'What took you so long?', Danny asked as he hopped into the passenger's seat of the lexus.
'I'm sorry', April said quickly,pulling out of the driveway. 'I got caught up in ....ssomething'.
Danny smiled mischievously. 'Was it a guy?'.
'No!', April exploded. 'I don't do... guys'.
'Okay okay' danny said between gasps of laughter. 'Now eyes on the road or we'll never make it home'.
'Do you believe in ghosts? ' April asked as she pulled into the driveway.
'Ghosts are part of fiction', Danny said, hopping out of the car. ' I don't believe in fiction '.
' You should ', April said as they walked in.  She turned to face her brother. " All things are possible ". She smiled at him and ran upstairs then she froze.
' What took you so long darling?' Ben said as she walked in. ' And why do you look like you've just seen a ghost? '
'I have seen,not one, but two ghosts, actually'. April replied. 'And what on earth are you doing in my room?'.
'We just came by to keep you company', Chris said as he glanced around. ' You have a nice room by the way'.
' You guys are unbelievable', April said, dropping her bag to sit on her bed. 'Well my life is complicated so I could use the company'.
'Tell us about your complicated life then' Ben said.
April stared at the twins for a while. Could she trust them? Well they are ghosts. They couldn't do so much harm.
"Well" she started. "I was born here in New York. 'I've lived here all my life. My dad is the managing director of force wind oil and gas.....".
'So your dad works with my dad?', Chris asked.
April nodded before continuing. 'I live here with my mother and brother,  Danny'. She exhaled. 'My dad lives alone for some reasons I wish were not so'.
The twins stared at each other. There was uncomfortable silence hanging in the air. A knock on the door jarred the trio out of their silence. April rose up from the bed and walked over to the door.
'What do you want?', April asked as she opened the door to see Danny.
' I thought I heard your voice' he said. 'Who were you talking to?'.
Unconsciously, April looked back to stare at Chris and Ben before turning back to look at her brother.
" I wasn't talking to anyone" she said uneasily. 'So what do you want?'.
'Just wanted to tell you that your mother is back', Danny said.
' Like seriously,' April said, smacking her forehead.' She's our mother. You speak of her as if she didn't give birth to you.'
' You know I don't care ' Danny said. ' I hate josslyn '.
' Dont you dare call your mother by her first name! April said loudly.
'I'm fifteen years old', Danny countered. ' I can do anything I want '.
And with that, Danny walked off. April closed the door, rested against it and sighed. She knew there was no love lost between her mother and brother and she has been trying her best to change that. All to no avail.

*****
" I still can't believe you ", Monica said for the third time after April told her about the ghosts. " Ghosts aren't real".
' I'm serious', April said. 'I know am not delusional'.
'I wouldn't be so sure about that ', Monica said. 'You can't see ghosts, it's impossible '.
' I'm not gonna argue with you any more ', April said, 'There's no point',
'Who's that?', Monica suddenly asked, pointing to someone behind April. 'He's cute'.
April turned around on her chair to see Chris standing right behind her. He smiled when he saw her and she smiled back. Her smile faded as she turned back to face Monica.
' Who are you talking about? ' April asked.
' Actually, Mr delicious is right behind you', Monica said.' He's dressed in black, black eyes and hair and whatever'.
April swallowed ......hard. She was not the only one who could see ghosts. Monica could see Chris standing right behind her.
" She can see me? " Chris asked in bewilderment as he sat down on the third chair on April's table.
"Ofcourse, I can see you," Monica said, " my blues are functioning ".
" You can actually see this guy? " April asked.
' Why is everyone asking me that? ' Monica asked, ' its not like am blind or something '.
' He's one of your stepbrothers,' April said almost in a whisper.' You aren't supposed to see him'.
' I don't have any.... Woah!' Monica risked a glanced at Chris and remembered the family picture hanging on the wall in the living room. The guy sitting with them was one of the late twins. " You have got to be kidding me ".
" Stepbrother? ", Chris asked.
' Oh yeah. That', Monica said. 'My mum married your dad a week ago. So that makes you my stepbrother'.
Chris nodded. ' So how's my dad and sister?'
'They're okay', Monica said with a shrug of her shoulder. 'I love Porsha. She's a nice stepsister'. She smiled and then frowned. ' I thought you were a twin '.
' Oh ', Chris said. Ben should be around here somewhere '.
April felt left out as she watched Monica and Chris. She felt anger, and a little bit of .... jealousy? Nah, she couldn't be jealous. Monica and Chris were step sibling. They couldn't possibly be together. Even if they were, it was non of her business. Or was it?. She was actually glad that Monica could see ghosts too, at least she wasn't crazy.
'So, how exactly did you die?', April asked.
'Excuse me? ' Chris said, taken aback.
'I'm sorry ', April said,' i was just curious. I know that's personal'.
'Matter of fact, it's okay, he stared at her for a little while before speaking "Well it was a car accident. Mum wanted to go to the mall and we decided to accompany her ".
" Who's we?,Monica said.
" Ben, Raph and I", Chris replied.
"Who's Raph?" April asked.
"Our uncle", Chris answered, 'My dad's younger brother '.
April nodded and Chris continued. ' I was driving and Ben was sitting in front with me. Raph and my mum were at the back. There was a truck in front of us and I tried to stop but the brake pedal was missing. And the next thing I saw was fire. It was also the last thing I saw'.
'Wow!', you must really feel a lot of guilt since you  were driving'.
April shot a glance in Monica's direction.
'Sorry', Monica mumbled.
'She's right. I do feel guilty'.
April lowered her gaze while she pounded, biting her lower lip. She knew she shouldn't care so much for Chris but she did. He must be going through a lot of guilt and she wished there was something she could do to help ease his pain. She smiled at him and he smiled back. No one could resist such a dazzling smile. April made a mental note never to look at Chris when he was smiling.  But for now she could enjoy the moment while it lasted.