A GHOST THAT'S ABLE TO SLEEP ATTENDS SCHOOL

"So you first woke up in the old section of our school, is that right?" Ryner asked.

"Wait a minute, Amelia, was Rita's body ever found?" Ryner suddenly asked, trying to piece something together.

"No, it wasn't," Amelia replied.

"But if her soul is here with us now, then that means she's dead," Ryner continued. "She was reported missing years ago, and based on the crime scene, the forensic scientists concluded that she died, as some of the blood on the ground belonged to her."

"We'll have to check the old section of the school for clues tomorrow, but for now, you two will have to stay outside," Ryner said, trying to think through everything.

"Why is that?" Rita asked.

"I'm still shaken by the fact that I'm seeing ghosts, and they're talking to me. It's been a long day. I'll need some sleep," Ryner explained.

"Okay, fair enough. Let's go, Thomas. We'll stay in their basement," Rita said.

"Okay, that works for me. Let's go," Thomas agreed.

"Wait, guys, I said outside!" Ryner shouted, exasperated.

"Relax, we won't bother you. See you in the morning," Rita said as she and Thomas disappeared.

As morning arrived, Ryner woke up with a groan. "I see, I was having a terrible nightmare after all," he mumbled to himself as he turned in the bed.

He then froze when he found himself face-to-face with Rita, who was sleeping right next to him. Startled, Ryner screamed and jumped off the bed, crashing to the ground. "So all that happened last night wasn't a dream after all," Ryner said to himself as he tried to process everything.

He got up from the floor, his eyes fixated on Rita, who was still floating peacefully beside him. "She's still as beautiful as she was back then," Ryner whispered to himself, gazing at her. He reached out to touch her cheek, but his hand went right through her.

"This is weird. I didn't know that ghosts could sleep. Something's not right about her," Ryner muttered to himself.

"Ghosts don't sleep. We don't have bodies, so there's no need for any shut-eye," Thomas said as he popped his head through the wall.

"Ahhh!! Can you please stop doing that?!" Ryner screamed in frustration.

"What do you mean? I'm a ghost. It's what I do," Thomas replied nonchalantly.

"Just stop it. It's creepy," Ryner said, clearly annoyed.

"I'm going to go ahead and get ready for school. Do me a favor and wake her up," Ryner instructed as he took off his shirt and headed for the bathroom.

"Okay," Thomas said, still floating there.

As Ryner sat in the tub, he began talking to himself. "What have I gotten myself into? If only I hadn't followed them yesterday, I wouldn't be mixed up in this mess."

Suddenly, Rita floated through the walls of the bathroom. "Ryner, was I sleeping beside you just now?" she asked, her voice innocent.

Frightened by her sudden appearance, Ryner jumped up from the tub and screamed.

"Um... I can see everything," Rita said, blushing as she covered her eyes with her transparent hands.

Embarrassed, Ryner jumped back into the tub, his face bright red. "I didn't mind that you slept beside me, but can you just leave the bathroom now, please?" he pleaded.

"Okay, I'll do just that," Rita said, floating out of the bathroom.

"Jeez," Ryner muttered under his breath, feeling flustered.

On the way to school, Ryner was accompanied by both Rita and Thomas. "I can't wait to figure out how I died," Rita said cheerfully as she hummed and floated behind him.

"I hate to ruin your mood, but that'll have to wait until after school," Ryner said, irritated.

"Why not now?" Rita asked.

"Because I have an exam today, and the two of you disrupted me yesterday so much that I totally forgot about it," Ryner replied angrily.

"It's your own fault for being such a coward," Thomas said, floating ahead of them.

"Who wouldn't be frightened by what I witnessed yesterday, you homewrecker?" Ryner shot back.

The school bell rang, and Ryner entered the classroom, his mind still racing. "You may now begin the exam," the teacher announced.

"I should have been able to answer these questions if not for those ghosts. What the heck is the answer?" Ryner thought to himself as he scratched his head.

"You're not really as smart as you portray yourself, Ryner," Thomas teased. "How can you even help her pass on if you can't even answer these simple equations?"

"Shut up!! I'm trying to focus!" Ryner yelled, losing his patience.

The entire class turned to stare at him. Realizing he had disrupted the exam, Ryner immediately apologized and tried to refocus on his paper. "I'm screwed. I don't know a single thing on this paper," Ryner muttered to himself, feeling defeated.

"The answer is B," Rita said as she looked at his test paper.

"Are you sure?" Ryner asked, still unsure.

"Trust me," Rita said confidently.

Ryner, unsure but desperate, shaded in the answer as B. Throughout the rest of the exam, Rita continued to guide him, answering each and every question for him.

"Hmm, yes, seems about right. So that's how you work that question," Ryner muttered as he filled in the answers with Rita's help.

"And now you're done. See? It wasn't that hard, was it?" Rita said with a smile, trying to pat Ryner on the head, though her hand passed right through his head.

"Yeah, it was all thanks to you," Ryner said with a smile, genuinely grateful.

"Times up, all pens down," the teacher announced.

She went around the classroom, collecting the papers. "Wow, Ryner, looks like you actually took my advice and studied. I'm glad," the teacher said, clearly impressed.

"I wonder how your teacher would react if she knew that a dead girl helped you with the exam. That's what I call elite cheating," Thomas quipped.

"Oh, shut up and get a life," Ryner muttered, still annoyed.

As the bell rang, Ryner, Rita, and Thomas made their way to the old section of the school to look for clues. However, unbeknownst to them, Ryner was being watched by a timid girl, who looked sick and had been branded as creepy by everyone in his class.