Vengeful Teenage Ghost

Junior High School was a pain as it was but being picked on constantly was another story. There were two girls who were always alone and kept to themselves, one was Kathleen Johnson and the other was me, Samantha Pierce. Kathleen was picked on the hardest by three mean girls: Joann, Jolene, and Josephine. The three J’s as they were called. The five of us had the same classes for most of the year since school started in August. Now we just came back from Winter Vacation.

Kathleen had gotten her hair cut during the vacation; a little shorter than usual. Of course, the three J’s had started a rumor that she had lice. It wasn’t true. Kathleen told me so during P.E. She told me her little brother had stuck gum in her hair one morning while she was still asleep. As a matter of fact, she liked the shorter length. It still didn’t stop the Three J’s from teasing her about the short length of her hair.

P.E. was the worst for both Kathleen and me though. It gave the mean girls another reason to torture us. Balls were thrown at us and the usual body slams that they claimed were accidents. We knew the truth, they weren’t accidents. Since we had just gotten back from winter vacation and unfortunately we have an indoor swimming pool; it was time for the one thing I hated the most: swimming. One of the reasons why I hated swimming at school was the swimsuits we have to wear. They looked like they came from the 1950s. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were left over from that time period. Another reason why I hate this class in P.E. is that I’m not a good swimmer and neither was Kathleen.

Kathleen was already ready from the swim class by the time I reached the gym. “I’ll meet you in the pool,” she told me that day.

I nodded as I pulled my sweatshirt over my head and finished undressing and put on the ugliest blue swimsuit. I heard several lockers being slammed shut as I began to tuck my blonde hair under a swim cap. I heard someone whispering but couldn’t make out what was being said. When I reached the showers I heard someone laugh and it sounded slightly evil.

“No!” I heard Kathleen shout. I ran toward the entrance to the pool area. I skidded to a halt when Jolene was on the diving board while Josephine and Joann had Kathleen in the middle of the pool and was holding onto her arms. I swore I saw Jolene smiling as she dove into the pool while the other two J’s pushed Kathleen under the water.

“Hey! Let her go!” I shouted at them and ran toward the pool. Kathleen was thrashing about in the water while Josephine and Joann laughed. I couldn’t see what Joann was doing because Kathleen was thrashing the water with her body. By the time I dove into the pool and swam toward them, Kathleen had stopped moving. Joann had surfaced and Josephine and Joann had let go of Kathleen. The three of them were laughing as they swam to the edge of the pool. Kathleen wasn’t moving. I paused and stared at my only friend. Her face was down in the water and she was so still that my gaze wouldn’t waver away from her. The Three J’s also stopped laughing when they noticed Kathleen wasn’t moving.

“Kathleen!” I called out. Still, she didn’t move. “Oh my…” I whispered tightly. I swam as fast as I could toward her. Jolene got to her first and pulled her out of the pool. I looked over my shoulder and saw the gym teacher racing where Jolene had laid Kathleen on the side of the pool.

“Someone call 9-1-1,” the teacher yelled as she knelt down beside Kathleen and began CPR. All I could do was stand in the pool and watch. Soon I began to shiver as Mrs. Fortuna continued to do CPR on Kathleen. When I climbed out of the pool the principal ran toward the teacher and Kathleen. Someone had placed a towel over my shoulders. “Thanks,” I said as I continued to watch from the edge of the pool.

Minutes later, paramedics showed up and took over the CPR. Mr. Michelson began asking questions about what happened.

“She dove into the pool. We tried to stop her but she did it anyway,” Joann told him.

My heart nearly stopped beating as I whirled around and faced the Three J’s. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jolene confirmed her story and I couldn’t believe the principal was buying what they were saying.

“That’s not true,” I spoke up. “You drowned her. All three of you held her under the water.”

“What?” Jolene said as she placed a hand over her heart and took a step back. “Why would I do such a thing? We weren’t even in the pool when she dove in. When we saw that she wasn’t moving we dove in and tried to save her. “What you saw was that we were trying to save her not drown her.”

“She’s right?” Josephine said and placed a hand on Jolene’s shoulder. “You’re such a slow swimmer that we decided to try and save her.”

I couldn’t believe what they’re saying. I really couldn’t. I glared at them and said, “You killed her.” I spun around and ran toward the gym. Hot tears were stinging my eyes by the time I reached the showers. Hot water poured over my body as I stood under the water and wept.

I left school soon after the paramedics left with Kathleen’s body. My mom had picked my up. When we got home, she really tried to console me as I wept and told her what happened. The school had told her differently. I didn’t know if she believed me or not at that moment I didn’t care. I know what I saw.

A month later something strange began happening at school. The Three J’s left me alone which was a good thing but that wasn’t what was strange. From the corner of my eye, I saw a black shadow moving along Kathleen’s desk. I looked around the math class and noted everyone was at their desk. Even Mr. Evans was sitting at his desk. What caused that shadow? I asked myself. I looked out the window and didn’t see anyone in the courtyard that would have caused a shadow near Kathleen’s desk. No one in the class saw it either.

Kathleen? I wondered silently as I tapped my pencil against my chin. The bell rang and I nearly jumped out of my seat. Jolene glanced over her shoulder at me and glared. I glared back at her and gathered my things and shoved them into my backpack. Second period was English and another class with the three mean girls. There was a test in that class and I wasn’t prepared for it.

I was halfway done with the test when a book on the shelf suddenly fell on the floor. Everyone looked up and at the fallen book with matching surprised looks. Mrs. Ryan walked over casually and picked it up and put it back on the shelf. Everyone but me went back to their test. All I could do was stare at that book. Never did a book fall off that shelf since the beginning of the school year. A tearing sound caught my attention causing me to look around for the source. I looked to my right at the board with a bunch of papers covering it. Announcements and upcoming events were placed on that board. I saw a piece of paper being lifted and torn off then floated down to the floor. I was puzzled at what I saw. “Kathleen?” I whispered. Jesse was sitting in the desk in front of me turned.

“What?” he whispered.

I shrugged my shoulders and went back to my test with my heart beating hard and fast. Kathleen is haunting the school, was the only thought that kept repeating itself through my mind.

By the end of the week there were whispers that the school was being haunted by Kathleen. I heard stories of hair being tugged to sounds of nails being scratched on chalkboards and no one was at the chalkboard at the time. There were stories of people being tripped. Objects came up missing and found in different places. The teachers weren’t talking about the haunting even the principal remained quiet.

The following week, Jolene didn’t show up at school. I wasn’t worried though. The mean girls weren’t talking about me or to me. They did glare at me at times. At least they left me alone because they knew that they killed Kathleen. There were times when I did try to convince the principal and the police the three of them killed my friend. The three of them stuck to their story about trying to save her. It was useless, no one believed me so I kept quiet and to myself. Next year I’ll be in high school and away from the Three J’s.

By sixth period a rumor surfaced that Jolene was found dead that morning. She drowned in her bathtub. I couldn’t concentrate on what the science teacher was saying. All I could think about was what happened to Jolene. She died the same way Kathleen did. She drowned. Oh my gosh. Did Kathleen come back from the dead to get her revenge? Oh no, Kathleen what are you doing? Why are you doing this? I know I couldn’t ask that question outright. No one believed me what happened to my friend so why would they believe me that she came back alive to exact her revenge.

After school, that day, I went to pay Kathleen a visit at her grave. “Why are you doing this, Kathleen? I know they were mean and picked on us all of the time.” I shoved my hands into my pockets as a cool breeze blew over me. “I am sorry. I tried to convince everyone what happened but they don’t believe me. It was the three of them against me.”

Later that night I saw red and white lights flashing outside my window. I looked outside in time to see a stretcher being wheeled out from my neighbor’s house. Josephine lived next door. I saw a glimpse of her parents in the doorway. Something told me that Josephine was dead but I had to know[-;. I ran out of my bedroom and down the hallway.

“Sami,” my mother called out to me.

I saw the look on her face. “What happened?”

My mother placed her hands on my shoulder as a sad look passed over her face. “Josephine is dead,” she whispered tightly. “She drowned in her bathtub.”

“Just like Jolene,” I whispered. My mother hugged me tightly. I decided to take this one chance. “It’s Kathleen. She’s come back from the dead for revenge.”

“Sami.” My mother pulled away from me and stared. “There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“It’s true. Joann is the last one.”

“It’s late, Sami. She must’ve fallen asleep in the tub and drowned.”

Okay, she didn’t believe me. “If something happened to Joann…” I didn’t know what else to say. I left it at that and spun around and walked out of the living room.

It was before school a few days later. Joann didn’t show up for school during those days. I didn’t hear anything bad happened to her and I wasn’t really worried. My mother had dropped me off a little early that day and I was sitting in the courtyard reading my history book since I had a huge test that day. The book was yanked out of my hands and standing in front of me was Joann. Not really surprised to see her so I glared at her. Her face was white as if she had seen a ghost.

“Tell Kathleen to leave me alone,” she said softly. She shoved the book into my stomach and turned and left.

I stared after her for a moment then opened the history book and began to read again. I didn’t get halfway through the paragraph and gave up. I looked around the courtyard and saw Joann sitting at a bench. Alone. It was as if she was cursed or something. Two of her best friends were dead. The same way as Kathleen. As I stared at Joann, she looked up at him and gave me a hate-filled look before she turned away. I couldn’t help but noticed how scared she looked at that moment. Without a second thought, I placed my book in the backpack and stood.

The rest of the day passed with a blur. I didn’t even know what even happened in my classes or what the lectures were. I wasn’t even sure if I put any answers on my tests or not. All that I wanted at the end of the day was to go home. It’s been one month since my friend had died and I wanted to be alone.

My parents were still at work when I got home that afternoon. I went to the kitchen and pulled a soda out of the fridge then I went into the living room and turned the TV on. I reached into my backpack and pulled out my books. I couldn’t concentrate on my school work so I leaned back on the couch and channel surf the TV. A minute later, I gave up on channel surfing. Nothing interesting was on. Pay that much for cable and can’t find anything to watch. Joann’s words from that morning kept repeating themselves through her mind. “Tell Kathleen to leave me alone.”

“Kathleen must’ve paid her a visit.” I let out a sigh. I put my feet on the coffee table. “Kathleen, what are you up to?” I said out loud.

“Revenge,” she whispered in my ear.

I stood up fast and whirled around. I didn’t see the girl who was once my friend. “R-r-revenge? Was it worth it, Kathleen?”

She laughed. It was an evil laugh. Like the one I heard that day in the showers. The day she died. “What did you do to Joann?”

There was a snort. “She didn’t have a bathtub. Only a shower. So I scared her.”

“What did you do to her?"

“I showed myself to her. I showed her what I did to Josephine and Jolene.”

I shivered at the thought. “What are you going to do to her?” I really didn’t want to know. The TV turned to the news channel. A reporter was at her school. A sinking feeling washed over me. I had an idea what happened. Joann was on the swim team.

There was a diving accident. It was Joann. Kathleen had gotten her revenge.