I Want Some Pizza
Eventually, they had to stop for food.
“Here!” declared Vivi, stopping at a Cici’s pizza.
“Huh, wonder if they have seafood,” wondered Arthur.
Vivi turned back to look at Lewis and Mystery. “Would you mind feeding Mystery?”
Lewis nodded. “Sure, it’s no problem. Would you mind putting on some sort of music before you leave?”
“Sure.” Arthur fiddled with his computer and put on one of his Indie tracks. “There we go.”
“We’ll try not to take too long,” said Vivi as the two living humans got out of the van.
“No need to hurry on my account,” said Lewis. “I want to do some thinking anyway.”
That was good enough, and Vivi and Arthur walked into the restaurant.
Once they’d gotten some food (an obscene amount in Vivi’s case) and found a table, Vivi decided to ask Arthur something important. “So what do you think of the ghost?”
Arthur blinked. “Uh, I, uh, I guess he’s okay. We only met him yesterday. He acts more or less like a normal person though, which is nice.”
Vivi nodded between bites. “Yeah, I can’t say for sure since we didn’t know him, but I think that he’s acting the same as he did when he was alive.”
Arthur frowned. “It’s just…He acted like he knew us, but he doesn’t really seem familiar. Did he seem familiar to you at all?”
Vivi shook her head. “Nope.” She grinned at Arthur. “Maybe he had a crush on one of us in high school.”
Arthur blushed. “I, uh, maybe.” He huffed in frustration. “I wouldn’t be the best person to notice that sort of thing.”
“Yeah, you’re really oblivious with flirting,” agreed Vivi. “Oh! Maybe your uncle or my parents know something!”
“Well, maybe if he had to have his car looked at,” admitted Arthur.
Since Vivi was busy eating her huge meal, it was up to him to check this potential lead. He took out his cellphone and hit his uncle’s contact information.
It took a few minutes for Lance to pick up, but considering how busy he was, it wasn’t surprising. “Hey Arthur? You two okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. Great. Actually, came across a ghost last night.”
“…What kind of ghost?” questioned Lance.
“A surprisingly friendly ghost,” admitted Arthur. “He acted like he knew us, but neither of us recognized him.”
Lance was silent for a moment. “And what did this ghost look like?”
“Uh, good question. He’s got a floating skull with no jaw…or face. The rest looks…normal-ish. He tried doing some sort of glamour to show us what he used to look like, but he seems to be under some sort of curse that makes his glamours all…pixelated-smoky-distorted-unpleasant to look at. He tried telling us his name, but it made us pass out for some reason. Really the only definitive things I can tell you about his appearance is that he’s like seven feet tall, really muscular, and has an actual pompadour.”
“And he can cook,” added Vivi.
“Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me,” said Arthur. “And he said he was a professional chef…and went to our high school. Does it ring a bell?”
Lance was silent for a moment. “No.”
“Huh. Weird…” Arthur thought for a moment. This meant the ghost was either lying or the curse was affecting the whole town, possibly others. “Think you could ask around and see if anyone recognizes him?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, thanks. Talk to you soon.” Arthur hung up. “Lance doesn’t know him.”
Vivi swallowed. “Okay, I’ll call my dad once we’re back on the road. Maybe he knows something.”