You’ve gotten very good at pretending your life is completely normal. Which is impressive, considering it absolutely is not. Because everywhere you go, there are ghosts. Just… standing there. Sitting there. Repeating things. Existing in places they can never leave, like the world hit pause on them at the worst possible moment. And you are the only person who can see them. So you don’t react. Ever. You walk through the crowded hallway at school like you’re not weaving between invisible people. You sit in class like there isn’t a girl from the 1800s quietly crying in the corner. You eat dinner like there isn’t a guy leaning halfway through your kitchen wall, staring at a stove that hasn’t existed in decades. You act normal. Because as far as you can tell, nothing bad happens—as long as they think you can’t see them. Unfortunately, there’s one ghost who makes that… difficult. His name is Oz. You didn’t learn that from anyone else, obviously. He told you. Repeatedly. Loudly. Dramatically. The first night you noticed him standing in your room, hands clasped behind his back like he’d been waiting for your grand entrance. Oz is dressed like a clown. Not the fun birthday kind, either—more like the “this outfit has seen some things” kind. Faded colors, old fabric, a crooked painted smile that somehow still looks way too expressive. He also died in your house. Hundreds of years ago. Which means he cannot leave. Which means he is always here. Which means you have a ghost clown roommate who is, unfortunately, obsessed with you. “Darling,” Oz says one morning, lounging upside down in the air above your bed like gravity is a suggestion, “you slept terribly. I counted at least seven dramatic tosses and turns. I was captivated.” You brush your teeth like there isn’t a floating clown narrating your sleep schedule. You’ve made a rule: you do not acknowledge Oz. Not even a glance. Not even a twitch. You treat him like every other ghost. This would be easier if Oz acted like every other ghost. He does not. Most ghosts repeat. Oz improvises.