Chapter 9 [KRIS POV]

I have been SWAMPED with work. I feel a little guilty, but it’s too hard watching Ana. That doesn’t mean I’m a bad person, I don’t think. I’ve been so tired lately-yes, you need sleep in hell. I haven’t gotten much since my job started. It’s a lot of writing. I actually planned to be a writer when I was alive. You get to literally write peoples nightmare. It’s f*****g awesome! Kind of like, my dream job. But I got the day off, so I’m going to get some coffee to stay up.

I walk into the coffee shop, and see Aimee, the girl I met my first day here. Her hair is blue now, not purple.

“Oh, hey. Do you remember me?” I say as I walk up to her.

“Yeah! Kris, right?” I nod. She stands and we shake hands.

“I’d love to talk, I mean, I have NO friends here, so maybe we could like, talk? I ask. She laughs.

“Of course! How has hell been going for you?” She asks, and then I join her at her table.

“I like it…sometimes. How long have you been here?”

“2 years.”

“And…when do you get to leave?” Maybe she’ll know.

“No one knows.” Not the answer I was looking for. This slightly frustrates me. But it’s not her fault. I decide to change the subject. I ask her to tell me her death story.

 

 

 

“Okay, ha-ha, well, me and my girlfriend had been together for, years. 6 years. I’m 22. Did you know you stay your age you die as forever here? Anyways, We were together since we were both 16. We were so happy, for about 5 years. Our last year was, err, rough. Skye is gorgeous. Blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect smile. Lots of guys loved her. She had had many boyfriends before me. I was her first girlfriend. And she seemed so sure she was a lesbian, until she turned 21. She started going out to parties, and drinking. I would see her flirting with guys all the time. I was so jealous. She started acting so distant. But, I was in denial, so most of the time I would pretend not care. I knew she was cheating me with guys, though. One night, a guy brought her home. He was carrying her. She was clearly wasted out of her mind. That was the last straw. I bought a gun. At first, I didn’t want to kill her; I just wanted to scare her. When she woke up in the morning I confronted her. I yelled at her, asked her if she was cheating. She just looked down and said ‘Yes.’ I saw tears form in her eyes. I slapped her across the face. She started crying, saying how sorry she was, trying to kiss me, and I shoved her away. I was so mad. I took out my gun. She started sobbing more, I saw her eyes widen with fear. I was out of control. I pointed the gun to her heart. I told her she made me do this, and she hit the gun out of my hand. We wrestled to the ground. I got on top of her, grabbed the gun and aimed in at her face this time, but she grabbed it again. Both of us fought for the gun, and then, one of us pulled the trigger. I looked down at her, wanting to see her dying face. Her eyes were very wide. But, then I looked down at my chest. I was the one who got shot. I couldn’t feel a thing though. Now, I’m here!”

 

 

That was awkward to listen too. Poor Skye, and poor Aimee. I’m a little weirded out by Aimee now though. She does deserve to be here, kind of. I feel a little better with myself now. Like, dang! Psycho! If Ana cheated on me, I don’t know what I would do. I guess I can’t be weirded out by Aimee. But I can hardly imagine myself murdering Ana.

“Spilling your guts to the new kid, are we?” I hear an English voice say. I turn around to see a tall boy, about 20.  “Me? I’m not that new.”

“Oh aren’t you?”

“Well… no!” I say. I hate when people ask questions like that. The boy brings his big hand out of his pocket. I shake it.

“I’m Kristofferson.” I tell him. “But, just call me Kris.” He laughs at the sound of my name.

“That sounds like…” I start to say

“Yes, a gay fairy name.” I cut him off.

“Ha! I think I like this kid, Aimee!” He says. Clearly I’m older than him, so he can’t call me kid. They both laugh.

“Well Kristofferson-“

“Kris.”

“Yes, Kris, it’s a pleasure to meet you. They call me Kale.”                                          

“Good to meet you Kale.” I say, and without thinking, I awkwardly curtsy.

“Not sure why I just did that!” I say in a low voice. They laugh. Then it gets quiet. Kale breaks it.

“So how did you die then?” he says.

“Yeah, how did you die, Kris?” Aimee adds.

“I was hit by a subway. I tried to save a man from killing himself, but he pulled me to the tracks with him at last moment. I died, he did not.” I say. It angers me thinking about it.

“Damn. That sucks major c**k.” Kale says. I take a good look at Kale. He has a stocky build, dark eyes and big lips. He’s actually good looking though. He has scruffy bronze hair, but he’s not a ginger. For whatever reason, he does intimidate me. I decide to stand, to show him that I’m taller than him. But as I do, I find we are both about the same height.

“Yes. How old are you Kale?” I say.

“20, well technically 25, but I died at 20. Why? How old are you?” I say.

“27.”

“Wow, old!” They say and laugh. Not sure if I like Kale.

“How’d you die, Kale?” I say, trying to hide my annoyance.

“Me and my girlfriend committed suicide together. Guess that gets you to hell.”

“And why did you do that?” I say, with more sympathy in my voice.

“We both just hated everyone besides each other.  We wanted to die. I shot her, and then myself. Easiest thing I’ve ever done…” He says, clearly lying about it being easy. “Now we live together, we were meeting each other here after work. She should be here soon.” He looks at his watch. I wonder what this girl will be like.

“I should get going, I should see Skye. “ Aimee says. I kind of forgot she was there.

“Oh, okay. Nice talking to you. We should get together again sometime.” I say hugging her.

“Yeah! I’m almost always here.” She says, gives me her address, and leaves.

“Sweet girl.” Kale comments.

“Yeah…” It gets quiet. I’m about to laugh at the awkwardness, when a girl bursts through the doors of the coffee shop.

“Kale!” She yells, and wraps her arms around him. She’s very small, so he picks her up.

“Hey babe!” He says, happily. He kisses her, and then lets her down.

“Char, this is Kris, Kris this is Charlotte.” He tells both of us.

“Nice to meet you.” I say.

“Like wise!” She says smiling, she shares Kale’s English accent. She’s very cute. Her hair, Brown. A light brown, and very wavy. Her skin is an olive color. Her eyes are huge and green. Is everyone in hell a model or something? Everyone’s gorgeous. But, Charlotte is by far the prettiest girl I’ve seen yet. She’s probably about 5’3. She fits perfectly into the shape of Kale. They are a gorgeous couple. Kind of like, a young Ana and I. Not that we’re old. A younger version of Ana and me.

“You guys are a cute couple.” I tell them. Charlotte giggles.

“Thanks, man. You got a girl?” He says. This makes me wince.

“I had a fiancée. She’s very much alive, though.”

“Oh my god! That’s so sad.” Charlotte says.

“It is. Her names Ana. She’s amazing in everyway possible.”

“Oh really?” Kale says, laughing. “I got to see this chick.”

“Yeah! Show us!” Charlotte peeps. This could be fun. I direct them to my room.

“Wow, you’re house needs ‘more homo’.” Kale says, and laughs at himself. Charlotte laughs too, but I can tell she doesn’t get it. From what I can tell, she’s a bit of an airhead.

I see Ana on the TV screen. She’s lying in bed with a small dog, crying. I hate seeing her like this. I feel weird, showing this to other people. It’s supposed to be kind of personal.

      “Um, sorry about this. She’s still very sad about the whole thing.” I say, awkwardly.

“Poor girl. She looks so familiar.” Charlotte says, and Kale wraps his right hand around her waist.

“She’s a beauty, Kristofferson.” Kale says quietly. “It gets easier.”

“Yeah? Thing is, I didn’t want to die. You did.” I say, in a rude tone.

“It’s not that simple.” Kale says, in a more forceful tone.

“You know what Kale? You aren’t smart. You’re selfish. I know your type.” I tell him. I don’t know why I’m lashing out at the kid, but it just makes me mad that he killed himself, and I couldn’t control my death at all.

“F**k you Kristofferson. You don’t know the first thing about me, or Charlotte.” He yells.

“Calm down, baby.” Charlotte says, grabbing his face to make him look at her. “He’s just upset.” He pushes her away.

“Don’t you think I wish I was alive right now, too? The difference is that, you have stuff to live for, a*****e. I don’t! Don’t you think I wouldn’t give anything to be alive, to have a happy life. I killed myself for a reason, you wanker!” Kale yells. Charlotte holds him back from attacking me. This is a lot to think about.

“I’m sorry.” I tell him. “I can be a tool sometimes.”