The Ghost In My Bedroom - By Heather Jones Page 0,4

I had to get away. Poor Alex must have thought I was the biggest cock-blocker. I hung out with Ling every spare moment I had, I even went so far as to invite myself to her graduation. I sat in the bleachers fanning myself that hot June day to cheer them both on, although he didn't seem quite as appreciative as she did.

I had gotten myself a job at a fabric store, working as many hours as I could possibly get in order to keep myself busy and save money for school. The fabric store seemed like a smart choice since I was going to college for fashion design, but it was not very glamorous at all. Ling had worked at her parents restaurant holding down the counter since long before it was legal for her to work, she was content to keep at it since her parents were pretty flexible with when she came and went, as long as she was there when they were busy. It also meant she got paid under the table, no taxes lost there. Besides that, she had Alex who paid for everything when they were out, who also paid for me on the times I found myself tagging along. It was a tolerable situation, despite being a perpetual third wheel.

Since Ling was my constant parasitic host, she made me pay for it by making me sew things for her. So one day as my shift ended she came up to me at the cutting table with a bolt of plaid fabric. "Hey do you think you can make me a skirt in this fabric?"

"Yeah, what kind of skirt?"

"I think a mini kilt with big fat pleats and one of those big pins."

"A kilt pin?"

"Yes, that's it! How much fabric do I need?"

"How short do you want it to be?"

She motioned obscenely high up on her leg.

"Not a whole lot." I unrolled the bolt of fabric and held it from her waist to where she indicated high up on her thigh. "I guess this much and double it because we're pleating it and another few inches for the hem and the waistband, so it's probably just a yard." I always overestimated for fear of not having enough. I had a closetful of leftover scraps; I figured I'd make a crazy quilt one day should I ever have enough to get that far.

"Seven dollars a yard, cheap skirt!"

I cut the fabric and filled out her slip and she paid at the register while I clocked out.

"So let's go back to my house and make you a skirt."

"Yay!" Ling was always very appreciative when I made her stuff, and she always wanted something that was very short, or very hardly there. It was fun because she would hold still like a real life dress form and let me pin stuff right to her clothes, she thought it was so exciting. I tried making stuff for my family and they never wore anything. There were a few years at Christmas when everyone got something homemade and I never saw anyone wear any of it. After a couple years I took the hint and just stopped making the effort.

She gabbed about Alex on the way home, how he was such a wonderful boyfriend, how she was so in love with him, how she hoped I would find the right guy who wouldn't dump me before the prom even though it was too late now. She really didn't have any tact when it came to that sort of thing. It put me back into moping mode, her being so happy in love, me being quite lonely. Eventually she picked up on it and said "You know what you're problem is, you are just determined to be miserable, and it's not going to get you anywhere. How do you think you are ever going to meet someone new when you are exuding such bitterness."

"So you think I should be just all bubbly and cheerful like you even though I feel dead inside?"

"Exactly."

"It's not that easy to just switch it on like that. And I like my misery."

"Whatever, Miss Melancholy."

"Shut up Mrs. Alex."

She giggled and bounced and started humming happily and that got my spirits up a little so I joined in the chorus with her. She had that effect, even when I didn't want it.

Once at my house we headed straight up stairs and I found Ryan stretched out on the bed. He groaned and said "Oh hurray, if it