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His eyes fluttered open, the rays of light piercing through his closed eyelids. He was lying on something hard and warm, the warmth feeling exquisite, but the hardness was a pain. He pushed himself up from where he laid, realizing that he was in the middle of a basketball courts.

“What the…” he muttered, standing up and looking around, finding no one in sight. He turned in a complete circle, seeing no sign of life, no birds, no bugs, nothing.

“Heads up.” a voice suddenly said.

He turned towards the source of the voice, only to have a basketball chucked at his chest. It was tossed at him quite gently, so he was able to catch it within his arms. He continued to stare at the basketball he had in his arms, but when he looked up, he saw Aaron standing there, smiling at him.

“What’s the matter?” Aaron had asked him, his smile beaming through. “Getting too old for basketball?”

Brian had let the basketball drop from his arms, staring at Aaron with wide eyes. “Aaron?”

Aaron walked towards him, bending down to pick up the basketball. “In the flesh… what’s wrong Brian? You’re looking a little pale, you okay?”

“But, but…” Brian began to stutter. “You’re dead!”

Aaron chuckled, “Well, thanks for reminding me! You know, people perceive ghost totally wrong. I remember I used to think that ghost were nothing but evil spirits that would linger in your closet or under your bed, and they would pop out and scare you by saying ‘boo’! But that’s not the case at all. I mean, look at me!”

“Why do you keep doing this to me?” Brian had asked him. “Why am I the only one who can see you, and you only show up when they bring up the fact that we should tell Nick about your death. Nick gave me a damn heart attack because he mentioned your name, do you enjoying doing this to me?”

The bright smile fell from Aaron’s face, and was replaced with a stern look. “No Brian, I don’t enjoy causing you pain. I don’t mean to scare the hell out of you when you see me. It wasn’t Nick who gave you a heart attack… it was yourself. He thinks I’m still alive, and he can’t help it if he’s own best friend won’t even tell him that I’m gone.”

Brian shook his head, “I can’t do that… I can’t tell him right now. You don’t understand Aaron; he’s not strong enough to bear with the fact that you’re dead. You of all people should know how Nick is. I will tell him when the time is right; he’s just not that strong right now.”

Aaron just stared at him, but then turned to look away. He tossed the basketball to the side and walked over towards a bench, sitting down on it and stretching himself out. “Funny… when you went into cardiac arrest, Nick was strong enough to get up and try to help you. He even ran out of the room to look for help. Nick is stronger than you think he is. He’s your best friend Brian, he didn’t care about himself at that moment, all he cared about was helping you. Why won’t you be his best friend and tell him the truth? I don’t think it’s the fact that Nick isn’t strong enough to know, I think you’re not strong enough to tell him.”

Brian remained silent, he was right. Aaron continued, “If you wait any longer to tell him, you will lose him.”

Brian looked up at him. “What do you mean I’d lose him?”

“What do you think it means?”

He rose up from the bench, bending over to grab the basketball he had tossed to the side earlier. “So, are you up for a little one-on-one?”

Brian smiled for the first time. “You know it!”