In the deep darkness, Jill sat by the bed, watching Zoe sleep soundly. It didn’t know why it had followed this boy here, but there was a feeling that this boy could see it. Until now, Jill had never experienced anything like this. When Zoe passed through it, Jill suddenly felt the warmth of his breath, the flow of blood in his veins, and the strong heartbeat in his chest. This was something a ghost should never have felt—the sensation of life passing through it.
For the first time, Jill felt a craving from deep within its long-stilled heart—a craving for life. So, it decided to follow this child back to his room. Jill needed to understand why it could sense these things. Could it be possible that this boy might help it seek revenge or, even more fantastical, bring it back to life? Although it seemed like a far-fetched notion, Jill still held onto that hope. Even just hearing the boy’s breath, sensing the life in his beating heart, and the warm blood flowing in his veins, making Jill feel alive again, was good enough.
Time passed like this for months. Jill no longer lingered in the bathroom but stayed in Zoe’s room. Zoe ignored it, continuing with his daily routine as usual. Today, Zoe had physical education class, but he had forgotten to bring his uniform. During the lunch break, he hurried back to his room. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Jill sitting on his bed, but he didn’t care and began searching every corner of the room for his gym uniform.
But he still couldn’t find it. Zoe angrily kicked the bedpost. Without his uniform, he wouldn’t be allowed to attend class, and Mr. Neala would surely punish him by making him clean the bathroom. Then Olwen and the others would laugh their heads off and probably drag a bunch of kids in there to mess things up, making it worse for Zoe.
Zoe tugged at his hair in frustration and crawled under the bed to look again.
“...Where did it go… This is driving me crazy.”
“Dumb. You can’t even remember where you put it.” A mocking voice echoed in his ear, followed by a snide laugh.
“Shut up,” Zoe snapped, furious.
Jill was startled by Zoe’s outburst, but then it felt a thrill of excitement. It floated around Zoe, giddy with the realization that Zoe had heard it speak. If that was the case, maybe Zoe could see it too. After calming down, Zoe closed his eyes and sighed. This was bad; the ghost definitely knew. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and continued searching for his uniform as if nothing had happened. But Jill wasn’t going to let it go that easily. It laughed, a sound that made Zoe’s hair stand on end.
Jill hovered beside Zoe, blowing cold air into his ear and whispered, “What are you looking for? Tell me, and I’ll help you find it.”
Zoe didn’t respond or even glance at it; he just kept searching.
“Come on, I know you can see me and hear what I’m saying,” Jill coaxed. “I know where your uniform is. Talk to me, and I’ll tell you.”
Zoe turned on his heel and quickly left the room. Being haunted by a ghost was scarier than cleaning the bathroom for a week, you know?
Jill watched him leave, the smile fading from its face. It knew Zoe didn’t like it because it was a ghost. Jill floated sadly to the top of the wardrobe, where Zoe’s gym uniform lay. It didn’t know what to do; as a ghost, it couldn’t touch anything or pick anything up. Dejected, Jill went to find Zoe and saw him sitting alone by the pool in the gym. Jill joyfully floated over, circling around Zoe, but he didn’t move.
After a while, Jill sat down beside him, its ghostly voice soft and sad like a breeze. “I saw your gym uniform. It’s on top of the wardrobe in your room.”
Zoe immediately jumped up and ran back to his room without even looking at Jill. Jill watched him go, smiled, and then slowly drifted back toward the bathroom. Zoe found his uniform and wasn’t punished, feeling relieved, but he also remembered the dejected look on the ghost’s face when he ignored it. He felt a pang of guilt—what if the ghost just wanted to be his friend and meant no harm? After all, being a lost soul must be really lonely. This thought compelled Zoe to head to the bathroom to find Jill.
He opened the door and stepped inside. No one was there. Zoe called out, “Hello?”
Everything was silent except for the drip-drip of a leaky faucet. Zoe raised his voice a bit, “Hello, are you here?... I… I’m sorry for ignoring you.”
There was no reply. Zoe felt a bit disappointed and was about to leave when a voice came from behind him, “Aren’t you afraid of me?”
Zoe turned around to find Jill’s face right next to his, the ghost’s cold aura wrapping around him, making him feel like he was freezing. Zoe took a few steps back.
“Not really,” he said.
Hearing this, Jill’s mouth curved into a smile as it floated closer, almost touching Zoe’s face. “Really, you’re not afraid?”
“Yeah.” Zoe nodded, continuing to back away.
“Then can I be your friend?”
Zoe hesitated for a moment. Being friends with a ghost wasn’t so bad. At least Jill didn’t cause any trouble, and no one else could see him, except that it would be a bit annoying to have him talking in his ear all the time. But having someone to chat with might be fun.
Zoe looked into Jill’s transparent eyes, filled with the hope of his answer, and nodded. “Okay.”
Jill suddenly turned into a burst of transparent fireworks, joyfully exploding in front of Zoe. Zoe laughed, “Alright, I’ve got to get to class now.”
Jill stopped and reappeared in human form in front of Zoe. “You have gym class today. Watch out for Mr. Neala. He’s not only ugly but also has a bad temper. You’d better be careful.”
Zoe smiled at Jill before opening the door to leave, then peeked back in. “You… can stay in my room.”
After all, the bathroom wasn’t a great place to be—so unsanitary and smelly. With that, Zoe closed the door and hurried off to gym class. Jill started laughing, a joyful laugh like it had never experienced before, so loud that the students nearby shivered as they looked toward the bathroom, terrified.
Every night before going to bed, when Zoe saw Jill standing by the bed, he tried to stay calm. "What do you want?" Zoe whispered, but loud enough for Jill to hear.
Jill didn’t reply right away. The ghost just stood there, staring at Zoe with empty eyes. After a long while, she finally spoke, her voice hoarse as if coming from a distant place, "I have no one to play with."
Zoe sighed, feeling both pity and frustration. "You have no one? No one left in this world?"
Jill shook her head, her movements slow, as if she had forgotten how to express emotions. "No one sees me anymore. No one wants to talk to me. I’m lonely."
Zoe understood that feeling well. He had been lonely too, before meeting Jill, before having to live in this orphanage. But Zoe was still alive, while Jill was not. Zoe closed his eyes, trying not to think about it. "I don’t know what I can do for you, Jill."
Jill was silent for a moment, then said, "Just stay with me. Just talk to me."
Zoe looked at Jill again, then he sat up, turning to face the ghost. "Okay, I’ll talk to you. But you have to promise me one thing."
Jill looked at Zoe, tilting her head curiously. "What is it?"
Zoe tried not to tremble as he spoke, "You can’t scare or hurt anyone. If you promise that, I’ll talk to you."
Jill thought about it for a while, then nodded in agreement. "I promise."
Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he couldn’t escape Jill, and maybe he didn’t really want to. Jill might be a ghost, but she was still just a lonely child, just like Zoe.
From that night on, Zoe and Jill became friends. Every night, after everyone else had fallen asleep, Jill would appear by Zoe’s bed, and the two would whisper to each other in the dark. Zoe would tell Jill about the days when he still lived with his parents, about the little stories he could remember. Jill would listen, sometimes smiling, sometimes staying silent for a long time.
Zoe didn’t know how long Jill had been at the orphanage, but it must have been a very long time. Jill didn’t remember much about her past life, only fragmented memories, faint images of a house, a mother with a gentle face, and games played in the schoolyard. But no matter how faded her memories were, the loneliness clung to Jill, keeping her from moving on.
And Zoe, though he knew he was befriending a ghost, couldn’t leave Jill behind. In their stories, in their late-night conversations, he realized that he needed Jill just as much as Jill needed him. They were two lonely souls who found solace in each other, even though one was alive and the other was not.
As time went by, the bond between Zoe and Jill deepened.
Jill was no longer just a ghost standing by Zoe’s side, but a true friend, someone Zoe could share everything with. And Zoe realized that no matter how harsh the world might be, he still had Jill, and that was what mattered most.