I stop when I realize that Vimlesh has already vanished as stealthily as he appeared.
“Who are you talking to, Oliver?” Caleb asks as he and Theo reenter the room.
I glance wildly around the room, exaggerating my confusion for the bit. “Guys, I think one of our roommates might be a ghost,” I whisper loudly.
Theo rolls his eyes. “Is that so?”
“He was just here. Didn’t you see him?”
“Must have missed him.”
“I swear! He was standing right next to me, and then, poof! He disappeared!”
“Whatever you say, dude,” Caleb says, plopping down on the rather dingy-looking sofa that came with the dorm. “Do y’all want to order pizza or something?”
“Way ahead of you,” Theo replies, phone in hand as he settles into Caleb’s arms on the couch.
“Should I go ask the ghost if he wants some, too?” I ask, taking a step toward Vimlesh’s door.
Caleb peeks up at me with a puzzled expression. “Wait, really?”
I gently tap on the door of bedroom B. “Hey, Vimlesh, we’re going to order some pizza. Do you want some?”
No answer. I wait for a beat, then clear my throat to speak a little louder.
“Or we could order something else if you’re not a pizza guy.”
Silence. I lean closer.
“Vimlesh?”
“No, thank you,” Vimlesh’s muffled voice finally answers. “I will eat later.”
“Cool, okay.”
I step back into the living room, where Theo and Caleb watch expectantly. I shrug. “Guess not.”
Caleb frowns, but Theo’s shoulders also rise and fall casually. “It’s cool. We can meet him some other time.”
“Unless Oliver’s still fucking with us and no one’s even in there,” Caleb says softly, a cheeky grin creeping across his light features. “I didn’t hear anything, did you?”
Theo snickers. “No, not really.”
“I guess we’ll never know,” I whisper with a smirk. “Now let’s order that pizza. I’m fucking starving.”
“Can I ask you a serious question?”
My heart immediately sinks to the pit of my stomach. I glance over at Theo, only to find that his gaze is still trained on the TV screen where our game ofSuper Smash Bros.is paused as we wait for Caleb to return from the bathroom.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” I answer evenly as I also turn my focus back on the TV. Theo knows how I feel about serious questions. I’m surprised he even asked.
“Oh, come on,” Theo presses. “It’s not like…superserious.”
I chew on my bottom lip. “Only if I can reserve the right not to answer,” I reply.
“That’s fair,” Theo says.
“Okay, fine. Shoot.”
