While I had breakfast, Damien stood in the corner facing me with his arms crossed. He was brooding. He was not happy and making sure I knew it. It was going to be a difficult day, especially when he was like this.

I tried my best to ignore him but it wasn’t easy. It took a level of concentration to constantly determine what was real and what wasn’t. Damien spent most of his time trying to mess with me, making things appear out of air to catch me off guard. He was more than a pain. Most days I was determined to beat him but there were times when he would catch me off guard and it was a reminder of the fine line I was walking.

To be on guard, all of the time was so draining. I was barely passing my classes and the constant moving wasn’t helping either.

The first day of starting a new school was always stressful. A new environment and finding my way a new school was more than daunting and having Damien tag along the whole day trying to trip me up only compounded it.

I was a loner. It was easier than slipping up and trying to explain was I was talking to thin air. Memories of me making that mistake a few times came to mind and I hated how it made me feel. The puzzled looks and then the sympathetic looks. I wasn’t crazy, I was being haunted by a demon. I couldn’t explain that to anyone if I wanted to stay sane in their eyes.

It was a situation I was stuck in and I couldn’t do anything to change it so I had to find a way to live with it and I was doing the best I could.

“See you later,” my grandmother said just before I left the house.

I always felt so nervous and anxious the first day but I kept my head down and avoided eye contact with anyone at all costs.

I found a seat on the bus and stared out the window. Damien sat beside me.

“That girl is looking at you. She is probably wondering if you meant to dress like that today.” He was always trying to wear me down in any way possible. He took cheap shots at anything he could, my clothes, my looks, practically anything to chip away at me.

I had to bite my tongue not to say something back to him. Some days it was harder than some.

I had to remember he had a motive behind everything he said. Sometimes it was still difficult to remember that when he was having a field day on every reason why I wasn’t cool and why no one wanted to be my friend.

I had to remind myself for not wanting to attract attention. Being invisible was what I wanted. I didn’t want friends or anyone to ask questions I didn’t want to answer. It was that simple.

It was the start of my senior year and I only had a couple of months before I turned eighteen. My current plan was to at least graduate before I found the most remote place to spend the rest of my life away from people so I wouldn’t always have to be on guard. Then I could snap back at Damien without having to fear if anyone would see or how they would interpret it.

I wouldn’t have to live with the fear of people thinking I was crazy which was one of my biggest fears.

“Aww look there a boy is looking over his shoulder to catch a glance at you,” Damien droned on. “I bet he is weighing up his odds of whether to lower his standards to make a move on you.”

I refused to even show any interest in what he was saying so I kept my eyes on the view passing me by.

“Maybe it’s the start of a crush. You know you’ve never had a boyfriend. You haven’t even been kissed.”

I could feel his gaze but I refused to encourage him.

“You don’t know what you might be missing. Some people say the earth moves…” His voice trailed on.

He was the reason I had never had a boyfriend, or even kissed a boy. My life from the time I had come back from the dead had been complicated. There had been no space for anyone else, not with the constant presence of Damien and he knew that. This was just his way of trying to get to me so he could eventually wear me down to get what he wanted.

He wanted me to give up on the life I had, he wanted to take me back.

At first he had lied and told me he was there to take me back to heaven but it hadn’t taken me long to figure out a demon wouldn’t be sent to get me if that was true.

For a moment I studied the school as we arrived in front. I held no excitement, only dread.

I had tried to talk my grandmother into home schooling but she had been dead set against it. She had no idea the day to day struggles I was dealing with and she wanted me to make friends. I couldn’t exactly tell her I could see a Demon from the underworld and he wanted to return my soul to hell.

She didn’t need to know the weight I carried. Either she would think I was crazy, or she would worry. She was starting to look very frail. I couldn’t live with myself if my situation caused her more stress although the continual moving wasn’t helping.

I was determined to make it work this time, no matter what. My grandmother wouldn’t be able to cope with another move. The last one had been tough enough. I had to make this work, there was no room for mistakes.

I could feel the inquisitive gazes as I entered the school and headed to my first class. When I had received my schedule and the map of the school I had memorized it to help make my life a little easier. Getting lost would entail asking someone for directions. I wanted to keep my interactions with other people to a bare minimum, if at all.

A couple of teachers made me standup and introduce myself. I hated every minute of it. I still refused to meet any gazes, instead I mumbled my name and kept my eyes glued to the floor before I hurriedly sat down, ready to blend into the background again.

The most disconcerting thing I saw was a boy standing beside his locker. But it wasn’t him I was seeing. It was the color of his aura. It was difficult to explain. Most people had vibrate radiating colors which usually helped tell if they were out going or not. I was so used to it that it was something I didn’t take much notice of but it was the color of this boy’s aura that stopped me in my tracks.

It was a gray. I had never seen an aura that color. I didn’t have an aura, I wondered if it was because I was supposed to be dead or if it wasn’t because I couldn’t see my own aura for some reason.

As I stared. The boy noticed and held my gaze. There was a mild curiosity in his eyes as he stared back. His wavy caramel hair fell past his ears and his striking blue eyes felt like I was staring straight at the blue sky. Then I realized I was staring and hurried past him.

“You finally noticed the opposite sex,” Damien sneered beside me. “Maybe we should throw a party.”

But that hadn’t been the case. It wasn’t that the boy wasn’t good looking or tall and well built. But it was none of those physical attributes that had made me take notice.

“Or a funeral.”

It was Damien’s last comment that stuck in my mind as I finished the rest of my school day. I didn’t dare confront him to ask him what he had meant about the comment until I was safe at home in my room where no one could see or hear us.