Confession letter
Chapter 1
Years after graduation, my high school crush,
the guy who sat next to me in class, became a
mega–famous celebrity.
We ran into each other at a reunion, and he
looked right through me.
“Excuse me, do I know you?”
Everyone thought Liam had totally forgotten I
even existed.
Then, the news of my accidental death got out,
and my best friend, Chloe, found an old love
letter Liam wrote me while going through my
stuff.
“Hey, Ginny, this crush is killing me. I don’t want
to like you anymore.”
- ))
95
<
8:40
And below that, in smaller print:
“Just kidding.”
That night, Liam was trending all over the internet because he’d taken his own life.
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I opened my eyes and bam I was back at the reunion. I’m staring at Liam, who’s got this cold look on his face, and I impulsively pull out my phone and text him.
The very next second, the little notification pops up–his special ringtone for me.
Liam: “…”
1
I died on a day it was snowing so hard you
could barely see.
I’d gone out hiking, trying to find some
8:40
95
inspiration for my writing, got lost on the
mountain, and just froze to death. Not exactly a glamorous exit.
Chloe was a mess when she heard the news.
She showed up to ID my body sobbing, “Ginny, how could you just leave me like this?”
“So what if Liam doesn’t remember you? You
still had me!”
My spirit was hovering in the air, and I just wanted to disappear from embarrassment. If I wasn’t already beyond cold, I’d’ve wanted to shut her up. This girl! The sheriff said it was a total accident, and she’s out here acting like I’d
gone off the deep end over a broken heart!
Could I not have some dignity in the afterlife?
But Chloe wasn’t having it. She was convinced
my death was somehow related to Liam. She
grabbed her phone and called him.
<
Liam picked up after a ton of rings.
“Hello?” His voice sounded rough, like he’d just
been woken up. “Chloe? What’s up? I just
finished filming all night…”
“Liam,” Chloe interrupted, sounding totally
distraught, “Ginny’s dead.”
Silence on the other end.
Even as a ghost, a tiny flicker of hope lit up
inside me. How would Liam react to me being
dead? Would he be sad? Or just think, “Meh, so
what?” After all, that was basically his vibe at
the reunion a few days earlier.
When all the other classmates were teasing us,
he’d just given me that blank stare and asked,
“Excuse me, do I know you?”
It was like all the courage I’d built up before
walking in that door had just evaporated. All I
<
could manage to say was a quiet “Never mind”
before I looked down, totally defeated.
I guess… it’s kind of understandable. He’s a
huge star now; it’s been six years since we
graduated. Good for him that he doesn’t
remember me. It’s probably for the best,
because I still felt bad for what I’d done.
“Liam, did you hear me?” Chloe was crying and
yelling into the phone. “I said Ginny died! She’s
gone!”
Thud! Something slammed on the other end of
the line.
I could practically hear Liam gritting his teeth.
His voice was trembling. “…No way.”
Then, he hung up.
Chloe, tears streaming down her face, took a
photo of my death certificate and sent it to him.
<
before blocking his number.
I wanted to comfort her, but my hands just
passed right through her. In the end, I just sort of wrapped my non–corporeal arms around her.
Don’t cry, you goof.
2
–
Five days after I died, Chloe brought my ashes
back to town. I didn’t have any family around
my brother was overseas for work and wasn’t
scheduled to get back for another day.
Chloe came in and found my cat, a Ragdoll,
totally starved. I’d left out three days‘ worth of
food, thinking I’d be back sooner. The poor
thing.
Chloe came over a lot. The cat ran over and
acted like she was the greatest thing since
sliced bread when she opened the door.
8:40
<
I guess
lal yol
crying all over again.
ULIC CITIบงเชิงเนิน เCu
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She gave the cat some food, then walked into
my office to start sorting through my stuff. As a full–time author, I spent more time in there than in my actual bedroom.
My desk was exactly how I’d left it, with a photo in a frame of me and my friends in high school. Chloe had her arm around me in the middle, and Liam was all the way to the right.
He was glancing at me in the pic.
Chloe wasn’t too happy with Liam at the
moment. She tidied everything else, and was
about to grab the photo when my cat, full of
food, decided to get involved.
It saw Chloe reaching for the frame and
swatted it.
CRASH! The photo frame went flying, and glass
scattered everywhere.
<
8:40
Chloe jumped, picked up the cat, and that’s
when she noticed something in the back of the
frame.
“Meow,” the cat said, realizing it had screwed
- up.
Chloe leaned down and pulled out a letter from
the back of the frame. It was a love letter.
Now I was confused, too.
The paper had gone yellow, but the writing was
still as bold as ever. Each word spoke of a
hidden, intense crush.
“Hey, Ginny, this crush is killing me. I don’t
want to like you anymore.”
And below that, in smaller print:
“Just kidding.”
<
Then, on the bottom right, there it was. Our
jaws dropped.
The signature: Liam.
Liam, the Hollywood heartthrob.
Liam, my high school desk mate, who I had a
crush on forever.
I suddenly remembered that photo frame. It was
a gift from Liam junior year. It had followed me
to every apartment.
I never guessed he’d hidden a secret inside all
this time.
Then I thought of Liam on the phone. The way he’d said, “No way,” his voice trembling…
My heart ached.
Do ghosts feel pain?
<
I saw Chloe pull Liam up on her phone,
unblocking him, ready to call. But then an alert
popped up from Twitter.
#Liam Commits Suicide#
Chloe’s hand shook as she clicked on the
trending news.
And there it was a video posted by a million-
follower account. An ambulance was parked in
front of a fancy house, surrounded by security.
Then, the camera zoomed in on a hand hanging
off the stretcher. Long fingers, skin unnaturally
pale.
Dark red blood dripped onto the pavement.
“Liam Commits Suicide At Home, Letter
Suggests Act of Devotion”
My brain just short–circuited when I read the
word “devotion.”
<
No, this wasn’t right. This wasn’t how it was
supposed to end. He couldn’t be dead…
My mind was flooded with memories, a
highlight reel of moments. They ended on that
snowy winter day.
Seventeen–year–old Liam was at the bottom of
the school stairs, reaching for my hand.
“We’ve got a deal then, Ginny,” he’d said.
The look on his face, the little smile he had,
was so unbelievably gentle.
“If I ever become a big star, you’ll be my
manager.”
Then, a gust of wind came through, and pure
white snowflakes covered the entire world.
It felt like I’d just woken up from the longest
