20 - I Think I'm Seeing Ghosts!!!!!

I stand on the side walk, across the road from my dad's firm, waiting .... waiting. ... and waiting. I've been here since early in the morning and it's already getting late at night. I check the time from the cafe behind me and it says nine. 

I haven't eaten since breakfast - I only had a waffle. I'm hungry, tired, broke and losing my hope. 

The aroma from the bakery beside the cafe doesn't help at all. I hear and feel my stomach grumbling, feeling a bit weak. 

"Hey! Brat. Until when are you gonna stand there?" I don't notice Zu Ho coming beside me. He must have already finished his classes. 

"I'm hungry," I groan. 

He smirks then laughs. "I know." He pulls me in the cafe behind us. I find a table near the window, just in case my dad decides to visit the office at night, at least I would be able to spot him. I lay my head on the table, my eyes glued at the entrance of the other building. 

"So, anything?" Zu Ho sits across from me, putting his bag on the chair beside him. 

I just shake my head. "I'm really sorry about this." I tell him, not moving my eyes. "I promise I'm gonna pay you one way or the other."

I hear him chuckle, saying something I couldn't understand. 

As I look out the window, I didn't notice the guy standing outside and looking straight at me. Only when he takes a step closer that I see him. I furrow my brows, feeling weird all of a sudden. Isn't it eerie if someone is staring at you from the other side of the window with wide eyes?

He tilts his head to the side and furrows his brows, too. I sit up and stare back at him. I think I've seen him before. But, well, this is LA. He could've attended my school for all I know. 

"Pizza's here." Zu Ho's excited tone makes me peel my eyes away from the boy outside and to the steaming, cheesy food in front of us. 

I turn to the window again, but the guy is already gone. Shit....creepy. 

"Who's that?" Zu Ho asks, noticing how I'm looking from left to right, still looking for the boy who was just there a few seconds ago. "Is it your dad?"

"I don't know." I answer, going back to the food, but glancing outside from time to time. 

"Isn't it time to tell me about you?" Zu Ho says, gobbling almost half of the pizza. "I so love cheese," he adds. 

"I love cheese more than anything in the world."

I remember someone telling me that, I just don't remember who. I hate this.... Having no memory at all of the past months .... or is it a year ... It SUCKS. In that short span of time, it seems like a lot has happened - important events. 

"So?" Zu Ho tilts his head to the side, trying to get my attention as I notice I've zoned out. 

"Huh?" I look at him, putting a slice of pizza in my mouth. 

"You owe me an explanation about all these." 

"Oh...." I swallow my food, chasing it down with the cola. "Well," I start, "I don't really know what's happening now. I woke up one day and I'm in another State." I look at him. "We met there last time."

"Uh..." he nods, as if understanding. But, his puzzled face tells me he really doesn't. 

I continue. "I used to live in LA. Something happened between last year and now .... that I don't remember. I don't know where my best friend is, my other closest friend is dead, and my dad and my grandparents are .... not here. My mom .... well .... I don't know why she's keeping things from me." I lean closer to the table, "I swear I'm not lying to you. I can pay you ... and I will. It's just that ...."

He huffs. "It doesn't matter. I'm gonna be here until the end of the month. You have twenty more days." 

I heave a sigh of relief. I've never felt more indebted than this. I don't think I've ever been. Not with my friends. 

He takes another piece of the pizza, biting it. "Cristina is your English name?"  

I giggle at that. English name? "Uhm....yeah....you can say that." I lean back on the chair, watching him blushing, embarrassed at how I laughed at him. "How about you? What are you doing here, far away from home?"

"Just a vacation ... and some studying." He blushes a deeper red, glancing up at me from his plate. "I need to learn English before I get accepted to this company I wanna train in. But," he sighs then, "I only have 20 days left and I don't have a clue how I'm gonna do that."

"Train?" 

"Uhm....yeah .... this entertainment agency in Korea. I want to train to be in a boy band." 

I suddenly remember one of my dreams with Lara - to train as singers. We've always wanted to perform in front of other people, even when we were kids. We used to join different talent shows in school. I recall talking to her about auditioning for a certain agency from Korea before. When was that? I wonder what happened. I guess we didn't push through because I got sick. Or maybe that's where she is? Could she have left without me? That's impossible. We promised we'd do it together. 

So, where is she then?

"Yah!" Zu Ho is snapping his fingers in front of me. "Do you zone out a lot?" He asks. 

I snap out of my thoughts and turn to him. "Sorry. I just remembered something." I take a sip of my cola then look back at him. "I'll teach you some English." I tell him, smiling weakly. It's the least I could do for all the help he's given me. 

We walk to the bus stop, starting with his first class with me. Maybe this was how I learned Korean, too. I'm just not sure. 

It doesn't take long until the bus arrives. We take the back seat. I look out the window as someone so familiar catches my eye. 

I open the window and stick my head out. Two guys are entering the cafe we just came from. One of them is the guy from earlier, the creepy guy standing outside the cafe. And the other is the boy from the hospital back in Korea. 

What the heck is he doing here? Coincidence? Or am I just seeing things?

They appear to be looking for someone inside. 

"BRAT!" Zu Ho pulls my head inside as the bus moves forward. "What are you doing? That's dangerous."

"I thought I saw someone." I answer, looking out the window again. Since the bus has already turned the corner, the cafe disappears from sight. 

"You ok?" He asks. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Maybe I have. An image of that boy with only a towel around his waist appears in my mind. FUCK! And a voice ...  a different one. "You ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."

What's happening to me? Are these memories from the past? Or am I just being delusional? 

____

The next day, Zu Ho volunteers to go to my dad's firm. Since I'm scared to go inside, for fear that I won't be able to get out if I do, and I don't want to be standing outside again for the whole day, he decided to talk to anybody and see if he can get an answer as to when my dad would be coming back. 

"Anything?" I ask him when he comes out and meets me at the cafe we were in last night. 

He shakes his head. "Let's just come back tomorrow." 

The way his brows are furrowed and his lips pursed, I know something's wrong. 

"YO!" I hit his arm when I catch up with him. He's walking too fast. "What?" I ask, holding onto the sleeve of his shirt. "What did they say?"

He stops and turns around. "You drink?"

I used to, but not that much. But, the thought of drinking makes my mouth water and I nod excitedly, forgetting what I was gonna ask him. But .... Shit. I don't care if the doctor told me not to. I need a drink. 

I follow him to the nearest bar, feeling giddy about tasting alcohol again after months. I don't know how or why I'm this eager. My eyes widen in delight when I see the bottles behind the bar. It's like they're calling to me and I float towards them, taking the empty seat at the counter. 

"Vodka. Double." I tell the bartender. 

"No ...." Zu Ho says from beside me. "Beer."

I turn to him. "You're not the one drinking."

"You're not the one paying." He sasses back. 

FUCK!

I roll my eyes at him, taking the mug of beer the bartender hands me with a smirk. "Cheapskate." I grunt. 

"What?" He leans closer, 

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought." He smirks. 

"Are you really sure it was her?" I hear the guy beside me saying. Because I think I've heard that voice before, I lean to my side and listen. "How can she be here? I'm sure her mom wouldn't let her come anywhere near this place."

"It's her. We stared at each other for a while." The other answers. "Even if I've only seen her once before in person and in pictures you've shown me, I'm sure that girl in the cafe yesterday was Cristina."

Me? Surely they're not talking about me, are they? There are lots of girls with that name. And in a cafe  last night .... and staring at a stranger out the window .... Nah ....

"Hey, brat." Zu Ho taps my shoulder. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Huh?" I turn to him. "Sorry. What was that?"

He shakes his head in disbelief. "I said, why don't you just go back to North Carolina where your mom is? I'm sure she's worried sick."

"No way!" I say. "Trey's death, Lara not living here anymore, my dad still not back - She kept a lot of things from me. I intend to know about these before getting locked up again."

"Don't you think what you're doing is dangerous? You don't even have money for crying out loud. How would you pay me?"

FUCK! He's right. The way his eyes move though tells me that he has heard something when he went in my dad's company earlier. 

"Spit it!" I tell him, narrowing my eyes. "What did they tell you? Where's my dad?"

"Look!" He sighs, closing his eyes. When they open, he stares straight at my eyes. Suddenly I feel my heart beating so fast in nervousness .... or maybe fear. "Your dad .... He .... "

"He what?" My voice is shaky as I wait for him to continue. "Zu Ho. My dad is what?"

"He's not....." He stops again then he gets distracted, moving his eyes to something or someone behind me. 

"Cris .... Cristina?"