Chapter 17 [KRIS POV]

Ruby just disappeared, and I have no clue why. I’m freaking out, but she probably got in trouble! I’m going to disappear any second now, I just know it. Aimee comes back into the room with water.

         “Where did she go?” She asks.

         “I have no f*****g clue! She just f*****g disappeared!” I yell at her. I don’t know why I’m yelling.

         “No need to yell Kris.”

         “I’m sorry. It’s just like, she randomly disappeared. What if she’s in trouble for going into my dream or something?”

         “Um… She was probably just needed for something… somewhere.”

         “What do you mean?” I ask Aimee.

         “Okay, I have no clue.”

         I’m not sure why I haven’t some random cough attack by now, and then disappeared.

         “Well what do we do, Aimee?” I ask here.

         “We do… nothing.”

         “Nothing?” I ask.

         “Yes, nothing. You’re showing no signs of disappearing, so we do nothing. If you start coughing, we’ll take it from there.” Aimee says, dubiously. She obviously has no idea what to say.

         Then I cough.

         “S**t!” Says Aimee.

         I start to freak out again. This can’t be happening! Even though I’m already dead, what if I get tortured for like thousands of years of something? I didn’t know it was a crime to bring people into dreams in the first place, I don’t recall the Devil ever mentioning anything about that! So why would we get in trouble? Maybe it’s Ruby’s time to leave Hell, and go… wherever you go after you’re done here. But why would I be coughing too, then?

         Heh. I just realized, I only coughed once. I guess I just had something in my throat. Aimee looks relieved. So just for fun, I start to pretend to cough more. I fall to the ground dramatically. She looks scared as f**k. But then, she gets tears in her eyes, so I stop, and start to laugh.

         “Oh my god, Kris, I hate you!” She says, pushing me to the floor as I try to get up.

         “Oh, come on you love me.” I say, attempting to get up of the ground for the second time. “I think it’s her time to leave Hell or something, that’s why she got taken away. I think I’m going to be okay.” I say. She hugs me.

         “I really hope so,” She says into my chest, “I was really scared. Honestly Kris, I really enjoy your company. You’re a good guy.”

         I chuckle, softly. “Well, I enjoy yours, too. And I was wondering if you could help me with something by the way?”

         “Uh oh.” Aimee says. I laugh, and release her from my embrace.

         “I want Charlotte.” I tell her. She shoves me.

         “Seriously? But she’s so much younger, you creep!”

         “Oh, that doesn’t matter!”

         “And what make you think she wants you back?

         “I don’t know if she does. But she will.” I say, with confidence. She laughs.

         “Wow, you’re such a dork!” I laugh with her.

         “I know, I know. So you can help me then?”

         “Sure. I’ve known Charlotte for a while.”

         “Will it be easy to get her away from Kale?”

         Aimee explains to me that it will, Infact, be very easy. They have a bad relationship to start out with, and Charlotte isn’t happy. Aimee says that Charlotte even cries to her about him sometimes. God, Kale is such a dumbass. Anyways, then, we devise a plan. A plan to get Charlotte. First off, we need someone to make her sad. This sounds bad, but once she’s sad, she’ll cry to someone. Aimee will have to take Kale somewhere. When she asks where he is, I’ll tell her he’s with another girl. She’ll turn to me then. For some reason girls seem to like sensitive guys, so I have to be sensitive.

         “Tell her more about you, like a story or something. A sad one.” Aimee tells me. “Now we just need someone to make her sad.”

         “I don’t know too many people in Hell.”

         “I know just who to call. Lydia. We can go to a club, I’ll distract Kale, while Lydia will make some comment about Charlotte that she’ll hear, and then you’ll take her back to your house and comfort her.”

         “Okay, that sounds pretty good. Where will you take Kale?”

         “Don’t worry about it.” She says, so I decide not to. “Let me just call Lydia.”

         I wait as she calls Lydia.

         …

         “Okay, it’s all set.”

        

 

I really hope this works. Now we’re standing outside of the club. Aimee’s wearing a gray pantsuit, while Charlotte’s wearing a tight purple dress. It’s very reveling. I like that. Kale stands behind Charlotte, clasping his arms around her shoulders. It’s slightly awkward, because none of us are talking.

“So… is it weird going to the club when you aren’t working?” I ask Charlotte.

“No. We go to the club all the time.” Kale responds.

“I was asking Charlotte, actually.” I snap at him. Kale tightens, getting irritated.

         “It’s okay, Kale. Yeah Kris, it is kind of weird.” She Charlotte says.

         It’s funny because when I first met Kale he seemed fairly nice. Now he just seems like a controlling a*****e. We get quiet again.         

         Then we get to the door. Jesus is there, trying to look tough. His long beard is braided, and his hair is sticking up from his head. He has big aviators around his almond shaped and colored eyes.

         “Hey there, buddy.” I say. He rolls his eyes.

         “Just go in.” He says. And we walk in the door. We start to dance. At first Charlotte dances with Kale, but then Aimee takes over. She’s all over Kale. Charlotte looks mad at Aimee. I observe her, as she walks to the bar, and orders a drink. I decide to go sit next to her. I order a beer. Neither of us talks. Then I see a tall, black girl walk towards us. Her skin is pretty light; I think she’s mixed. Her black hair is straight, and goes down to her shoulders. She’s wearing a sequence dress that is pretty s****y.

         She comes and sits on the other side of me. Charlotte stares at her, but this girl doesn’t seem to notice or care.

         “Hey baby, can I buy you a drink?” She says, her voice soft, but in control.

         “Thanks doll, but no thanks.” I respond. Then I mouth, “Lydia?” at her. She does a slight nod at me, and then smiles.

         “But I insist, baby.”

         “Obviously he isn’t interested.” Charlotte chimes in, not even looking at Lydia, but more so focusing on her drink. Lydia glares at her.

         “So are you like in to this fat b***h or something?” Lydia says. She sounds like a bad actress almost. Not too convincing, but she fools Charlotte.

         “Fat?” She responds, I think trying to sound threatening, but she just sounds sad.

         “Super fat. You might want to consider anorexia.”

         “Whoa. Okay, that was just bitchy.” I tell Lydia.

         “F**k both of you, I was just trying to have some fun…” She says, and storms off.

        

“Girls can be such b*****s.” Charlotte says.

         “Tell me about it.” I respond.

         “Do… do you actually want to tell you about it?” She says, sounding confused. I almost laugh, but then I remember she’s not too bright, and she probably wasn’t kidding.

         “Yeah… Yeah, sure.” I respond.

         “Well I was a cheerleader in high school.” She says, and I think of Celia. “But you know, I liked to eat. Who doesn’t, right? Anyways… the girls on the squad could be b*****s, so they would always comment about my weight. I usually didn’t listen. But one day, my coach called my fat. She said if I didn’t lose some weight, I was off the squad. The worst part was I was probably only about 5 pounds over weight. I tried to exercise, but it didn’t work. So I became… bulimic. I’ve just always struggled with my bulimia. And I thought it would be over when I died! But it’s not.”

         As I listen, I slowly put my arm around her.

         “Listen, why don’t we go back to my house? I have some pretty messed up stories about myself. Compared to me, you’re completely sane.” I say. She laughs.

         “Yeah. That sounds good.” She says. She smiles, but has tears in her eyes. I think she’s a little drunk, too.

         But our plan actually worked! Kale is nowhere in sight.

         “Charlotte! Are you alright, love?”

         Or so I thought. Kale appears behind us, and hugs her.

         “I’m fine, babe. Just some mean girl, calling me fat.”

         “What a b***h…” He says. “Why don’t we go home, Hun?”

         S**t.

         “Yeah, I think we should. I’ll talk to you soon, Kris.”

         S**t.

         They walk away. Aimee walks up to me.

         “How’d it go? Where’s Charlotte?”

         “S**t.” I say.