|| 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬, 𝑫𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑯 & 𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑭𝑭𝑰𝑻𝑰 ||

22. Macey

VALERIE

As the scenery on the other side of the window begins to turn from greenery and wood land to close-packed buildings that stretch as far out as my eyes could reach, I realise now that we are a good distance away from BridgeTown. This is the first time I've been so far away from that place. It feels so strange. So... different.

On the way here, I'd been kind of worried whether or not Riley would have been able to come with me. I'd read so much about ghosts not being able to go places outside of the environment they died in, so I was almost certain he wouldn't be able to get on the train. I was more than relieved to realise how wrong I was, but also curious as to how he was able to do it. I was scared to mention it, afraid I might jinx it, and Riley was already nervous as it was. What if some of the stuff I was looking up and reading about wasnt even true? I can't even find a reliable source.

I turn to Riley who has his head rested back on the seat, his eyes closed. I'm not surprised he's asleep again, though I probably would've suspected he'd be too excited to fall asleep. Again, with his face looking so calm and peaceful, I'm able to really see how attractive and soft his features are.

I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm attracted to Riley. I think he's a good looking guy, is all. Personality attracts me more than anything else. But that doesn't mean I can't admire fine art when I see it. It does feel strange, though, looking at someone in this way when I've been caught up on Fraya for so long. It almost feels like I'm cheating.

"I'm not sleeping." Riley says suddenly, smiling, with his eyes still closed. I hate that he has felt me staring at him, so I look away. "How can I sleep with everything that's ahead of us?"

"I don't know. You just sleep a lot."

"Yeah. My Mum used to call me baby sloth. I can basically fall asleep anywhere and everywhere. Just not now."

I laugh. "Baby sloth. That's so cute."

Riley opens his eyes, and sits up straight. "I'm just remembering the sloth plushie she bought me when I was little. I completely forgot about that."

Riley doesn't really talk about his parents, but then again neither do I. I like the silent boundaries we keep. It ironically makes us feel closer.

"What are you gonna say when you see him?" I ask.

"Don't know. I've been thinking about it for ages. It might just come naturally."

I look at him. "Let me say something first, before he sees you. We don't want to suddenly bombard him with all of this information at once."

"You're right." A grin spreads across Riley's face. "I can't believe this is happening."

I'm nervous. This is a complete stranger, a completely new place, and a completely new area to me. I have no idea how I'm going to handle this. But at the same time, I have to admit, I'm excited too.

The train ride is an hour long. Within that time, me and Riley decide to relax from the anxiety of meeting Macey, and play never have I ever for a while. I plug in my earphones, to make it look like I'm talking to someone on the phone rather than talking to air. I learn a lot about him, like the fact that he's never watched a Harry potter movie-a Harry Potter movie-, since he had a fear of wizards and witches when he was little, and that he's never tasted a jaffa cake since he's allergic to oranges. I tell him he's deprived because jaffa cakes are amazing and Harry Potter was an entire universe of creativity, and he tells me I'm deprived since I've never tasted cookie dough ice cream and don't play genshin impact.

After that, I go to my Bruno Mars playlist on spotify and turn up the music to the highest volume in my earphones, and Riley shuffles close to me to listen. This anti-physical situation is a pretty annoying barrier for us, but we make it work, I suppose.