Perception

The school bell tolls the beginning of the day. My eyes flick open as the light of the Sun blinds me. Tucked away in the corner of the classroom looking out at the chaos of the rest of the class I think about the long boring day ahead. The rest of the class didn't seem to care, they went on about their business- chatting, joking, reading. Our teacher then strode into the room and the chaos momentarily rose as people rushed back to their seats.

"Good morning everyone," he said as he scanned through the empty chairs. "Is anyone not here?" he asked.
"Jason needed to go out of town, Susan has a fever and Sam is still unaccounted for." Melinda, the class representative, announced.
"Still? What happened to him? Does anyone know?"
"No sir," Manas, one of my friends, replied, "he thanks me for sending the class notes each week, but that's about all I know about his situation."
"Is that so? Hmm. Well... if he's keeping up to date with the classwork then let's keep at it as well, shall we?"
"Yes, let's." I said to myself.

The day goes on without incident, except for a little scuffle between two of the students, immediately broken up by Melinda. She knows exactly how to take control of a situation.

The bus ride home is also quiet, save for the general cacophony of a bus plying through a busy part of the city. At my stop I hastily get off before anyone else did and begin my walk back home.

I checked my phone. 8 messages, from five different people all demanding what I was up to. Well at least they still cared, they can just be a little less hostile about it. Then a sound caught my ear, a slow whooshing sound. My eyes widened as I leaped aside.

He didn't even slow down, he kept going on his merry way. I guess I can't blame him. I remained sitting on the curb for a moment wondering if I really should have panicked as much as I did or if I should have done anything at all.

"I'm back," I wearily said entering the house.
"Welcome back," my mom cheerfully said. "How was school?"
"Ehh, same old, same old," I replied. "Somebody almost ran me over again..."
My mom spun around, "Be more careful would you?" she said with an air of concern, anger and matter-of-factness.
"Yeah, yeah," I said with an air of disregard.
"Hey," my mom called out with a soft voice, "are you sure you want to keep doing this?"
"Don't worry about me mom, I'll be fine," I said with a smile, although I could tell she could see right through my hollow eyes.

I haven't introduced myself have I? May as well, maybe you'll be one of the few people who will remember. My name is Samuel Connors. It's a little more complicated than that, but for all intents and purposes, I am a ghost.