Made Him Fall In Love With My Ghost Roommate [YiZan]
PROLONG
Ghosty Authy
This Halloween, things are about to get super freaky between me and my hunky obsession.
Ghosty Authy
I'm completely infatuated with Byron, the gorgeous, tight-shirted barista at the coffee shop on the corner.
But he doesn't even know my name. That's probably because I can't seem to form a sentence in front of him without stammering like a total loser.
Ghosty Authy
I obviously need help.
Ghosty Authy
I just didn't expect that help to come in the form of an obnoxious straight ghost who haunts my apartment.
Ghosty Authy
He is the absolute worst roommate I never asked for. He’s cocky, self-assured, and the lessons in confidence he wants to give me are questionable.
Ghosty Authy
But if I have any hope of scoring a date this Halloween with Byron, I'm going to need my ghost roommate’s help.
Ghosty Authy
I'm ready to do whatever it takes to get the guy.
Ghosty Authy
I hope you will like the story
GR 1
Treat or Trick?
It isn’t the creepy spiderweb decorations.
It isn’t the tiny white ghost and skeleton ornaments hanging from the lighting fixtures that seem to stare at me no matter where I stand.
Nor is it the seasonal and every persistent aroma of pumpkin spice that has me pulled through the doors of Spooky Beans Café on 13th and Fortune Street.
It’s the adorable barista at the counter.
Bryon
“Hey there. What can I get for you?”
I plaster on my signature I-promise-I’m-not-a-creep smile and suck in a nervous breath before answering.
Griffin James/Griff
“Caramel latte, please, extra cream.”
Bryon
“Coming right up,” he says with a wink.
His name’s Byron. His eyes sparkle in a soft and velvety sea of warm bronze skin, punctuated with the cutest button nose and pinched at the cheeks by dimples when he smiles with those lips I can just drown in. hair is a short, cropped set of tight dark curls, shaved up the sides in a stylish fade with a line cut through it.
And every morning, he sells me coffee in a cup with the wrong name written on the side.
It’s my fault. The first time I came here not too long ago, my eyes fell on that irresistible, tight-shirted barista behind the counter and became so flustered, it’s anyone’s guess what the hell came out of my mouth.
But now I get a cup every time with “Calvin” written on the side. My real name is Griffin.
Griffin James/Griff
"I don’t have the heart to correct him.Calvin isn’t so bad a name to live with, right?" Said to himself in low voice
And how could I possibly correct him now? I’ve let too much time go by. It’d be weird.
I usually embrace my weirdness. I’m a fairly weird guy. But “weird” isn’t exactly attractive to just anyone, and I don’t want to be written off so soon. Honestly, I wish I had just the tiniest bit of courage inside me, just enough to have an actual dialogue with Byron that doesn’t involve how I take my coffee or how much my change is. I wish I could peer into those syrupy eyes and not melt at the knees or lose my breath like a total loser.
Bryon
“Here you go, Calvin,” he says, sliding my finished coffee across the counter with a dashing smile.
Griffin James/Griff
I choke out a thank-you, then barely meet his eyes before scurrying out the doors. Maybe one of these days I’ll actually manage to smile back.
You know, before I run away like a spooked cat.
Believe it or not, despite all my weirdness, I happen to know someone a hundred times weirder than myself: my landlord Mrs. Shaheen, who lives right across the hall from me. The second I get to my door and pull out my keys, she’s instantly at her doorway, squinting as if through a haze of thick smoke, clicking her tongue with curiosity.
Mrs Shaheen
“Hi,” she says through a bush of dark brown curls, her thick eyebrows pinched together suspiciously as she leans on a crooked mahogany cane.
She doesn’t look all that old, so I wonder why she needs it. Maybe she’s a sorceress. That seems rather plausible suddenly.
Anyway, she’s barely known me a few weeks and she already seems attached to me like I’m her favorite nephew
Griffin James/Griff
“Hi, Mrs. Shah—”
Mrs Shaheen
“How’s your apartment holding up?” she asks too quickly, cutting me off.
Mrs Shaheen
“Appliances working properly? Water running?”
Her voice is squeaky and curious. Or maybe I ought to say: inquisitive.
Griffin James/Griff
“Everything’s fine, Mrs. Sh—”
Mrs Shaheen
“No creaky doors? Strange electrical occurrences?”
Griffin James/Griff
“Nope and nope.” I’m still working to get the key into the lock.
Mrs Shaheen
Her left eye seems twitchy. “Are you sure?”
To say she’s peculiar is a grave understatement. I turn to face her
Griffin James/Griff
“Is everything alright with you, Mrs. Shaheen? You seem off.”
Actually, this is right about on par with her usual level of oddness.
Griffin James/Griff
“I know Halloween is just a few days away, and you expressed how that holiday makes your skin crawl, and—”
Mrs Shaheen
“Oh, did I say that?” She chuckles lightly. “I don’t remember mentioning that. I actually adore Halloween. Are you sure it was me who said that and not, say, a whispery, ghostly voice in the dark of night …?”
Mrs Shaheen
She’s paranoid, too. “Quite sure.”
Mrs Shaheen
“I’ll understand if you want to move out,” she says at once, stepping away from her door to approach me. “I’ll let you break your lease, free of charge, I will. I’m wracked with guilt every night when I sleep, thinking of what you must be enduring in that apartment. You are being brave right now—so, so brave—but I can see the fear in your eyes. Things haven’t been fine, have they?”
I’m still clutching my coffee in my other hand. My eyes catch the “Calvin” written across the side, and my heart jumps, picturing the sweet, sexy face of the barista who wrote it. I wish I was as brave as she thinks I am.
Mrs Shaheen
The woman grabs hold of my arm.
Mrs Shaheen
"It's Haunted"
Ghosty Authy
My first story on YiZan
Ghosty Authy
I hope I'll be able to complete it
Ghosty Authy
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GR 2
Griffin James/Griff
I snap my eyes to hers. “Sorry?”
Mrs Shaheen
“Your apartment, the one I tricked you into renting. I’m a terrible person. It’s haunted. It’s truly haunted.”
Griffin James/Griff
I quirk an eyebrow. “Haunted …?”
Mrs Shaheen
“He died too young. It was a murder. A terrible and gruesome murder. An act of arson. You can even see the burn spot on the wall near the kitchen. Even worse, some rumors say it was a suicide. Oh, but I can’t bear the thought! What a tortured, terrible spirit he must be!”
Griffin James/Griff
I frown. “I didn’t read anything about a murder—”
Mrs Shaheen
“Oh, of course, they hushed it up, kept it out of the papers, but …” Mrs. Shaheen’s large, wary eyes drift to the door where the tiny numbers are drilled into the wood, the last one cockeyed in the slightest. “It’s a sad fact about 313 … that a dark, tormented soul haunts its walls, the ghost of a young man who died too young … and who bitterly hates the living. Especially anyone who lives longer than him.” She squeezes my arm with surprising strength. “How old did you say you are?”
Griffin James/Griff
“I didn’t.”
Mrs Shaheen
“Oh, you’re so, so brave.”
Griffin James/Griff
I just now realize she left her cane by her door, clutching my arm with both of her hands. “But I will understand if you no longer wish to stay. I should have disclosed this information before.”
Griffin James/Griff
My ability to take a sip of my coffee is taken away by her tight grip on my arm. I smile patiently at her. “I am perfectly fine staying here, ma’am. It’s a rather big place for the price, and the location is close to my new job, which I start tomorrow. Not to mention the … well, the … nice coffee shop on the corner down the street.” And there goes my heart again, drifting away to the charming, dimply, tight-shirted barista in his apron. Is it too late to down this cup and go right back for seconds?
Mrs Shaheen
“Of course, there may yet be nothing to fear!” she says suddenly. “You can avoid the wily spirit’s wrath if you follow three simple rules.”
Griffin James/Griff
I blink away thoughts of Byron. “Three simple—?”
Mrs Shaheen
“That’s what I said, isn’t it? First rule is: don’t ever open your fridge after midnight. Big no-no.”
Griffin James/Griff
I squint skeptically at her. I’m pretty sure I already broke that one a few times just last night.
Mrs Shaheen
“You can look at me all you want with those cute, questioning green eyes of yours,” she sings, “but it will not change the fact that the cunning phantom has a large appetite for midnight snacks. Ready for rule two?”
Griffin James/Griff
“Mrs. Shah—”
Griffin James/Griff
“Don’t mention anything about a certain rock band that isn’t a Prince, Princess, or King, but the other one. The ghost has a bad, bad, bad association with that band, and any mention of it, so—”
Mrs Shaheen
“You mean Queen?”
Mrs Shaheen
The woman throws a conniption and backs away as if I just turned into a neon flamingo. “Goodness, child, are you taking any of this seriously?? You’re playing with fire here! Now speaking of fire, there’s just one more rule, the most important rule of all, and I—”
Griffin James/Griff
“I’m okay, Mrs. Shaheen. You don’t have to worry.”
Mrs Shaheen
“But I haven’t told you—”
Griffin James/Griff
“Really, I’ll be fine. In fact …” I lean toward her. She takes a step back. “I don’t even believe in ghosts.”
Who knew that such an unassuming set of words could completely render the woman speechless.
Griffin James/Griff
My phone starts buzzing in my pocket. “Sorry, I gotta take this. It might be my new boss.”
Mrs Shaheen
“Oh, child …” is all the woman says as I give an apologetic smile, wrest my arm free from her vice grip, then let myself into the apartment.
I’m pretty sure she’ll be standing there for a good hour or two, likely listening at my door, ready to burn some sage or call an army of priests to assist at the first sign of distress.
Griffin James/Griff
Once inside, I shut and lock the door, then pull out my phone and slap it to my ear. “Hello? Sir?”
Random
“Griffin James? Hi, this is Marcia at Pixelomenon Multimedia. How’re you doing today?”
Griffin James/Griff
Oh. Marcia? Maybe it’s my new boss’s secretary. I smile. “Great, thank you! I was just about to call and—”
Random
“I regret having to do this over the phone, but we have had to go in a different direction with our graphics artists, which resulted in a premature cut of half of our new hires. I’m afraid that includes you, Mr. James.”
Griffin James/Griff
I drop to the couch, stunned. “Me …?”
Random
“If you reapply in four to six months, we may have positions open again. You do have a notable résumé.”
Griffin James/Griff
Not notable enough, apparently. “But I … I just got a new place, and—”
Random
“I hope you understand, this came as a surprise to many. Here at Pixelomenon, we strive to ensure—”
To be honest, her sweet and meaningless words just melt together into a murky stew of dread, and I’m left sitting on the couch staring blankly at the kitchen. What am I going to do now? How will I pay my rent?
Ghosty Authy
Did something like this ever happened with you???
Ghosty Authy
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