time.
But things were especially difficult at the moment. Finn was one of the only people on campus who I felt comfortable around. Probably because we grew up together. Trying to live with severe anxiety was terrifying. If it hadn’t been for our nightly meetings and study sessions, I wasn’t sure how I’d cope.
Being surrounded by strangers all day did nothing to keep my fears at bay. Would it become too much for me to handle? And one day, I would find myself unable to leave my room. That would probably cause me to fail my classes and get kicked out of college. And without me here to keep an eye on him, Finn might find a cute nerd girl. He might decide that we shouldn’t live together after all.
What if we never got married? It was almost too much to imagine.
To prevent this, I had been trying my best to become more normal—for Finn. He deserved it. I had been a burden on him for too long, and I didn’t want us to live together because he felt obligated to take care of me.
