Pretty / CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST!X Reader!

Friendship, Maine, was a small town. Very few doctor's offices, very few shopping malls, and very few houses. But, it was beautiful. It had its own, huge river, that sparkled obnoxiously under the bright sun, as you saw the water move in the direction of the wind, soft waves filling people's ears like music. There were many Berry-filled bushes, that everyone loved to pick in the summertime, and then harvest them, or sell them for a few dollars.
It was usually very hot out, which meant there were so many things to do, like go out to the public pool, or go to the beach. The beaches were beautiful, the sand burned under your bare feet, squishy and tender. You were able to swim in the lakes, that were so clear, you could see 10-feet deep down.
It was a beautiful little town, but it had many flaws, like any other city.
Kathleen Harvey, a thirteen year old from Santa Fe, New Mexico, knew all of the flaws of the town. She knew how the kids were, very rude and annoying, how the reporters were always up in your business, with no respect of your privacy. Not to mention there was nothing else to do, than to sulk in your bedroom, and miss your friends.
Kat had a cynical outlook on life, and she blamed it on her father, Dr. James Harvey. Dr. Harvey used to work as a local therapist, until Amelia, his wife and Kat's mother, died recently.
He gave up conventional psychiatry, and started working on parapsychology, instead. To say it bluntly, he became a therapist for ghosts. It was crazy, Kat knew this. She was constantly teased and made fun for this, at the nine schools she had attended. She was constantly moving from state to state, all because Dr. Harvey believed he could find his dead wife's ghost, which Kat usually scoffed and rolled her eyes at. "There's no such thing as ghosts, Dad." She would always say to him, but Dr. Harvey stayed confident as ever, dragging his daughter and his car, all over the continental US. Very immature of him, Kat thought. Many reporters and citizens thought he was legally insane, but had never said anything to Kat, his "loner daughter" as most referred her to. It was sad, really, that the poor girl wasn't able to find the meaning she had in this world, other than to follow her father wherever he went.

Driving in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, Kat and her father, were driving along a straight, dirty road that seemed to have no end. Kat took a little bit to observe her surroundings. There was nothing but rocky gravel, and absolutely no trees whatsoever. Kat adjusted her sunglasses, sighing, annoyed. She rested her arm on the ledge of the window, her brown hair restlessly swaying gracefully, where the wind was going.
In the car, Dr. Harvey sang carelessly, his head nodding up and down with the beat,
"That's life, that's life, that's life. You're riding high in April shot down~" Kat, now angry, turned the car's music off, slamming the button, before turning back to the window, without a word. Dr. Harvey sighed, "Oh, honey, about your Cactus Spooners." He said, falsely pronouncing, "Crooners." Kat corrected him, a moody frown on her face, though you couldn't see her beautiful hazel eyes behind those mysterious shades. "I don't care what they said," Dr. Harvey assured her, "You are not demented. You're a picture of mental health," He said.
What Dr. Harvey meant by "they" were the reporters that regularly pestered them about ghosts and about his job. They would always say, "He lost conventional sanity" after Amelia died. Which, Kat thought, was kind of true. Some reporters were so crazy as to interrupt Kat on her first day of school, and ask her questions such as, "Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever seen one?" Or "Did your father ever hurt you in any way?" Which, of course, was not true. Dr. Harvey was a kinda gentle man, even if he did have a few screws loose. He wouldn't even think to hurt his daughter that way.
"They were talking about you." Kat grumbled, finally turning to look at her father, as he had his eyes on the road, "I mean, try explaining afterlife therapy to a bunch of Junior High kids!" She tried to sound reasonable. Of course, this was true. Nobody could explain afterlife therapy, and be taken even remotely serious. At least 70% percent of the population probably didn't even know it existed. Kat was sure of it.
"Some people go through life never questioning the norm," Dr. Harvey said, "But, you and I? We're doing something extraordinary with our lives." At this, Kat scoffed, with a sarcastic chuckle.
"No, we aren't doing anything." Some people didn't even know how Dr. Harvey actually made money. Many people didn't even believe in ghosts, so they thought, "How the hell does this man make money if ghosts don't exist?!" These people, were the rational people. People who were reasonable, like Kat. Dr. Harvey, however, just refused to believe that his wife was gone; for good.
"You're the one who's been packing my stuff and moving me around the country." Kat said, tapping her fingers on the sill of the window. She looked ahead of her, the road still never ending. "In two years, I have been to nine different schools. I have eaten in nine different cafeterias," She continued, "For once, I would just like to be in one place long enough....well, long enough to make a friend." Kat said, sadness lingering lightly in her voice, as she looked her dad in the eye, taking her sunglasses off. "Honey, you will." Dr. Harvey tried reassuring her. "I mean, c'mon. We're moving to Friendship, Maine." He emphasized the word "Friendship", as a reason to move there. "Even I might make one." He chuckled to himself, keeping his eyes on the road.
"You better, Dad." Kat said warningly, with a smile. "'Cause a single guy your age is more likely to become a bank hostage, than to make new friends." Kat remarked, humourlessly.
Dr. Harvey chuckled, "You sound like your mother." At this, Kat said nothing for a while, just listening to the tires of the car scrape against the gravel of the road, the faint smell of dust filling her nose, as the window was down.
"You're not gonna find her." Kat muttered quietly, refusing to make eye contact with him. "Mom's not a ghost, Dad." She tried to convince him that this was all silly, that he was falsely hoping, that this was just his way of grieving.
But still, it would hurt Kat too much to tell him that, to look him sharply in the eye, and reprimand him in his face, and say that he will never find his dead wife. Only a cruel person would do such a thing, to such a broken man.
"Oh, yes, she is." Dr. Harvey said with a slight smile. "She has unfinished business." There it was. It was every paranormal expert's excuse for phantoms' existence on Earth. They always had some sort of 'unfinished business' to deal with. To confront. But, what was Kat's mother's? Amelia Harvey had lived a happy, fulfilling life, up until her death. It seemed just too bad to be true.
"There's no such thing as ghosts," Kat said dismissively, flashing him a disgusted look, before turning to the window again.
"I'll tell you what," Dr. Harvey began, "You go with me this one last time. If I don't find what I'm looking for, it's over." Kat raised an eyebrow, suspiciously. "No more moving, no more ghost mining." Kat slumped her shoulders a bit, relaxing into the seat. "You promise?" Kat stuck out her pinky finger. Dr. Harvey smiled, "I promise." They locked fingers, shaking them as if they were hand-shaking, before giggling as they let go.
"Deal." Kat said.