Her eyes opened only to be greeted by the darkness of her room. They immediately went to the red lights sitting on her bedside table. ‘2:19’ the clock read. She sighed in frustration. Ever since she moved into this new apartment, she has been waking up before the Sun could even rise. She thought it was because of stress from college but lately she has realized that it was something else, but what? She couldn’t figure it out herself.

She slowly sat up and let a small yawn. She wanted to sleep but there was no use in trying; she learned this from her previous nights. She blindly made her way out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. As she leaned against the counter, drinking her tea from the afternoon, she thought about the events that happened during the day. Exams, lectures, projects, and homework. Nothing exciting ever happened in her life as a student. After high school, she thought life was going to be easier. That all changed when she entered college. She saw that she had to work ten times harder than she did in high school. She always thought about giving up but something in her made her stay.

After putting her cup into the sink, she headed back to her room.

In the middle of the small hallway, she suddenly felt like something was off. She the lights and looked around. Nothing looked out of place. It looked normal like always. Scanning the hallway one more time she finally noticed something. It was the photo hanging on the wall. Something was missing from it, something very important. She looked at the black and white photo carefully. Then it finally hit her.

The person in the photo wasn’t there anymore.

The young man standing in front of the old, abandoned buildings wasn’t there anymore. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing right, although her vision was as clear as daylight. The person wasn’t there anymore. She was certain that he was there before.

How was it possible for something from a picture to just disappear? She shook her head.

“You’re just tired,” she told herself and turned off the hallway lights.

She eventually shook it off and let her mind wandered to elsewhere. She lied in her bed staring emptily at the ceiling like every night.

Little did she know there was someone in the same room as her.

-

He lied next to her, watching her chest rise and fall at each breath, admiring her ordinary but beautiful profile. He just wanted to trace her nose and wrap her hair around his fingers. He just wanted to feel her skin against his.

His hand reached out to feel her skin under his fingertips until she shifted in her spot. Her back was now facing him. He let out a small sigh and scowled himself. What was he trying to do? No matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to touch another human being. His touch would only feel like a breeze passing by.

He gave up and carefully got off her bed, making sure he didn’t disturb her. As he walked towards the door he accidently bumped into a chair. The chair screeched as it slid a few inches across the floor. Her ears perked up at the sound.

“Who’s there?” she immediately asked, aware of her surroundings. He stood still so no more sound would be made.

After receiving no response, she slowly sat up and looked around the dark room. Once again, there was nothing.

“I’m just hearing things,” she told herself and lied back down. She closed her eyes and forced herself to sleep. He let go of the breath that he had unconsciously held. He waited a few minutes then left her room.

Before returning to the photo, he flipped through a nearby calendar. He only had three months left to make her fall in love with him. If she didn’t love him by the end of the four months then he would be stuck in the photo forever.

He was about to step back into the photo when something stopped him. Something deep inside of him was urging him to speak up. He slowly walked back to her doorway and peeked through the door which was left ajar. He wanted to do something but at the same time he didn’t want to startle her with his sudden appearance. Although she couldn’t see him, she could hear his voice.

The side urging him to reveal himself eventually won.

He picked up all his courage and whispered something. It was very quiet but loud enough to notice. She moved a little upon hearing his voice.

She thought his whisper was just a figment of her imagination.

“It’s me,” he said a bit louder. Her eyes shot open. She looked around while lying down. She saw no one so she sat up and scanned the rest of her room. To her relief, there was no one, at least that she could see.

He walked into her room feeling a little more confident. His action caused the door to move. She saw the door opening but not the person who did it. She started to feel panic creep up inside of her.

“I’m going to scream if you don’t leave,” she threatened, trying to sound intimidating but failed.

He exhaled loudly. “Don’t. Please,” he begged. His eardrums were still sensitive due to his last encounter. The last girl’s scream almost made him lose his hearing. She didn't know why but she obeyed.

“How did you get into my room?” she asked, breaking the silence. Her eyes looked towards the window only to find it shut closed.

“I’ve been here since forever,” he answered, “Before you even moved into this place.”

“Where are you?” she reached over to her lamp. With a click, her lamp illuminated the entire room. She looked around to find the owner of the voice but to her dismay, no other human was in the room, aside from her.

“You can’t see me,” he said. “You can only hear me.” She frowned.

“Why?” she asked.

That was how their first night went. She asked many questions and he answered all of them. He didn’t need to ask her much because he already knew a lot about her. He was willing to tell her everything she wanted to hear. Although he shared many things about him there was one thing he wasn’t allowed to share: his reason for being here.

--

As the days passed by, she learned more about him and felt more comfortable around him. He tidied up her apartment while she was at school and he helped her fall asleep at night. She rarely woke up in the middle of the night, but when she did, his soothing voice rocked her back to sleep. She got used to his presence and no longer thought of him a ghost.

She didn’t tell her friends about him because she knew that they would accuse her of being crazy, or say he was purely part of her imagination. Even though she couldn’t see him or touch him, she knew he was still human.

He started to have hope.