The Wish

In the year 2010, seventeen-year-old Clay Miller was a senior at Samburg High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was tall, handsome, popular, and the quarterback of his school’s football team. He was a pretty friendly guy unless you had something he wanted. Anyway, ever since middle school, Clay wanted to be the quarterback and captain of his future High School football team. He achieved one of these goals. One would think that the quarterback would automatically become the captain, but that is not the case at SHS. Clay had all of the characteristics a captain needed, and he knew it. He also knew that Peter Abbott, Samburg High’s most liked kid, and the running back of the team would get more votes. This made Clay very upset.
            “How can they let a running-back be captain, man! Like that’s unheard of!” Clay shouted as he slams his locker room door.
            “I hate to say it, but you should have seen it coming. I mean, Peter is the most liked person in the school and…”
“It shouldn’t matter Chris! That kid probably doesn’t even know his left from his right. How do they expect him to lead our whole team? They know that I’m more qualified, the coaches shouldn’t allow this! Ugh! I wish that kid would just leave and never come back.”
            “All right dude, take it easy,” said Chris, Clay’s best friend since 7th grade, “Let’s get out of here. I heard there’s going to be a huge storm and I kind of don’t want to get stuck in traffic.”
Clay and Chris continued conversing through the halls, all the while, Clay had an eerie feeling. A feeling of being watched.
They eventually went their separate ways, as they were parked on different sides of the parking lot. It was cold and windy as Clay struggled to walk towards his car. He was regretting the fact that he decided to hold all of his school books instead of putting them in his backpack. The cold was slowly taking the exhausted Clay’s strength. A few steps away from his car, he finally succumbed to the weather and managed to trip over his own feet; his books went down with him.
As the fed-up Clay gathered his scattered books, something in the back of his mind told him to turn around, so he did.
“Stinks doesn’t it.” says a figure standing in the distance.
“What? Who are you?” says the perplexed Clay
“The name’s Robbie, Robbie Davis”. The figure steps forward just enough for Clay to get a good look at him. He was tall, had a muscular build and looked about the same age as Clay. He was wearing a red and white jacket with the letter “R” standing by itself. He also had jeans, and white shoes on. His face looked like he had been very exhausted. His eyes almost looked sunken in.
“I haven’t seen you around here before Robbie. My name is Clay,” he said as he reached out his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Clay. Sorry, uh, I’m going to take a raincheck on the handshake. I don’t like to touch other people.”
“...Okay?”. Creeped out by the stranger’s weird attitude, Clay started making his way back to his car.
“You deserve it, Clay. You know, the spot as team captain”. There was a long pause; complete silence. Clay turned to the Robbie.
“How di-...how did you know that?”
“Not important. What is important, is that you get what you deserve. The running back? Pfft! That’s ridiculous. What they need, is the quarterback even if they like it or not”. Clay liked the way Robbie thought but was still very curious as to how he knew what his situation was at the moment.
“Do you go to school here or something? How did you know all of this?”
“I used to go here. Let’s just say I’m… visiting. Anyways, news travels fast around here, that’s how I knew.”
“Okay, but what-what do you want.” asked the anxious Clay.
“I want to help you, buddy. I want to help the team. They need you as captain. Trust me, man, I can help you. But only if you agree to help me in return.”
“Good luck with trying to talk those coaches out of it. They are obsessed with that kid,” Clay laughs, “Dude, I’d do anything for you if you can make me captain.”
“So, it's a deal?”
“It’s a deal”. Clay turned around to open his car door, and by the time he turned around again to ask one last question, Robbie was gone.

The next morning…
            “CLAY!” shouted the infuriated Chris from across the school parking lot.
            “Hey, what’s up.”
            “Don’t, Hey what’s up me! What did you do to him?”
            “Hey! Slow down. Please tell me what you’re going on about, Chris.”
            “Don’t act like you don’t know. Everyone’s talking about him and they all think you did it!”
            “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?”
            “PETER! I’m talking about Peter and how he mysteriously got into a car crash, how he’s paralyzed from the waist down, and how his injuries can be fatal!”
            “What! No, this isn’t what I wanted.” mumbled Clay.
            “What did you say?”
            “Uh, nothing, I- I have to go”. Clay ran away from his friend and didn’t look back.
            As he walked through the halls, he didn’t have to look behind to know that all eyes were on him. He was the last one to make it to his first-class period. He sat down at his desk.
            “Alright kids, before we start today’s lesson, the principal told all of us teachers to make an announcement,” said the teacher tearing up, “Our beloved Peter James Abbott passed away this morning due to his injuries”. Immediately, girls and boys started bursting into tears. Some boys started accusing Clay of the heinous crime to the point where he had had enough.
            “May I, uh, go to the bathroom?” asked the enraged Clay holding back his angry tears. Of course he did not have to go to the bathroom. He was going home. He packed up his things and left the room.
            He walked through the halls punching and kicking lockers. He was thinking about how his life was over and how much everyone hated him. How it was all because of Robbie. When he neared the trophy case, his anger got the best of him and he punched it, shattering all of the glass. But something in it made Clay stop in his tracks. It was a picture of Robbie with a plaque next to it that read:
 
Robbie Davis, 1958-1975
Samburg High School’s best quarterback, gone but never forgotten.
 
Clay was left in shock. He pulled out his phone and searched the name Robbie Davis. Turns out, Robbie was the quarterback and captain of SHS back in 1975. One night, though, after they lost a game, one of his enraged teammates cornered him and stabbed him in the chest. Robbie died instantly. When the suspect was questioned, he simply replied “He wasn’t fit to be a captain”. Clay then realized that the person he had a conversation with the night before, was not even alive, but was a ghost. He needed to go find Robbie and fast. He ran out to the parking lot and went to where he last saw Robbie.
            “ROBBIE! Show yourself! We need to talk!”
            “Hey buddy! How’s it going?” said Robbie after he appeared behind Clay.
            “Don’t ‘hey buddy’ me! You killed him! You killed Peter!” shouted the raging Clay.
            “Um, yeah, I know. Isn’t that what you wanted?” Robbie laughs as if everything is merely a joke, which made Clay really mad. Clay swings his right arm and tries to throw a punch at Robbie. Before he knew it, Robbie was standing right next to him.
            “No touching, remember. You couldn’t touch me even if you tried. Why are you so mad, anyway? I got you what you wanted. You’re the captain now.”
            “I didn’t say to kill him!”
            “Hmmm... I wish that boy would leave and never come back. Sound familiar?”
            “I! Didn’t! Say! KILL HIM!”
            “Whatever man. Anyway, guess what? It’s my turn! Remember our deal?”
            “Forget the deal! The deal is off! Why would I help a ghost that ruined my life? Because of you, everyone thinks I’m crazy! Stay away from me! I never want to see you again!”.
“Suit yourself! I guess we’re doing it the hard way now!”
Clay got into his car, put on his seatbelt, and drove off. He came to a red light at an intersection, but his brakes suddenly jammed. Clay lost control of the car and was hit by an oncoming semi-truck. He died instantly.

Shortly after, Clay’s ghost left his body, only to see a bunch of policemen and ambulances surrounding the area. The paramedics were trying to revive his corpse.
“Come on! Please! Save me!” Clay shouted.
“We lost the pulse. He’s gone.” said one paramedic. Clay began to cry hysterically.
“Don’t worry Clay,” says Robbie, patting Clay on the back, “At least one of us will live!”
“What do you mean? Thanks to you, we’re both dead!”
“Not for long”. Robbie began to approach Clay’s dead body.
“We had a deal. Thanks for giving me life again buddy!” said Robbie before he stepped into Clay’s body.
“WAIT! We have a pulse! It’s a miracle! He’s alive!” exclaimed the paramedic.
Clay know realized why Robbie wanted to ‘help’ him so badly. Before Robbie was murdered, he was a quarterback and captain. So is Clay now. Clay truly did give Robbie his life back.
THE END