My Roommate is a Ghost… and She Won’t Pay Rent! - When Your Ghost Becomes Your Worst Life Coach - Part 5
The next morning…
Raghav woke up to a strange sight.
Meera… was serious.
Not sarcastic.
Not dramatic.
Just… focused.
He got scared.
“Why are you like this?” he asked.
“I’ve decided something,” she said.
“That already sounds dangerous.”
She stood up.
Floating with purpose.
“I’m going to fix your life.”
Raghav blinked.
“My life was fine.”
“You had a conversation with a ceiling fan.”
“…He listens.”
Meera ignored him.
“Step 1: You need confidence.”
“I have confidence.”
“You apologize to furniture when you bump into it.”
“…They deserve respect.”
She dragged him to the mirror.
“Smile.”
He smiled.
It looked like a passport photo taken under pressure.
“No,” she said. “Less ‘tax audit’, more ‘human being’.”
“Again.”
He smiled again.
Now he looked like he knew a secret… about crime.
“Why do you look suspicious?” she asked.
“I don’t KNOW!”
Meera sighed.
“This is worse than being dead.”
Step 2.
“Talk to people.”
“I talk to people.”
“You argued with a delivery guy about exact change for 7 minutes.”
“It was principle!”
“It was ₹3!”
She pushed him toward the door.
“Go outside.”
“Why?”
“Practice.”
“Practice what?”
“Being normal.”
Raghav stepped out.
Slowly.
Like he was entering a battlefield.
Outside…
a neighbor stood nearby.
Perfect target.
Meera floated behind him.
“Go. Say hi.”
Raghav nodded.
Walked up.
Opened his mouth.
“Hi…”
The neighbor smiled.
“Hi!”
Silence.
Long silence.
Very long silence.
Meera whispered:
“Say something else!”
Raghav panicked.
“Nice… oxygen.”
The neighbor blinked.
“…What?”
Meera facepalmed.
“WHY would you say that?!”
“I panicked!”
“You complimented AIR!”
Raghav walked back.
Defeated.
“I tried.”
“You failed,” she said honestly.
Back inside…
He collapsed on the sofa.
“I’m not made for this.”
Meera sat beside him.
“You are. You’re just… under-updated.”
“I’m not an app!”
“You definitely need a patch.”
Step 3.
“Dating.”
“NO.”
“Yes.”
“NO.”
“YES.”
“I’M TALKING TO A GHOST!”
“Exactly. You need options.”
She opened his phone.
“How do you unlock this?”
“Face ID.”
She stared at it.
Phone didn’t open.
“Rude,” she said.
Raghav snatched it back.
“You’re not making a profile.”
Too late.
Meera had already typed.
Bio:
“Hi, I am Raghav. I am alive. Currently.”
“DELETE THAT!”
“It’s honest.”
“It’s WEIRD!”
“You’re weird.”
Later that evening…
His phone pinged.
A match.
Raghav froze.
“No way.”
Meera jumped.
“I KNEW IT! My coaching works!”
He read the message.
“Hi :)”
Simple.
Normal.
Terrifying.
“Reply,” Meera whispered.
“I can’t.”
“DO IT.”
Raghav typed.
Deleted.
Typed again.
Deleted again.
Sweating like he was defusing a bomb.
Meera grabbed imaginary popcorn.
“This is better than movies.”
Finally…
He sent:
“Hi :)”
They both stared at the screen.
Waiting.
Breathing stopped.
Life paused.
Reply came instantly:
“Do you always reply this fast?”
Raghav panicked.
“What do I say?!”
Meera leaned in.
“Say: ‘Only for special people.’”
Raghav typed it.
Sent it.
Paused.
Meera smiled proudly.
“Smooth.”
Raghav nodded.
“Smooth.”
Next message came:
“Wow. That was fast. Copy-paste?”
Silence.
Raghav slowly turned.
“…I hate you.”
Meera grinned.
“You’re welcome.”
That night…
Raghav sat quietly.
Thinking.
Processing.
Trying.
Meera sat beside him.
Also quiet.
For once.
“…Why are you helping me?” he asked.
She shrugged.
“Because you need help.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She looked at him.
Softly.
“…Because I don’t want you to end up like me.”
Raghav frowned.
“Like you?”
She smiled.
But this time…
it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Alone… even after everything is over.”
Silence.
A different kind.
Then suddenly—
“Also because your smile is improving. Slightly less criminal now.”
Raghav groaned.
“There it is.”
She laughed.
And just like that…
Between awkward practice, failed conversations,
and ghost-level coaching…
Something strange was happening.
Raghav’s life wasn’t getting normal.
It was getting…
louder, messier, funnier.
And somehow…
a little less lonely.
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