𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

"This is weird." Grayson says for the millionth time. He's looking around the cottage, still sporting his usual confused expression.

"Yeah, it is." I nod my head in agreement and take a seat on the couch. My eyes wander around the house, still shocked that Hunter provided it for us. It's actually really adorable.

Grayson looks at me, before slowly walking over to where I'm sitting. He lowers his body and sinks into the couch. I can feel the weight of his muscular physique, which is an odd feeling. I can touch everything around me, but I can't touch Hunter or Grayson. This is annoying.

"Do you like your dress?" He randomly speaks up.

I look down at my outfit, running my hand over the material again. I love having the soft texture between my fingers.

"I love it. It's totally something I would have worn a few years back." My eyes move over to his attire. "What about you? Do you like your clothes?"

"It's comfortable, so I'm not complaining." His voice lowers as he keeps his intense stare on me. I nervously gulp as I wait to see what he's going to say next.

"How are you feeling? About all of this?" His quiet voice whispers.

I take in his words while looking into his eyes. They're searching for a story, one I'm not sure I should tell him yet. "I don't know."

It's weird to be here. It seems like a fictional world, one that you read about in graphic novels or watch in fantasy movies. I was never a big believer in ghosts, until Hunter passed away.

"What do you think is going on in the real world?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. Our families are probably freaking out." I groan.

"Our bodies didn't look too good, I'm worried." He stresses his thoughts.

"Me too." I admit.

"I still feel like this is some sort of prank." He looks around the house, seeing it perfectly in tact.

"It's not." Those are the most real words I have ever spoken.

The weird reality is that this isn't a prank, and it's not a dream. This situation is real. I don't know why, I don't know how, but it's real.

"Yeah, I see that now. There's no way you can fake this house." He stands up and looks around the living room area.

I also rise to my feet, wanting to get a closer look into my new, confusing world. I walk around the small space, trying to make sense of all of this. I step into the bedroom and can't help but grin.

There's a large king sized bed in the center of it. The walls are painted white, and the hardwood floors remain carpet-less. Everything in this world is white and has a glow to it.

There's a lamp in the corner of the room, and a large window on one of the walls. It has a perfect view of the sunflower field around the house.

There's no dressers, and that slightly concerns me. I guess it does make sense, though. What stuff do we have? We're half dead living in our own personal heaven.

Grayson slowly enters the room, looking around it. "This is nice."

"I actually love it." I can't help but say.

"It's the only one in the house."

I furrow my eyebrows and turn back to look at him. "What?"

"Yeah, this place is so tiny that it only has one bedroom." He keeps his eyes on me.

"Uh, that's not going to work." I immediately rush out of the room, glancing around the cottage. Crap, there really is only one bedroom.

"I can always sleep on the couch." Grayson suggests.

"No, we can fix this." I inhale a deep breath and close my eyes. I imagine another bedroom appearing in the house, which would allow the size of it to grow. "I want another bedroom."

Slowly opening my eyes, I realize the house is the same. Still small, still one bedroom. Grayson looks at me with an amused facial expression.

"What are you doing?" He cocks his head to the right.

"Let me try again." I hold my hand up to stop him from commenting any further. "I want another bedroom." I repeat.

"And I want to be alive." Grayson mockingly laughs.

"Why isn't it working? I'm trying to announce another one."

"It's not going to work, only Hunter has that weird magic touch." He lets out a sigh of defeat.

"This is ridiculous." My voice mutters as I cross my arms over my dress. "I can't even make requests in my own heaven."

"I swear we're going insane." Grayson states while shaking his head.

"Maybe." I murmur while walking toward the back door. I place my hand on the glass texture, being able to feel it on my skin. The sunflower field is so beautiful.

Opening the door, I step outside and feel the breeze of the wind blow through my brown hair. I let out a sigh of relief at the feeling of the sun. It's low in the sky, which makes me even more confused. I guess heaven, or wherever we are, gets dark.

Walking over to the field, I take this time to admire the sunflowers around me. I'm glad Hunter put them here. They are my favorite flowers, and I don't see them too often. To me, they represent happiness and optimism. Those are two things I used to have.

I take a seat on the grass and begin to pick at the blades with my hands. Being able to feel grass seems stupid, but because it rains everyday in Renton, I'm never able to admire it.

I can hear Grayson's footsteps behind me. His converse are crunching through the bright green material. He takes a seat next to me and looks out into the distance.

"This place is beautiful." His low voice speaks.

My eyes focus on the low sun ready to set in the sky. "It's amazing."

I can feel his eyes on me, which causes me to intake a breath. I don't know much about Grayson, but from the short time I have known him, I can tell he has a very intense stare.

"This must be crazy for you. To see your brother after all this time."

"Ten months." I nod while looking down at the grass. "I didn't see him for ten months."

"I'm assuming you guys are close." He guesses, which is correct.

"Very close. He's my best friend in the entire world." I immediately answer.

"I know the feeling, Ethan and I are pretty much the same way." He lets out a sigh.

"It must be cool to have a twin." I begin to make small talk, a rare occurrence for me.

"It is. It's like having a built in best friend who looks exactly like you." Grayson lets out a laugh, and the sound vibrates through the ground.

"I get the whole 'built in best friend' aspect. That's how I feel about Hunter, even though he's older than me. But I don't mind, I actually love having an older sibling."

"Really?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's a role model to look up to." A smile crosses my lips just thinking of him.

"Ethan is older than me by a few minutes, he always claims I'm his little bro." Grayson rolls his eyes while picking up a few strands of grass.

"That's cute." I laugh, before widening my eyes.

That's cute? Did I really just say that to him? God, I'm so awkward. This is why I barely talk to boys.

Grayson doesn't respond to my comment, he just smiles while looking at me. "So, you just graduated high school."

"Yup, a few weeks ago." My voice has no enthusiasm to it.

"Congratulations, that's awesome." He nods.

"I guess so." I shrug, thinking back to the ceremony.

I was dressed in my white cap and gown, ready to get the night over with. My parents were thrilled, but I could care less about the milestone. My favorite person wasn't there to celebrate with me. When they called my name to get my diploma, all I could think about was Hunter's high school graduation.

His entire class cheered for him, going absolutely crazy. After shaking his principal's hand, he did a backflip. Everyone laughed, including myself. He was always a ball of energy. The wide smile on his face as he proudly held up his diploma was such a beautiful sight.

When they called my name, only two people clapped - my parents. The entire school stayed silent as I walked across the field. There was no back flip, no wide smile. That is the main difference between Hunter and I.

"Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?" Grayson's voice rips me out of my daze.

"I don't know." I shrug while looking back at him. "I guess because I have no plans for my future."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, though." He says.

I tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear and look back at the sunset. "So, what's it like in Jersey?" I try to change the subject.

He seems taken back by my shift in conversation, but doesn't comment on it. "It's nice, I grew up there so it's all I know."

"I would love to go someday. I've never been out of Washington."

"Ever?" He seems shocked.

"Nope, never." I sadly shrug my shoulders.

"Well, technically we aren't in Washington right now." A goofy grin crosses his lips. The sight causes a smile to form on my own.

"You're right, I guess we aren't." I look around at the vibrant sunflower field around us. Yup, we definitely aren't in Washington state.

"Who were those guys at the carnival?" His random question catches me off guard. "You said they used to be Hunter's friends."

"Yeah, they were his best friends." I gulp while keeping my gaze on the sunset. "Let's just say people change, things happen."

The thought of Kyle, Dave, and Chase being best friends with Hunter is weird. The memories of the four of them together are so distant. After everything that happened, I'll never be able to look at them the same.

"They seemed like assholes." He scoffs.

"They are. Thank you again for getting me away from them." I send him a small grin.

"Of course." He whispers while staring at me.

I simply nod and continue to stare at the view in front of me.

Grayson falls silent, and we both sit in a quiet state for a few minutes. The sky is this gorgeous shade of pink, mixed with a tint of orange. The clouds are bigger than ever.

When the sun finally sets and the darkness surrounds us, I feel empty again.

"We should head inside." Grayson says while standing up.

I agree and stand with him. We walk back to the cottage and step into the cozy area. My eyes roam around, it's weird to think this is all ours. It's going to have to take some getting used to.

"I can sleep on the couch, I want you to have the bed." He surprises me by saying.

I look at him, seeing he's already walking over to it. "No, I can take the couch. You can sleep in the bedroom."

"It's fine, really." He insists.

"I want to sleep on the couch." I lie.

"I doubt that." He gives me a pointed look.

I cross my arms over my numb chest and think for a moment. "Compromise? We can both sleep in the bed."

He looks shocked by my statement. "Are you sure? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"Yeah." I nod and walk into the room.

Grayson trails behind me and we both take our shoes off. Since we have no other clothes to sleep in, I guess we're stuck with our usual attire.

I don't know if ghosts get tired, but I sure as hell feel beat. I would love to sleep all of this off for the next ten years.

I lie down on the bed, staying to the left so Grayson can have some room. I watch him slowly crawl next to me. He awkwardly shifts, until he seems comfortable.

"Well, good night." I say while staring at him.

"Night, Hope." He says with a nod before turning to face the opposite way from me.

I get comfortable on the pillow and let out a sigh.

"Maybe when we wake up, this will all be a dream." I hear his voice whisper from beside me.

I close my eyes and inhale a deep breath. "Maybe." I mutter before falling asleep.