Bertholdt
Reiner was at a loss for words. It had to be a prank! Or he was hallucinating! Maybe he inhaled some kind of mold at that house? Reiner closed his eyes and grabbed the glass of water from his nightstand and dumped it on his face. He kept his eyes closed for a while and hoped that when he opened them, he would be gone. Reiner slowly opened his eyes to see that the taller boy was now sitting at the end of his bed, giving him a concerned look.
“Are you ok?” He quietly asked.
Reiner shook his head.
“No! No I’m not ok! Who are you and how the hell did you get into my house?!” Reiner snapped.
The boy’s brows furrowed.
“I’m Bertholdt Hoover… And you invited me here!” He replied.
“Invited you?? When did I do that!” Reiner asked.
Bertholdt looked irritated.
“When you walked into my room, uninvited, started insulting me, and told me to hitch a ride back home with you!” Bertholdt snapped back.
Reiner remembered that. Maybe he was being a little too harsh. Reiner decided to go out on a limb. There was no way this guy was the real Bertholdt Hoover. He had to be an actor. So he decided to run a little test. Reiner inched his way over to the boy next to him and extended his hand. Bertholdt just stared at it and gave a breathy laugh before extending his own hand. Reiner reached out to grab it only to grab air. Reiner looked down to see his hand had gone straight through Bertholdt’s hand.
Well.
That’s a little hard to fake.
Reiner decided to see if his hand would go through anything else. Reiner pulled his hand back and aimed to slap Bertholdt’s face. Hard.
Again, his hand went right through and hit his wall with a bang. Bertholdt just gave him a disapproving look. Reiner tried punching him in the chest. Went through again. For another twenty minutes, Reiner tried to land a blow on Bertholdt, who only sat there acting bored.
“So first you invade my personal space and then try to assault me? Rude.” Bertholdt huffed as Reiner’s fist went through his head.
“Could you just stop?” Bertholdt scowled while staring Reiner dead in the eye. Forest green rivaling bright amber.
“The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again, expecting different results. Which is what you’ve been doing for the past twenty minutes!” Bertholdt snapped.
Reiner stared at him for a minute before waving his arm through Bertholdt’s chest.
“I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t keep putting your hands through my body.” Bertholdt groaned as he stared up at the ceiling. Reiner pulled his arm back and had a staring match with him for a second. “So… you’re actually dead?” Reiner asked.
“What do you think, genius?” Bertholdt scoffed.
“I’m guessing yes?”
“That is correct.” Bertholdt said with a smug smile.
“So how do I get you to go away?” Reiner asked.
Bertholdt snorted. “You really got straight to the point!”
“Don’t get me wrong, you’re an absolute joy to be around, but the feeling is mutual.” Bertholdt said.
“Well, at least we’re being honest with each other.” Reiner replied.
Reiner ran his fingers through his hair.
“Look. I’m going to go to sleep and pray that you’re gone when I wake up.” Reiner said
“And what if I’m not?” Bertholdt asked with his arms crossed.
“I have an idea if it gets that far.” Reiner said as he buried his head under his pillow.
After he fell asleep he didn’t hear the quiet sobbing from the end of his bed