walls could talk

“when im a famous rockstar. i won’t forget you.”

“aw, you promise?”

Genesis: I think you need to go to the supermarket to get that unfortunately.

“you think so? its quite cool huh? im like a rockstar.”

“definitely. yeah, it’s exactly like that. they just don't see it.”

“my classmates. they keep saying my head looks like the horse’s butt because of my hair”

“that’s pretty stupid of them. it doesn't look like that at all. maybe they’re just jealous of it.”

“i’m not sure how much i believe that, but okay.” she shrugged. “yeah, it sucks i guess. but i just gotta learn to get over it.” she nodded. “good try, but ghosts don’t use whatsapp. they use groupme. you’re only a little mean.”

"what's not to believe?" he shakes his heead. "you shouldn't have to get over it, that's the thing." bryce knew he shouldn't be as upset as he is about it. "what the in hell is groupme? is that like that new mastodon site? am not."

“makes me kind of sad to think about. you as a little kid wanting to see your parents, i mean.” she said, knowing that feeling well. “i’m sorry you had to go through that. and that you still do. they’re pretty stupid for not wanting to see you.” she smiled sadly. “how do you know that? have you asked them? hey, don’t be mean.”

“it’s not that sad, honest. don't worry about it." he nods, somber. bryce didn't like to discuss his parents, more so about what they've done to their family. "yeah. sorry you had to go through the thing with your mom. i guess so. i don't really care anymore." he shrugs. "yeah, totally, i went on whatsapp and asked their group chat. i'm not mean!"

“do you ever wanna go see ‘em? just kind of leave and not tell anyone that you’re going until you’re gone so they can’t stop you?” she asked, looking over at him. she didn’t want to feel so alone in her stupid decision. “hey, come on. don’t stereotype ghosts, that’s not fair to ghosts. plus, we both know i’m cool enough to be a ghost. maybe not casper cool, but still cool enough.”

"more when i was little." he shrugs. "i don't really know where they are half the time so it's hard to see them, you know? it's not like they wanna see me anyways." they had pretty much disowned their kids after all. he felt bad, knowing that he couldn't really say anything to make her feel better. "yeah, i don't think ghosts care too much about stereotypes, you goof. if you wanna think that."

“well, yeah there were. i was just being stupid. i guess i just wanted to see if anything changed, or maybe i just hoped something had. i don’t know.” she shrugged, realizing how stupid it all sounded. how naive she was. “nah, i’m actually just a ghost. figured haunting you in the afterlife would be a fun thing to do.”

"i feel that way about mine sometimes." he did, although bryce always knew that nothing would change withy them. they were stuck in their old ways and he couldn't do anything about it. he chuckles. "a ghost? please, you're not even close to being pale enough or cool enough to be a ghost. haven't you ever seen casper?"

“yeah.” she says, picking at the tiny bit of nail polish that was left on her fingers. she felt stupid. stupid that she didn’t just make up some other excuse. stupid that she’d just blurted it out, probably making him uncomfortable. “i don’t know. a bunch of stupid reasons. it’s not really that important.” she shrugged, trying to make everything less weird. “you survived the storm, i see.”

he bits his lip. although they both had some what absentee parents, it wasn't an exact situation. he'd always have someone there, while elina didn't. bryce didn't really know what to say. "well there had to be a reason. what was the most important one?" he lets out a snort at her comment before nodding. "yeah. so did you, apparently."

“i, uh, i went to see my birth mom.” she sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing them with the palms of her hands before opening them again. “i dunno why. i just-i dunno. it was stupid. really stupid.”

bryce nods and stares at the ground in front of him. he hadn't thought that might be a reason as to why. "oh." he coughs. there wasn't really much to say about it, and he wasn't sure if she wanted to talk. "why did you go?"

“hi loser.” she said, a genuine smile making its way onto her face. the past few days hadn’t been the best, and it was nice to know bryce was still an idiot. “uh, just a few towns over.”

he sits beioside her, brining his knees up to his chest and looking over at elina. “what’d you go over there for?” he was curious, she had left without warning and it left him a bit confused as to why.

“would she really care?” she shrugged. “it’s stupid, i dunno.”

“she might, i don’t know. you can as long as you don’t get caught. she hasn’t been around for a few days so it should be easy.”

“Yup. It’s not much. But it’s mine.” He’d almost compulsively squirreled away money for a while, and that definitely helped now. Apartments around here were pricey. “My dad offered to let me live with them, but having my own space is kind of nice.” Not to mention he barely even knew his dad, only trusted him with his younger sibling because it was better than being with their mother, and he couldn’t afford to be a legal guardian.

Bryce nods. "That's cool. I can't wait to live on my own, but I don't think Krosby will let that happen until I'm like, fifty." He sighs. "Is it expensive?" He knew that things like apartments cost money, but his parents, no matter how much they break off contact, would continue to send their wealthy checks. It's been happening for years and he figured it would continue.