Ghost In Red

Chapter 6 - Sydian

*Sydney Roswell's POV*

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"Come on, Sydney. I know you do." Emma insisted as she stood up to wash her hands at the sink, and I just kept on contradicting her claim.

"I really don't care about her, Ems. I was just not in the mood since earlier from school, remember?" I told her, and she wiped her hands dry and replied, "No. You are always looking like you are not in the mood whenever we are at school, Syd. Always. You don't laugh; you almost don't smile or even talk about something not related to academics-shits, or you are just being mean to OJ. You are always not in the mood. No offense, alright? Thankfully, you seem like a valid and normal person when it comes to just us: your family, neighbors, and your best buddies. So, yeah, now that you look like you are bringing a shitload of crap in your pockets while not at school, you are definitely worried and troubled about something. Someone, particularly."

I just sat there and listened to her rants about her frank remarks about me being a person, and she went to sit down again and looked at me with a face that was telling me to talk and explain something.

And I just let out another sigh.

"No comment, Queen Of Sighing? Well, I am not forcing you to say something that you are not comfortable telling me. But, take this, Syd, I am your friend. I may not be your best one, but I can be trusted, too. I mean... I can never turn my back on you or stab you in the back. Not because you are my savior, but I treat you as my best friend. The best one that I have. And I want you to be okay. I want to help or just do anything that could make you feel better. Because right now... I see that you are not fine. If it's about OJ's condition that makes you this sighful person... It is okay. I, too, feel so damn worried about her even if I knew her as your number one hater. And, prolly, she hates me, too. But I believe in the saying... Love your enemy as you love yourself. Yeah." She said like an extremely serious shrink, and it just made me chuckle softly in reply.

This is what I like about this red-headed creature. She could be so annoying, but she's nice at times. It is a perfect blend of my fussy nice a*s and my other buddies' unthinkable and unpredictable characteristics.

"Oh, now you're laughing. That's a good sign. Come on, just say it." She commented and pushed me to talk.

And as I was about to let out a breath, she belted, "No more sighing, okay?"

"I am just taking a deep breath, Ems." I retorted, and she poured another half of a glass of wine for me to drink down. I'm starting to feel warm inside my system.

"Alright. Now, begin. I bet that this is interesting." She ordered and dragged her seat to get closer to the table, then looked at me excitedly.

"No, I don't have anything to tell you more." I asserted, then took a sip, and she just looked at me with her unimpressed face.

"Fine. Then keep it all to yourself till you rot. But note this, you blondie, I know something that you know. Or don't. But I am not gonna tell it to you if you are not gonna tell me about your greatest burden right now." She replied and threatened like she has something big against me. Hmm, what could it be?

"What is it?" I asked her while my aura changed to something serious, and she just laughed like a witch.

"Tell me about yours first." She answered stubbornly, and I just shook my head in response. This girl is just tricking me. But if I could keep my secret in me as possible, I will keep it.

She drank all the contents of her glass and pointed to me the empty thing in her left hand, and said, "Fine. I already knew the answer, though. As I have told you, you are obvious as f**k. But I am gonna tell you what I know."

I raised an eyebrow at her statement and told her to go on.

"Do you like OJ? The like-like, Syd. Do you?" She asked me a horrifying question, which made me blink my eyes in disbelief. How the heck did she...?

"What made you say that absurd thing?" I replied in surprise, and she just wiggled her left eyebrow at me.

"It's a question, Sydney. You need to answer it, not disregard it as I have proclaimed it. The answer is just yes or no or maybe." She explained, and I quickly answered, "No. I don't." Another lie.

"Mmm, of course. That's the answer that I am expecting. And to answer your question earlier... Why did I ask about it... It is because you are worried about her wellbeing even if you won't confirm it to me. You cared even if you were never friends. Do you know that when I transferred to Pryce Winsley Academy for my ninth grade, I have been seeing the tension between you two as... Romantic? Something like... The more you hate, the more you love. That's so adorable, actually. Well... I am just telling you this because... I don't know. It is quite a perfect time that it is just us in here. I am actually shipping you both. Yeah, I do. Do you know that there are so many of us at the academy, but some just look at you from afar because they know that you are adamant as f**k? And me? I am absolutely the captain of the Sydian Ship. It is Sydney plus Jillian. That's the cutest ship name that I have thought of. Don't get mad, okay? I'm a little drunk, but I know I am saying something that makes sense. So...? Do you like her? Is there a chance that the Sydian Ship will sail?" She rambled like a piece of crap, and I just shook my head in frustration.

Damn, she's wasted with a wine that just has twelve percent alcohol volume. I do feel warm, and I guess I need to exit now. This conversation is getting more uncomfortable and never in my favor.

"Nope. Not a chance, Ems. I may have a little concern about her condition right now, but it is just because I knew her almost all my life. I interact with her even though we are never on good terms, and she is our classmate. That's why I cared about her. That's just it." I explained with a bit of a lie, and she shook her head in response and poured another shot of wine in her glass.

"Nope, you can't convince me otherwise, Syd. I know you have something-something there in your heart for her—even just a little chance. I will believe and hold on to it even if it's less than one percent. We don't know, I could be saying something ridiculous right now, but it could be something marvelous tomorrow." She contended while pointing me a finger, and I stood up after finishing my drink to wash the glass I used at the sink. Yeah, it's free to dream on. If you only knew that, it's just not you who thinks about that romantic fantasy.

"Duh. Say whatever you want, and believe all you want, Ems. You're tipsy, and so I am. And I am going home, we still have class tomorrow. Thanks for the drink. You're welcome for the food. Good night." I told her and dried my hands with a hand towel.

As I was about to walk home, she burped and mentioned while walking me out the door, "Sorry. Well, fine. I will just pretend that you didn't tell me to think and believe about your affection towards OJ. Still, I will be standing my ground, whatever happens, and wherever the wind takes you both. Thanks for the amazing food. Good night, and have a sweet dream with her. I will pray hard that she will be okay in no time, so you could begin treating her nicely when she gets back to school so that my Sydian Ship will begin to sail. Bye, Sydney! Happy Valentine's Day!" She bid me goodbye, and I just muttered, "Whatever."

Then she closed the door as I just walked home without looking back and replying.

A smile crept on my face as I sauntered to our door and mumbled, "Sydian. Why not?"

When I stepped inside the kitchen, my topless brother, who just opened the fridge, ruffled my hair as I quickly went to get my bottled water at the lower compartment of the cold steel box. And as my response, I slapped his back real hard that made him wince in pain. "The matter with you, Syd?"

"Well, what the heck, Dam? Your hand is freaking wet, you jerk!" I cursed as I stepped back from him after I made a handprint on his tattooed bareback.

"Been from the Yorks? Do you know that I thought you sneaked out for a Valentine's date with someone and got laid? Are you really still single, sissy? You absolutely suck big time; you know that?" He let out and asked nosily, and I just showed him a middle finger in each of my hands as my perfect response.

"It's none of your monkey business, Dam. I do my thing the way I want it. Good night." I replied, being his best sister as always, and walked out of the kitchen to go to my room upstairs.

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After preparing myself for sleeping, I laid down in my bed and grunted as my mind went thinking again about something stressful. Her. Yes, it's always been her who has been running in my mind tirelessly.

About two hours have passed since my eyes are closed, but I can't seem to fall asleep anytime soon. Because here I am again overthinking about everything. Damn it! I really want to stop thinking about awful things. I need to sleep, but I can't.

As I really feel no sign of me falling asleep, I went to my study table to work on something valuable that could distract me from thinking about a particular person. I will just write down important key points about that history class report for next week that I would be working with Grace Thales.

Half an hour has passed, and I am running out of something else to do. I am still wide awake as f**k, and it's almost midnight now.

When I laid down again in my bed, I stared at the white ceiling and began to run my gaze towards the left corner, which I saw there, the cord that needed to be pulled down so the scuttle hole opens up and drop a rope ladder that could lead me to my secret haven—the attic.

Going up there and doing something incredible would be just perfect for this time that I feel terrible about almost everything.