You are jolted awake when your phone flashes blindingly in your face, even with a dark lock screen and the brightness all the way down. All for a little bubble that reads:
(font: "Calibri")[ Messages 2:58AM
<b>Ghost</b>
wanna ride w me]
You blink to try and readjust your vision, ponder whether or not you want to go for a drive at this hour, and then decide that yes, you do, and no, you don't particularly care about work in the morning. You'll supplement your usual intake of tea with an energy drink, or three shots of espresso.
(Horrendous, but probably worth the 2 minutes of your life that it shaves off.)
You unlock your phone, and type out a response.
(font: "Calibri")[ I'm sneaking out
Catch me when I climb out the window]
You get the expected answer back.
(font: "Calibri")[ k
tell ur mom i said hi]
You roll out of bed literally, and fall onto the floor.
[[> Get up and pick out something to wear->closet]]You eventually roll over onto your stomach after a while of lying on your back, push up, and turn on the light. You push open the door of your closet and look inside, wondering what you have time to put on before Ghost gets here.
[[> Grab a blouse and jeans->jeans]]
[[> Grab a tank top and skirt->skirt]](set: $clothes to "jeans")
You have time to put on pants, you guess.
You look as boring as you can possibly look, but you're not going out anywhere so it's not as if you need to look any certain way. You could probably go in what you're wearing right now (tank top, basketball shorts, mismatched socks that you pair up now because their respective pairs went missing) and Ghost would think you're hot shit.
Actually, he'd probably make fun of you for looking completely unkempt compared to your usual meticulous appearance. He would also still think you're hot shit, but he's been slowly getting revenge on the time you tossed popcorn onto the brim of his hat to see how long it would take before he noticed.
[[> Put on clothes and go downstairs and don't go out the window because that would be dangerous->downstairs]](set: $clothes to "skirt")
Eh, you don't feel like that much effort.
He's the one who invited you out at fuckshit o'clock for a drive, so he can deal with whatever amount of unkempt you look. Tank top and skirt it is, the one that's easy put on that has the strip of cloth around the middle to tie in the front and keep it in place. Actually, this is the one that Ghost likes to untie when you're not looking by yanking on one of the ends of the butterfly knot you always keep it in, and then cackle when you notice. As if there isn't an elastic waistband on it anyway, but you wouldn't be dating him if he was actually trying to do that in earnest.
As far as appearances go, you've looked worse. This isn't a date where other people are going to see you, so there's really no reason to get all dressed up. It's probably better to wear things that are easy to wash, just in case you two do something stupid like step in mud.
[[> Put on clothes and go downstairs and don't go out the window because that would be dangerous->downstairs]]You grab a jacket from the hook on the door before you close it behind you quietly and walk downstairs.
"Ghost says hi," you tell your mother, who is watching some really dumb horror movie from the fifties as you pass behind the living room couch.
"Don't come back hung over," she replies, not looking away from her movie. You hear crunching; she's eating that <i>arare</i> and popcorn mix from the wholesale store again. The smell of shoyu is unmistakable.
"Ghost can just toss me through the front door," you say, and head out onto the porch to wait for him.
[[> Sit down and wait->wait]]You check your phone while you wait. You've been ignoring most of the alerts for the sake of not using your phone when you're trying to sleep. Most of it is run-of-the-mill, social media notifications and a few text messages you'll answer in the morning. You get less and less of those these days because everyone has a Discord or dms you on twitter for some reason instead of using the Discord account they clearly own. Including your sister. Who could just text you like a normal human being, but insists on utilizing the unlimited data plan your family is on because otherwise it's <i>「もったいない」</i> as if it's a waste to do anything but use data with an unlimited plan.
Solana is a dumb bitch and you love her. She thinks you're a stupid bastard and she loves you too.
Speaking of things that people call you (you're reminded as your Discord notifications show nothing but a series of messages with your name in allcaps), you're called a lot of different things; Cel (a shortening of your first name), Asa (a shortening of your surname), Glory (a shortening of a translation of your surname), Miboshi (another first name), and sometimes even Celeste (your first name).
You type an indifferent "what" in reply to all of the digital screaming, and glance your eyes up when you see headlights in front of your house.
[[> Get up and go kiss your boyfriend->pickup]]The passenger's side window lowers, and you rest your arms on the open edge and lean your head in.
"Hi! You look like shit," Ghost says with a grin. "I like the \
(if: $clothes is "skirt")[skirt]\
(else-if: $clothes is "jeans")[shirt]\
though."
"You like anything I wear," you point out.
"Yeah, of course I do," he replies. "Get in before I leave without you."
Admittedly, you hadn't bothered to do anything like brush your hair or even take it out of the loose ponytail. You re-tie your hair into an off-centered bun once you're seated and buckled in, and Ghost leans forward against the steering wheel once he gets to straight road.
"Any specific place we're headed?" you ask him.
"You feel like some urbex?"
"Absolutely not."
The ghosts will get the both of you before any rotted out floor or collapsing roof or black mold or tetanus will, if you go at this time of night.
"I'm kiddingggggggg," Ghost says, but you know for a fact he wasn't.
[[> See where else Ghost wants to take you that won't get the both of you cursed forever or killed->drive]]"Okay, so no falling through old, unmaintained stairs. Anything you wanna see? Wanna take more unsettling pictures on your phone?"
He's talking about your photography, which specifically takes advantage of the less than perfect quality of your phone camera and the blur and light specks that appear from taking photos from the inside of a car. The end result is a blurred, poorly lit, off-center photo of something like an industrial building's back door in pitch black save for a bright white light overhead. As far as unsettling photography goes, you do a pretty good job of it.
"It might be too dark in town for that," you tell him. "There's more lights on around midnight or earlier."
"Wanna go to the lake?"
"The gates are closed."
"I can go around."
"This is a ten-year-old front wheel drive sedan, not a dirt buggy."
"It's my car."
"Be nicer to it!"
"Fiiiiiiine. Do you just wanna drive around then?"
"Somewhere out of town, where there's less buildings. I wanna see trees."
"On it."
Ghost starts on a path toward the highway, and you turn your head to watch the scenery change.
[[> Ask Ghost how his week has been->ask]]"Anything new?" you ask him. You hadn't heard from him much the past few days, which isn't odd for Ghost. You don't panic if he hasn't texted or called or even if you haven't seen him face-to-face in a little bit. He likes to go on adventures that you particularly don't enjoy, and so while he does his thing you do yours.
"I actually wanted to show you a place on the edge of town from two weeks ago," he says, and he's talking about his whole urban exploration thing again. Except it's not really urban when it's in the middle of a relatively forested area with one path ground into the earth from years of someone's car driving the same path up to the now-abandoned house.
"I don't feel like getting cursed, I'm sure I get plenty of second-hand cursing from you already."
"No, no, not like that. I mean, yeah, there is an abandoned house on the land but I wanted to show you the pond more than the house."
"Huh. What's there?"
"Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, right?"
A good point, but you're not so sure you want to go anywhere that you don't know about."
"...maybe if we have time later tonight before you drop me off."
"Sure thing."
[[> Find the aux cable and plug your phone in->aux]]The auxillary cord isn't plugged in and flailing all around the place as it usually is, so you open the middle console and fish around for it. Once you find it, untie the literal knot in the cord, and plug it in, you pull up your music to find a song to play. On repeat, of course. You subscribe to the idea that a song that's good enough to play once is good enough to play a million times in a row, and Ghost agrees.
So, what to play?
[[> An older Japanese song that's going to make Ghost laugh->promise]]
[[> A newer Japanese song that's going to make Ghost also laugh->kori]]
[[> An English song that you think fits Ghost's nature aesthetic pretty well->soldier]]
[[> An English song that appeals to Ghost's high school music nostalgia->beverly]](open-url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifs4zmWD3ms")\
"Oh my god, this one," Ghost says immediately once the song starts. "Okay, I take that back, this is unironically a bop, meme song or not." You smirk at him for being an old person who knows this song from a stupid meme over a decade old (fun fact, Ghost is two years younger than you), and lean back again, making sure the song is set to repeat.
"Of course it is, I only listen to good music," you say, pretending like your main form of music discovery isn't watching AMVs that fall onto your twitter timeline and this hadn't come back into your orbit because your mutual revived an old-ass meme. He looks over his shoulder to merge onto the highway, and once he's in the correct lane he takes one hand off of the wheel to hold yours.
"You doing okay lately too?" he asks, and you hear the indirect affirmation that he's been doing well lately.
"Yeah. I haven't been to the doctor in a while, but I haven't had to."
"Mmhmm. If you need me to take you, you know I'm free whenever."
That's not true. Ghost takes on a variety of odd jobs all around town in between shifts at a copy and mail store. What he means is that he would walk out of a shift or a job for you, despite the fact that he is far less financially secure.
You keep asking Ghost if he wants to move in with you, since Solana is moving out soon and your parents would be more than happy to have him. But something something don't want to be a burden, something something not really ready for settling down yet, something something there's a lot of insecurities there despite Ghost covering it up with a veneer of nonchalant freedom.
[[> Ride in silence for a bit, because that's nice too->silence]](open-url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etTSoUEaTCc")\
"That one's still stuck in your head huh?" Ghost asks. "I'm waiting for the day you ask me to dance to this." You roll your eyes to hide that yes, you were planning to do that at some point, and lean back again, making sure the song is set to repeat.
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't," you say, and you know he enjoys it just as much as you do, considering that he wouldn't stop sending you text messages in allcaps when you sent him your translation of it. His head sways left and right minutely, as if dancing to the beat. He looks over his shoulder to merge onto the highway, and once he's in the correct lane he takes one hand off of the wheel to hold yours.
"You doing okay lately too?" he asks, and you hear the indirect affirmation that he's been doing well lately.
"Yeah. I haven't been to the doctor in a while, but I haven't had to."
"Mmhmm. If you need me to take you, you know I'm free whenever."
That's not true. Ghost takes on a variety of odd jobs all around town in between shifts at a copy and mail store. What he means is that he would walk out of a shift or a job for you, despite the fact that he is far less financially secure.
You keep asking Ghost if he wants to move in with you, since Solana is moving out soon and your parents would be more than happy to have him. But something something don't want to be a burden, something something not really ready for settling down yet, something something there's a lot of insecurities there despite Ghost covering it up with a veneer of nonchalant freedom.
[[> Ride in silence for a bit, because that's nice too->silence]](open-url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7s_j5M57e8")\
"You're pandering to me," Ghost tells you as soon as the opening starts and he recognizes it. You shoot him a smug grin smile and lean back again, making sure the song is set to repeat.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," you say, and you can tell that he enjoys the song. It's definitely in the genre of music he prefers, no matter how much he says that he listens to and enjoys literally anything. He looks over his shoulder to merge onto the highway, and once he's in the correct lane he takes one hand off of the wheel to hold yours.
"You doing okay lately too?" he asks, and you hear the indirect affirmation that he's been doing well lately.
"Yeah. I haven't been to the doctor in a while, but I haven't had to."
"Mmhmm. If you need me to take you, you know I'm free whenever."
That's not true. Ghost takes on a variety of odd jobs all around town in between shifts at a copy and mail store. What he means is that he would walk out of a shift or a job for you, despite the fact that he is far less financially secure.
You keep asking Ghost if he wants to move in with you, since Solana is moving out soon and your parents would be more than happy to have him. But something something don't want to be a burden, something something not really ready for settling down yet, something something there's a lot of insecurities there despite Ghost covering it up with a veneer of nonchalant freedom.
[[> Ride in silence for a bit, because that's nice too->silence]](open-url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzVKsltzYdI")\
"Trying to set a certain mood, huh," Ghost asks. "Might as well sound like we're dancing in a forest if we're gonna go look at a forest." You chuckle at the description and lean back again, making sure the song is set to repeat.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," you say, and you can tell that he enjoys the song. It does match the mood nicely, although maybe a little bright for a nighttime drive. He's enjoying the beat though, from the way his fingers tap on the steering wheel. He looks over his shoulder to merge onto the highway, and once he's in the correct lane he takes one hand off of the wheel to hold yours.
"You doing okay lately too?" he asks, and you hear the indirect affirmation that he's been doing well lately.
"Yeah. I haven't been to the doctor in a while, but I haven't had to."
"Mmhmm. If you need me to take you, you know I'm free whenever."
That's not true. Ghost takes on a variety of odd jobs all around town in between shifts at a copy and mail store. What he means is that he would walk out of a shift or a job for you, despite the fact that he is far less financially secure.
You keep asking Ghost if he wants to move in with you, since Solana is moving out soon and your parents would be more than happy to have him. But something something don't want to be a burden, something something not really ready for settling down yet, something something there's a lot of insecurities there despite Ghost covering it up with a veneer of nonchalant freedom.
[[> Ride in silence for a bit, because that's nice too->silence]]Well, not silence, because there's still music playing, but the two of you hold hands and say nothing, just watching the road. The lights refract through your glasses, stretching into long vertical lines of white and yellow. The both of you squint when some asshole with pure-white headlights drives down the other side of the highway, grumbling about it until you're not blinded.
"I guarantee you that someone's gotten into an accident because of those stupid fucking things," Ghost mutters. "Can't wait until someone has to make a law against those because nobody thought that maybe bright-ass lights on a dark road is really fucking awful for everyone else who isn't the one driving the car with the bright-ass lights."
"Mm," you agree, and blink to say awake. "I want coffee."
You don't want coffee per se, but gas stations usually don't have hot tea for purchase in big tanks and you're not in the mood for sweet tea right now.
"I'll buy you a chocolate bar," Ghost replies, in usual form of offering to buy you a lower-quality item of whatever you ask for.
"I have cash."
"Lemme buy you a stupid candy bar."
"I want coffee. The coffee's cheaper anyway."
"Shut up, Glory."
[[> Complain loudly->pullin]]"I don't wanna," you say as belligerently as possible, and shake your left arm out so that it shakes Ghost's arm as well. He grumbles something under his breath and takes his hand back so that he can turn the steering wheel properly to get off the highway.
On the side road it's brighter, which is a little concerning for the state of the highway lighting, but maybe that's just because there's a gas station right at the corner when they merge off. Ghost pulls in to a parking spot and pushes the seat back (he's too short to comfortably reach the pedals without pulling forward), and you unplug your phone and get out of the car with a tired sigh.
Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come with, but Ghost wanted you here, and you want to be here.
The inside of the store is too bright for your eye, so you take a moment to let it adjust before heading in. Ghost walks ahead and waits at the doorway for you, and he's bathed in fluorescent white like a halo around an angel.
You gay bastard.
[[> Go inside and get your coffee and don't let Ghost buy you a candy bar->store]]Double-click this passage to edit it.