It was a week after her passing. During that week, Joseph still had to go to school, and felt more depressed when there were a lot of students coming to him and saying their condolences to Emily. They were a rather popular couple after all.

Joseph could not handle so many people saying the exact same thing to him.

"I'm sorry for your loss."
"Let me know if you want a person to talk to."
"My condolences for Emily. She was a great friend and classmate."

Over and over again, he would hear the same sentences from different people.

After a day or so, he decided to ignore their concerns. They were just doing it out of pity, weren't they? He thought to himself. After all, they didn't know Emily as much as he did.

With that attitude of his, students also decided to let him be, and that spread to the entire cohort that they shouldn't bother Joseph for a while.

And just like that, Joseph is now alone. He didn't open up to anyone in school and now nobody wanted to talk with him because they thought he would ignore them again.

With all this happening around him, Joseph was more curious about something else.

When he got back to school after taking a day-off from school to calm down from his heartbreak, he saw an old classmate of his at the entrance of the classroom.

Even though there was a vase of flowers on her table, signifying her passing.

Lily. She was that quiet girl that is always alone in class. Joseph remembers how she always tried her best to get involved in different friend groups, but she couldn't fit into any one of them.

She bowed to the teacher to apologize to the teacher that she was late, but because she had a translucent body, which signifies that she was a ghost now, the teacher could not see her and continued on with his teaching. The students also did not notice her presence. They were all still minding their own business.

She had a sad expression on her face, likely due to the fact that she was ignored as per usual, and went to her seat.

Joseph was surprised. Was it because of Emily giving him the power to see ghosts now? Or was it another driving factor that allowed him to do so? He decided to observe her for a few more days to see if anyone else noticed her presence, and also her daily routine at school since he did not really notice Lily when Emily was still around.

It has been a week of him observing Lily. During breaks in between classes, Lily would try to join a group of girls and communicate with them, but to no avail. After being ignored for a while, she would just give up and go back to her seat depressed. At the end of school, she tried again, joining another group of girls that were hanging out with one another. Again, she would just get ignored and go home alone.

This was painful to see for Joseph. He wished that someone could at least notice her and talk to her when she was alive. That was when Emily's words resonated with him.

'Ghosts stay here with humans on Earth because they have yet to fulfil their final wishes.'

Maybe Lily was still here as a ghost because she greatly wished to hang out with friends.

He had to find out. He was going to ask Lily during lunch break. If he could even interact with her.

But first and foremost, listening in class was more important than that. He had no more study partner that would help him with his just average grades, after all.

Lunch break. It was time to find Lily. Strangely, she wasn't in class this time around. Joseph only saw a glimpse of Lily going out of the classroom, and decided to follow her, while gaining many weird glances and stares at him. This was his first time leaving the classroom during lunch break after the passing of Emily, after all.

Joseph followed Lily all the way up to the roof of the school building, where all the lonely people would be up there having their lunch instead.

She was staring towards the open field, while gripping onto the fence that prevented suicides from happening. She had a blank stare, the kind that showed her sadness. Her short hair that did not even reach her shoulders fluttered in the wind.

"Even after my suicide," she sulked to herself. Even though it was rather soft, Joseph could still hear her complaint. "I still can't make any friends. No one pitied me. They probably just 'felt bad' about the fact I died, and put that plastic flower vase there to show their so-called remorse."

Joseph, upon hearing this, was shocked. He knew about the suicide of Lily, but the reason was rather unknown. But now he realised that she did so so that perhaps her classmates would at least regret not being her friend. Still, it was an unwise decision to take her life away.

With a little bit of bravery, Joseph stepped forward. He tried to call out to her.

"L.. Lily?" He hesitated. He was afraid that someone would be there to see this unfold, where he was saying a dead person's name, talking to nobody. People would think he was delusional.

Thankfully, no one was at the roof as of now, so he could say her name without anyone judging him.

Upon hearing her name for the first time in a while, her eyes grew wide from surprise, and turned to the direction of the voice.

"You… you can… see me?" Lily was still surprised. Her voice was shaky, and she slowly trudged to where Joseph was.

She was overwhelmed with emotion when Joseph called out her name. She felt surprised that someone could actually see her, when the others couldn't. She felt ecstatic, that she was finally noticed by someone other than her awful mother. She felt happy that Joseph, her classmate who had a perfect girlfriend, was talking to an inferior self like her.

She tried to hold her tears back. "What… what do you need from me?" She asked.

"What do you wish for?" Joseph asked firmly. His gaze changed from a gaze full of shyness and anxiety, to a glare that gave her the feeling of support. Lily felt safe. Lily felt she could share anything with him. He was the only one that looked like he could have supported her life before.

Having such eye contact for a while, Lily looked down in embarrassment. There were so many things she wanted to wish for, that could possibly change her life.

She wanted money, so that she could afford the trendy items that could make her fit in with any group of friends. She wanted happiness, to herself and her mother, so that they could live the life they previously had before everything turned into chaos. She wanted to be the center of attention, so that she could feel noticed by others.

But out of all the many things she wanted in life, she just wished for…

"... A friend." It took her a while to answer, but she finally thought of what she wanted the most.

"I want a friend. A person I can share my stories with. A person that can accept me for who I am. I wish for a person that can do that. I've been so alone, you know?" The tears could not be held back any longer. Even though she was still looking down, Joseph knew that she was disappointed at herself, for not being able to socialize with others. He stayed silent while she continued talking about that perfect person that she wishes for. A friend of hers.

Joseph was concerned. He wanted to ask what happened to her that led her to end her life. But he let her rant a bit longer. After all, this was the first time he heard her voice.

This was the first time she could finally set her feelings, that were trapped in her heart, free.