𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

"So, tell me more about yourself." I say while looking up at the bright blue sky, the sun perfectly beaming down on my numb skin.

Grayson is lying next to me on the top of a hill. He stays quiet while placing his hands on his stomach. I watch him closely, almost studying his slow movements.

"What do you want to know?" He says while staring straight ahead.

"Anything." I shrug, not knowing the answer myself.

This morning we took another walk, because that's all there is to do in this world. Besides taking random naps, of course. We've been sitting at the top of this hill for what feels like decades. It's nice to just lie down and stare at the scenery around you.

"My birthday is December 16th." He says with a chuckle.

"Mine is January 12th. Pretty close." I respond with a nod.

"So, you're a capricorn." He turns his head to look at me.

"Yup." I nod again.

"Your element is Earth."

"That's ironic." I can't help but giggle. "How do you know that?"

"I used to be really into astrology. It was a fun hobby of mine." He shrugs it off.

"What's your element?"

"Fire. I'm a sagittarius." He says with a smirk.

"I can see it." I turn my head to look his way.

"Your three main characteristics are patient, ambitious, and loyal." He states while turning his body to face me more. "Do you think that describes you?"

"Why are we turning this conversation around to me? I asked you to tell me more about yourself." I roll my eyes.

"Just answer the question." He says while staring at me.

I look into his eyes for a few moments. I can tell he really wants to hear my answer, so I let out a sigh. "It used to apply to me, sure."

"Used to?" He narrows his thick eyebrows.

"Before Hunter died." I add.

"So, it's accurate?" He asks.

"For the most part, yes." I admit.

I used to be extremely patient. Nothing would really bother me and I always had a mellow personality. I could wait on long lines for hours, not complain once.

Ambitious? Used to be my middle name. I had so many goals, and set them out for my future. Dancing was my passion and I wanted to study ballet.

And loyal? Well, I visited Hunter's grave every single day for ten months straight. If that's not the definition of loyalty then I don't know what is.

"See? I knew it." He says after a while.

"What are your three characteristics?" I ask him the same question.

"Incredibly fucking sexy."

My eyes widen as I turn to look at him. He's laughing so hard, even rolling over on the grass. I shake my head, but can't help the laugh that bursts out of my lips.

"Let me guess, you're extremely cocky?" I hint.

"I can be, but not always." He says after calming down.

"Okay, for real this time. What is Grayson Dolan like?" I cross my legs together and lean my hands behind me.

"Well, Grayson Dolan is secretly really smart."

"Secretly?" I raise an eyebrow, intrigued.

"When I was younger I dreamed of becoming a doctor, even wanted to go to medical school." His voice lowers as he keeps his eyes on the grass.

"Is that still the plan?" God, when did I turn into my therapist?

"Not really. After my junior year of high school, I kind of went crazy. The pressure of studying and being perfect twenty four seven got to me, so I started to party and sleep my way through school."

"Why did you change?" I can't help but ask.

"I wanted to reinvent myself. I wanted to experience the darker side of high school. So I started drinking and going to parties."

"Let me guess, your grades dropped?"

"Down the fucking toilet." He uses his hand gestures to do the 'thumbs down' sign.

"How did your parents like that?" I look back at him.

"They hated it, hence the reason I was stuck in Renton for the entire summer."

"What do you mean?" I furrow my eyebrows.

He exhales a deep breath while looking right at me. "I practically failed out of my first year of college. I only go to the community one so I didn't take it seriously. My parents hate my friends and when I finished school, they knew I would spend my days and nights with them."

He pauses for a moment, before continuing. "First they tried to ground me, take my phone and car away. When that happened, I came home and trashed the house on purpose. I was always acting out. That's when they decided that a summer in Washington was necessary. They claimed that I needed to get my shit together."

"I'm guessing you don't see your grandma often."

"Haven't seen her since I was about ten or eleven. I don't know, I barely remember." He shrugs.

"What about Ethan? How did he feel about it?" I look down at the grass.

"He was fine with it. He acted out, too, but he knew how to contain his anger better. My parents say I have issues controlling it."

"When I first saw you, you looked angry." My mind flashes back to the memory of Grayson standing in Linda's driveway.

"Right, from your little bay window." He says with a low smirk.

"We are not getting into that." I groan while rolling my eyes.

"I was angry because I didn't want to be there. And yes, we are most definitely getting into it."

"No, we aren't." I laugh.

"Why were you staring at me, huh?" He leans the side of his cheek on his palm, flashing me an amused yet torturing grin.

"Because you would stare at me first. I thought you were a creep." I cover my face with my hands.

"A creep?" He pretends to be offended.

"Window creep, to be exact." I correct him.

"Window creep. You gave me a nickname, how cute."

"Shut up." I roll my eyes.

"Do you still think that?"

"Oh, totally." I say with slight sarcasm.

"So, do you have a boyfriend? Or did you before the accident happened?" He randomly asks, which catches me off guard. No guy has ever cared enough to ask me my relationship status.

"No, uh, I've never had a boyfriend before." I awkwardly clear my throat.

"Wait, what? Not even one?" He sits up and eyes me.

"No." I embarrassing shake my head.

"So, no ex boyfriends in the picture?" He still seems baffled by this information.

"No, guys don't look at me like that." I sigh.

"Of course guys look at you like that, are you kidding? Those guys at the carnival were looking at you like that."

"They were only looking because they know they killed my brother." I let out a deep sigh.

"What about the kid with the blonde hair?"

"Chase? Trust me, he doesn't like me." I shake the idea off.

"How do you know that? Maybe he does." He raises an eyebrow up.

"Because I've had the biggest crush on him for years and he only sees me as Hunter's little sister."

"Maybe he doesn't know you-"

"He does, it's obvious." I mumble.

"You weren't acting like you were so into him when he had his hands on you."

"Because the minute my brother died, so did my little infatuation with him. He's a dick."

"Why don't you think he would like you, though?" He scoots closer to me.

"Because I'm just... he doesn't-"

"Because what? Hope, you're absolutely beautiful."

My eyes slightly widen as I stare into his. "W-what?"

"I think you're beautiful. I couldn't help but look at you in that bay window." His voice softens and so do his eyes.

"Oh, I-" I stutter, not knowing what to say.

"What? It's the truth." Grayson says while keeping his stare on me.

"Thank you, it's just-"

"Just what?" He seems confused.

"I'm not used to guys saying that. They usually don't." I gulp while looking at him.

"Well, I'm a guy and I'm saying it." A goofy smile breaks through his face.

I normally don't take compliments well, especially because I barely hear them. Something about the way Grayson calls me beautiful is making my skin ache with feeling.

If only my body wasn't numb right now. Would butterflies swarm it? Would my palms start to sweat? Would my knees go weak? Would he even be saying this stuff if we were back on Earth?

"You seem to be overthinking when you shouldn't." His deep voice interrupts my brain from rambling any further.

"Uh, sorry." I say while letting out an awkward laugh.

"Your turn."

"What?" My eyes go wide again.

"Your turn to compliment me. I get that I'm a total catch, I mean I'm-"

"Here you go again, being cocky. Must be a sagittarius trait."

"I was kidding." He says while laughing again. "And you're getting feistier the more we're here."

"Maybe." I mumble, not knowing the answer myself.

Grayson doesn't respond, and we sit in silence for the next few minutes. It's almost like he's thinking, and I am too. Thinking about him.

I have this captivating, attractive, witty guy and he finds me beautiful? Maybe he isn't from New Jersey, maybe he's some alien from a foreign planet who doesn't know what the word beautiful means and maybe he-

"Hope?" His deep voice snaps me out of my day dreaming, again.

"What?" I look back at him.

He's holding out a sunflower in his hand, and suddenly the bright yellow flower is right in front of me. "Here."

"What's this for?" I ask.

"I picked it for you, thought you'd like it." His smile returns, that damn smile.

"Oh, thanks." I repeat and slowly take the flower out of his hand. I can feel the soft texture around my ghostly fingers.

"I know these are your favorite." Wow, he's observant.

"They are." I smile.

"I think it would look good in your hair." He nods toward my head.

"You think?" I look down at the flower.

"Mhmm." He quietly hums.

I take his word for it and slowly place the sunflower in my long brown hair. Surprisingly, it stays. At least I assume it does. I turn to look at Grayson, who is already staring at me.

"How does it look? Stupid?" I laugh.

"Since you hate the word beautiful, I'll use a different one. It looks gorgeous."

I rub my lips together, trying to figure out what he's thinking.

"Do you have a girlfriend back in Jersey?" I automatically ask.

"I had one, but it didn't work out." He lowers his voice and looks down.

"And why's that?"

"She, uh, cheated on me."

"Oh, I am so sorry." My voice immediately rushes, feeling like an asshole for even asking.

"It's cool, it was about two years ago. Life goes on, right?" He looks back at me.

His words really sink into my brain. If that's the case then what happens with this situation?

"Yeah, life goes on." I repeat his words with a chilling whisper, wondering how true it actually is.