The Phantom Crystal

Join The Club

My lips quirk up as I listen to Hugh laugh at a joke that Olivia just said about trees and beavers. Olivia and Rose join in the laughter when Hugh chokes on some air. Patting his back, I chuckle as Hugh chugs his water.

“It really wasn’t all that funny, Hugh,” Olivia states, wiping at her eyes, snickering. “But I appreciate the enthusiasm.”

Hugh gasps as he lowers his water, wiping the back of his mouth with his hand. “Well, we all know that I have a very stupid sense of humor, so I don’t know why you’re so surprised that I nearly died laughing about a joke where a beaver tries to f**k a tree.”

I roll my eyes, returning to my pizza as Olivia starts laughing once more while her girlfriend closes her eyes, shaking her head. Why am I not surprised that Olivia would make such a joke? 

“Oh, Jack,” Olivia says suddenly and I look up at her. “I didn’t say anything on Monday, but I really like your bangs.”

Heat spreads across my cheeks as I lift a hand to my beanie. Which isn’t there. Oh, s**t. A nervous smile spreads across my lips as I stare down at my pizza. Hugh nudges me, smirking.

“See? I told you Olivia would love it.” Hugh drapes an arm across the back of my chair. “He got all flustered when I mentioned it, too.”

Olivia leans forward, frowning as she studies me. Her eyes move from my bangs to my face as I shrink into my chair.

“But why? It looks so cool!”

“Didn’t you say that your mom was against you dying your hair?” Rose asks, humming thoughtfully.

I purse my lips as I grab a napkin and dab it in a pool of grease forming on the top of my pizza.

“Yeah. I’m not sure why she’s so against it but I know that when she finds out, she’s gonna flip.”

Olivia chokes on her pizza.

“Wait, you did it without your folks knowing?” A grin slowly spreads across her face as I slide down further in my seat. “Why, you naughty boy. Finally going through your rebellious stage, are we?”

“Knock it off,” Rose says, nudging the laughing red-head with her elbow. “You’re embarrassing him.” Rose offers me a small smile which I return. “It really does look good on you, Jack. I don’t know why you’ve been hiding it.”

I sigh. “Because it wasn’t planned. It happened on Saturday night while I was with Rae and her boyfriend.”

“But why hide it while you’re up here?” Hugh asks around a mouth full of pepperoni pizza. “It’s not like your folks are gonna be around the corner.”

A thoughtful expression crosses Olivia’s face.

“Is it because of Professor Winters?”

Surprise springs to both Hugh’s and Rose’s eyes. Hugh’s gaze narrows as he glances between me and Olivia.

“What’s the professor got to do with this? He’s not being weird about it, is he? He has a stripe of black in his own hair.”

Rose snorts as she fixes the clip holding her auburn bangs back.

“I highly doubt Ian cares about the color of his hair. He’s not like that.”

“Jack?” Olivia asks. I heave a sigh. Might as well get this over with.

“Ian is my sister’s godfather,” I state lamely, swirling my root beer. “So, it’s more of, I’m afraid of him TELLING my folks about it than him actually judging me about it.” I shrug as Rose’s mouth falls open. “If anything, he’s tried to get Mom to lighten up about it when Rae showed heavy interest in dying her hair pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month a few years ago. It didn’t work but he at least tried.” I chuckle. “Mom’ll allow me to come on ghost hunts but not dye my hair.”

Hugh leans back in his chair, bewilderment written all over his face.

“Dude, that’s really wack. Hair can grow back. Ghosts can hurt you.”

I shrug in response. Considering that I’ve been thrown across the room and have a supernatural being’s crystal inside of me, it does seem quite insane that my mom refuses to let Rae and I do such a harmless thing. A strangled noise escapes Rose causing the three of us to look at her in concern. Her dark brown eyes are wide as she stares at me.

“Rose?” I say slowly. “Is something wrong?”

“Who did you say that your folks were again?” Rose asks, her voice tight and high.

Concerned, I glance at Olivia, who shrugs.

“Uh, Skip and Ken Baggins?”

Rose gasps when a look of understanding lights up Olivia’s face.

“Wait, do your folks have a blog outside of textbooks?” Olivia asks, excitedly.

“Yeah, The Paranormal Experience. Why?”

Rose slumps back, fanning her face as Olivia starts laughing. Frowning, I exchange a confused look with Hugh. Olivia, sensing our bewilderment, tries to hide a smile behind her hand.

“Sorry,” Olivia says, snickering. “I, honestly, didn’t even put two and two together when we were in class yesterday. But Rose is seriously OBSESSED with your parents’ blog, Jackie. She gets their notifications for EVERYTHING. I’m surprised she hasn’t fainted yet.”

“Olivia!” Rose whines, sinking further down in her seat as she covers her face. I smile at her.

“Oh! Well, Mom and Dad love meeting fans,” I state, relaxing as I finish off my supper. “So, if you want, the next time they come up, I’ll let you know so that you can meet them, Rose.”

Rose snaps forward in her seat, glee shining in her eyes.

“Whoa? Really? Would you? I mean, you don’t have to, I don’t want to seem like you have to. But it would be an honor. I would be honored if you, ya know, could do that.” 

I snicker as Rose continues to ramble obviously flustered and overwhelmed. Reaching out, I clasp Rose’s hand, pausing her ranting. She looks up at me sheepishly. I smile warmly.

“It wouldn’t be an issue, Rose. They seriously love meeting fans and seeing as you’re one of my friends, they would love to meet you anyways.”

Rose’s smile wobbles a little and her eyes go misty as she quickly nods. She drags in a calming breath as Olivia hugs her, chuckling. Hugh whistles. 

“Wow, Jack! I didn’t realize you had such famous parents.”

I roll my eyes.

“They’re not famous, they’re just well-known. And are very good at what they do.”

“You’re joking, right?” Rose asks, scandalized. “Anyone who’s anyone in the paranormal community knows who Skip and Ken Baggins are. They’ve paved the way for so many advancements in paranormal studies and don’t even get me started on all of the sweet equipment that Skip has made. She is honestly my hero.”

Rose’s face softens and turns slightly dreamy at the mention of Mom. I huff out a laugh.

“Want me to call her right now so she can talk to you?” I ask, half-teasing, half-serious. “I’m sure they haven’t had supper yet.”

“NO!” Rose shouts, lunging for my hand as I slowly go for my phone. I lift an eyebrow as she clears her throat. “I mean, no, that’s okay. I have class in like 30 minutes and I really don’t want to go in there looking like I just had an emotional breakdown. ‘Cause, there is just no way that I’m not going to cry while talking to your mom.”

Laughing, I drop my hands back into my lap.

“All right, but seriously, if you ever just want to ask her or Dad a question, just let me know.”

Rose nods, hand flying to her chest as she tries to calm her breathing. Olivia snorts as she rubs her girlfriend’s back. 

“Jack, you gotta stop before you give my girlfriend a heart attack. I would like to have her around for a long time, ‘kay?”

Laughing, I return my focus to my supper.

“All right, all right, I’ll stop. For now.” I shoot Rose a grin. “They won’t be comin’ up this weekend anyways. Mom’s gonna be too busy trying to rebuild her Portal.”

Rose perks up.

“‘Portal’?”

“Yeah, it’s this pet project Mom’s been working on since her college days. She’s been trying to find a way to gain access to the Ghost Dimension. She got really close in August but something,” a ghost, “fried a piece of it and she was only just able to find a new part of it on Saturday.”

“Holy crap! And you said it almost worked?”

I nod. Hugh whistles lowly.

“Damn, I’m really glad your folks are only into ghost hunting ‘cause your mom would make one scary supervillain. Could you imagine her trying to take over the world by using that Portal thing?” Hugh shudders as he sips his drink. “I don’t think I ever want to run into a being who can control ghosts. You usually can’t see them, can’t touch them, can’t shoot them. Just, no thanks.”

I sip my pop as Hugh talks, the crystal in my chest pulsing with my nerves. I don’t think Hugh will have to worry about MOM being the threat and controlling the ghosts if Max’s warning about the Phantom’s sister is anything to go by. My hand twitches as I resist the urge to play with my white bangs. 

“But does Skip actually believe that she can pull this off?”

My attention snaps back to Rose and I shrug.

“She was certain she was pretty close in August.” Even if it actually worked WITHOUT that piece.

Rose nods, deep thought appearing on her face. Olivia sighs.

“Great, now she’s gonna be theorizing until we get back to the dorms.”

Rose smacks at Olivia’s arm, pouting at her girlfriend as Olivia laughs. Rose turns back to me, her eyes shining.

“Jack, if you want, we have a paranormal group on campus. We meet every Tuesday night and we are actually doing a hunt this upcoming Saturday if you want to come?”

Oh. Well, if Rose is a part of that group, getting the word to them about Max will be much easier. I smile apologetically.

“Well, I’m actually busy on Saturday. I’m meeting up with Ian on that day about some research I’m doing. But I’ll definitely think about Tuesday.”

Rose beams.

“We meet at 7 in the Upper Union. Just text me if you’re planning on comin’ and we can go together.”

“I will, thanks.”

I smile at Rose as Olivia turns to Hugh and starts a discussion about their statistics class. That thoughtful look returns to Rose’s face as she swirls her drink.

Who knows, maybe at least checking out the campus paranormal group will give me some more avenues to cover in trying to understand more about the Phantom, and maybe I can get an idea of how he got put inside the crystal in the first place. But I still need to gather more sources before Saturday. Maybe I’ll see the Phantom tonight and I can ask him.