Icy fingers gripped my arm in the darkness. I hesitate to turn around afraid of what might be latched onto my arm. I shut my eyes as tight as I could so I don't begin to cry. Eventually, my curiosity got the best of me and I slowly turned my head around. I lurched back as the grey lifeless girl stood in front of me. She was wearing the same thing she had on when she died. Clunky boots, Brown leather skirt, white blouse, and her hair up in curls. I don't understand I thought she died last Tuesday. “How are you still here I thought you were dead?” She did nothing, just stood there pale lifeless and stared as I tried to crawl back towards the gate of the cemetery. Is this real, am I imagining this just close my eyes and I will be back in the living room eating buttered popcorn, watching Disney movies with my mom and sister. I just sit there with my head on my knees and begin to bawl, “I want to go home!” She bends down and put a hand on my shoulder.

    I can feel her lifeless fingers shaking and slowly gripping harder and harder to my body. I am at a loss for words trying to speak I manage to utter “why…why me…why now?” I don't get a response just a dead void of space. She gives me a slight look of disappointment as she creeps her dead limbs closer to me. How is she here, Why is she here? I just keep replaying the time in my head when she was taking that last dying breath. I just keep replaying the last words I spoke to her, “I wish I had never met you!”

    Now she was standing right next to me, how, why is she here. I went to her funeral, I watched them lower her coffin into the deep, dark grave, but now she is here. This can’t be possible. She still stands their, lifelessly looking at me. I begin running, she follows me. Why is she here, why is she only bothering me? Yeah, she was a close family friend, but once we got into that huge fight, we never spoke again. Now she decides once she is dead and a ghost she can casually come and decide I want to see her. I don’t know how she is here, but I don’t like it. She keeps her icy hand on my shoulder like she is trying to comfort me. One thing I know for a fact is a dead friend coming back from the dead and touching you is not comfortable in any shape or way. I am still shocked, I breathe deeply, “Go away,” I scream over and over. Tears rolling down my face. She stays, still silently and not an ounce of life. I calm down, “Why are you here, you’re dead!” She just stares at me, “If you're here for revenge and want to haunt me for the rest of my life, then fine I deserve it.” She still just stares, I am wiping my tears, “Why would you even want to see me again after what I said.”

    I took a deep breath and started to walk. She started to follow me again. I just ignored her, until she started to talk. “I wanted to see you again and apologize. I didn’t mean to frighten you. All I wanted to say was I miss you.”  Silence ran through the Graveyard and then she spoke. “Are you still mad at me for locking you in my bathroom for 3 hours?”, we both started laughing through our tears, “Yes I am still very mad at you” I said laughing and wiping away my runny nose. “I came here to apologize for what I did,” she said again. I really hope you can forgive me. “Why are you coming to me when you are a ghost and apologizing. Why didn't you just do it in person” I asked.

    “I know I really ticked you off, but I just needed to say something.” I can feel the tears coming back and I try to hold them the best I can. “I never hated you I was confused and sad and-” I cut her off, “and about to die”

“Well that too, but I wanted to tell you that I’m never going to be gone I’m always here…right here.” She grabbed my hand and I noticed something. They weren't cold they were warm, warm like when we would hold hands and spin around till we toppled over. “Your hands they're warm…I thought dead people have cold hands.” She pulled away and now I could tell she was welling up also. “Because Two dead people have the same body temperature so they feel warm.” I stand up and look at my hands, their blue and lifeless just like hers. “No, this isn't real, how would I even have died.”  She walked back over. “You’ve been out here all night…it’s winter…you have no jacket.”