LMAO DONE! I FINISHED THAT SHIT!

Charlie Experiment: Conclusion

Results: The five subjects we offered aliases to proved our original thesis. Names affect people. Therefore statements such as "You look like an Andrew" or "You act like a Cathy" have substantial cultural grounds to foster basic and loose perceptions of anyone based on their title. If one chooses to revoke their fate, simply change their name.

I never quite understood why I was able to see Anne that last time. I never see her, or Rhylee again.

Something tells me I needed them, though. I needed, for the last summer of my life in Alva, somebody to protect me from the soul-eating factory it was. Because if I didn't have Rhylee to save me, I can't imagine that I'd've stayed around. I would've climbed up the water tower, and I don't think I would've climbed back down.

I'm living in Denver now, studying my critical reading skills. Which is how Rhylee would tell you that I'm studying law.

It's been a year since I've been home.

I have my Polaroids scotch-taped to my wall above my head. They're pictures of everything we did together. My roomate, a guy named Eric, asked me once if I went through a breakup. I told him it was something like that.

"You got any pictures of them?" Eric had asked.

"Nah, she was photo shy. This is as close as I got," I said back, passing him the picture of the window glare. He told me she looked pretty.

Eric's nice. He comes from a small town too, so he knows all about the soul-eating factory. And he believes me about Anne too. He tells me that I'm not crazy, and that sometimes the fog in those towns is so dense, we stop remembering to differentiate between fiction and reality.

It's a common affliction that attaches itself to mopey dudes like Eric and I.

"Hey, Jay," Eric prompts. He started calling me Jay because in his world, the 'M' was too much to annunciation. In return, I have decided that 'Ic' is also far too difficult, and have reduced his name simply to 'Er'.

"Hey," I say, looking up.

"You doing anything for spring break, dude? I was gonna go up to the bar with the boys to plan something out." Eric offers. I shake my head, staring at the xbox controller between my jeans.

"Nah," I frown, thumbing over the plastic control stick. "I'm heading back home for break, actually. I have some friends who probably want to hang out or something."

Eric sighs. "When are you finally gonna let that town go?"

"I don't know," I say, a small grin on my cheeks. "Maybe never."

"You do what's best for you, Jay. But if you want the details, just call me, okay, man?"

"Yeah, thanks Er." I say back. I watch him grab his keys and head outside. The door shuts behind him and I lower my head into my hands. I don't even know if this will work.

I make it back to Alva on a sunny Monday. I've never seen such a huge cloudless sky above my hometown. I grin, driving inside. I park my car up by the library and walk inside. The librarian seems to be off duty today, but I never turned in my set of keys, and thus have the entire building to myself. I put in my headphones and walk around, fingers tracing the hardcover spines of the nonfiction novels.

And then, suddenly, I feel a sharp sting at the back of my head and smile.

"You suck at keeping in touch," Rhylee Sommers says. She's holding her copy of Perks of a Wallflower. "I've been trying to return this book for months, James. Months."

I shake my head happily, accepting the novel and hurrying behind the register. I check the book back in and throw it in the return bin for whoever's working nowadays.

"How's Anne?" I ask, leaning over the counter.

"She's good," Rhylee smiles. "She listens to music a lot. Sometimes she sings and I play, and we let the rest of the neighborhood listen too."

I grin and tap Rhylee's hand. She opens it and lets me slide my fingers over her palm. I don't know how a ghost could possibly be this warm, but Rhylee has a knack for doing the impossible.

"You know, I didn't even know if you'd come," I say, looking down at our hands. Our fingers have started wriggling in the spaces between each other.

"Long distance is a bitch," Rhylee concedes. "But I'm here, aren't I?"

"Are you?"

"Hell if I know."

We both laugh, and I swear, it's the first smile to touch the borders of Alva, Oklahoma. And I look forward to being invincible for the rest of break.

The name James is common. It's the embodiment of an ordinary human. The name Rhylee is summer. It's weird, and quirky and just a little bit sentimental. The name Anne? Well, that's just beautiful.

But despite that, and despite the Charlie Experiment, I find that we all have the chance to break free of our baptisms.

After all- what's in a name?