Something Better then Ghosts

Tessa Berg

English 1A

K. Rodgers

September 25, 2012

“Something Better then Ghosts”

It’s funny how a simple object can release memories. A smell, a sound, a word, or even an old diary can open the flood gates and send you back in time. It was the middle of summer before my junior year in high school. The days were long and hot but they gave way to warm nights. I had worked all day in the hot summer sun with my FFA projects and was finishing my chores when I started to hear crickets sing. It was my cell phone letting me know I had a text message from him. The boy I had met at the beginning of summer through a friend of a friend. “Meet me at my house in an hour,” was all it said. I replied, “Sounds good” and looked at the clock on my stereo. It was 7:30pm and if I hurried I could shower so at least I didn’t smell like cow and pig poop. It also gave me a chance to get the dirt out from underneath my nails and the hay out of my hair. I cranked up my favorite country music CD so that I could hear the music playing while I was in the shower. I could feel a warm excitement come over me as I hopped in the shower.

I was more of a girlie tom boy. I had shoulder length dark brown hair that was usually half pulled back with my signature bow. I didn’t wear make-up because I had what my mom called natural beauty with the most beautiful baby blue eyes. I usually wore jeans and boots so my major issue was choosing the perfect shirt. Tonight I wanted to look good, no perfect. I was going to be hanging out with him. I wore my old faded blue jeans, roughed up brown distressed boots and my green John Deere shirt that said, “I make dirt look good.” I looked perfect or at least I thought I did. It was now 8:15pm and I would need to take the back roads to get to his house on time. I jumped in my truck and headed into the country to navigate the back roads into town. The back roads never bugged me because I preferred them to the freeway. No one was ever on them and I could usually make it to were I was going in half the time. The sun was just about out of sight as I made it to the edge of town.

I pulled up in front of his house and saw the light peeking through the white slatted curtains of his room. The light danced on the freshly mowed lawn and I could tell he wasn’t alone. I knocked on his front door and his mom greeted me with a warm hello. She welcomed me into her home and made small talk with me as she showed me to his room. His other friends were there too and as I walked through his bedroom door I was greeted with a roaring “hey” from all the guys. I could sense there was a little drinking going on from the greeting I just got. Then he walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a big warm hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered a sweet hi in his ear. I could smell his cologne which always made me go weak in the knees. He was wearing his signature white T-shirt and faded blue jeans with rough black boots that firefighters usually wore. As I was getting lost in his embrace he turned towards the guys and said, “Okay lets get going.” I asked where we were going and he said we were going on a ghost hunt at a cemetery in Dixon. We headed out the door and decided who was riding with who. Of course he was going to ride with me and we were going to be the lead truck. My truck only allowed for one other person so naturally I was excited to know it was only going to be the two of us on the ride there. As we were getting ready to leave he realized he forgot the map inside his room and ran back in to get it. 

We were all on the front lawn waiting when I hear him call my name from his bedroom window. He couldn’t find the map so I went inside to help him look for it. When I appeared in his bedroom door I saw him kneeling on his bedroom floor going through a stack of papers. “I saw it on your bed last. Maybe it fell down.” I said as I knelt down to help him. Then our eyes met. His eyes were ice blue with a warm, gentle, inviting feeling. I realized tonight something was different though. He looked as if he wanted to tell me something. I looked away and under his bed I saw the map and went to grab it. As I pulled it out I realized he had moved closer and as I came up to say found it he leaned in and kissed me. Sparks flew and my heart began to beat really fast. He pulled away and with his signature smile said, “Lets go.” He stood up and began walking towards the door. As he got to the doorway a smile creeped across his face and asked playfully, “Are you coming?” I spun around and breathlessly said, “Yeah.” I managed to get to my feet still processing what happened and joined the others on the front lawn. I was beaming with a huge smile on my face. I couldn’t believe what had just happened but I was loving every minute of it. We loaded up to drive off to start our adventure but I felt like I had already started one.

Once on the road I asked him what happened back there. “We kissed.” He answered with a smile. “So what does this mean?” I replied trying to hide the excitement in my voice. “We’ll see,” was all I got out of him the rest of the way. We drove off into the night headed towards Dixon listening to our favorite country music on a CD he had burned earlier in the night.

When we arrived at the cemetery we split into pairs and each of the groups took a radio so we could communicate. He and I decided to take the furthest corner from the entrance so we started into the darkness with just the light of the moon to guide us since no one thought this through enough to bring flashlights. As we disappeared into the night away from the others he took my hand in his. I just kept walking with him by my side and then I heard something rustle in the grass. I jumped away from the sound and towards him, grabbing his entire arm for safety. He started to chuckle and said, “A little jumpy aren’t you?” I replied laughing and a little nervously, “Yeah well its pitch black, we’re in a cemetery, we don’t know where the others are, and you’re holding my hand.” The radio cracked and a low whispered voice asked, “Have you seen anything yet?” I grabbed the radio from my pocket and replied, “Not yet.”

I replaced the radio in my pocket and he reached up to touch my cheek. He gently leaned in and kissed me. My question had been answered that night. As we walked in the cemetery underneath the warm summer moon, he told me that he had liked me for a while and we should see where this takes us. As we continued to walk and talk about other things in the cemetery for what seemed like hours we were interrupted by a panicked voice on the radio. Someone was screaming that they had seen something and to get there quick. We looked at each other, smiled, and then started to run towards the others.

We never found a ghost that night but something better. We found a love that would last a lifetime. We became each others best friend and whatever happened to one of us we would always be there for each other. No matter how dark the night was we would bring light into each others night. I was reminded of this when I came across an old diary entry and I gave him a call to reminisce about the night we ran through a cemetery and found something better then ghosts. We both agreed that this was one of the best nights we had ever spent together.