cotton candy

Aidan: I am listening

Aidan: I am interested

Destiny: i'm finally legal, i wanna get so fucked up

Spencer snorted out a laugh even though it wasn’t very funny. “Yeah, that would do it, I think.” He replied with a raised eyebrow and a shit eating grin. He shook his head after a minute and gave a serious answer. “I don’t know, honestly. Every time someone has a claim of evidence, it doesn’t seem real. I can’t ever tell who’s a fucking liar or not so until something happens like, right in front of me-” He trailed off looking past her for a moment as he was at a loss for words. “who really knows, right?” he finished, feeling satisfied with his answer but then he remembered who he was talking to. “I guess..you would, the psychic.” he wasn’t mocking her, but it almost felt like he was and now he felt like a total dick. “Sorry.” He awkwardly said. 

“That’s true, if I saw you watching it and we hadn’t had this discussion I probably would have talked to you about it.” He confessed easily, raising his shoulders slightly in a shrug. “I mean, I don’t think that fruit is boring. I especially don’t think that strawberry shortcake is boring.” He laughed at her comment, but continued with his smore making process anyways. Waiting for it to cool a bit he pulled off the burnt layer and then used all the gooey innards to make a smore. “Have you ever actually tried it? It’s good.” 

“Oh definitely not.” He immediately replied, shaking his head and looking down at the ground for a second and then he looked back up at her. “I’m more of a ..” He hesitated as he found the right wording. “‘believe it when I see it’ type of guy.”

“   yeah —    i’m …    no .      people talk at parties ,    i’m not good at …   that .    that’s why i’m behind a screen the whole time .    it’s my happy place .    ”         wishbone fingers clutch tight to her  disposable paper cup,     steam heating up fair pads like a furnace through the thin protective layer ;        the very idea of waltzing about idly ,     trying to make chit-chat makes her stomach crumple into a knotted mess  .   she slaps the side of her stuffed purse ,   triumphantly exhaling ,     while golden wrappers crinkle loudly under pressure .     “      i’m just gonna grab a pile of coffee and twix bars and build myself a fort,  if you don’t mind .     if any ghosts try   &    join me ,     i’ll be sure to let you know .       ”

“I’m not sure, but something good.” The nurturer admitted, squinting down at his phone to read over the notes he took of Aidan’s stuff. “Seems like there have been a lot of reports of weird stuff here…but that’s true of all the places we’ve checked out.”

“sometimes its nice to think there could be something else, though.” she shrugged. “so you think its just static or something?”

“Yeah, I agree. It’s hard to binge shows and everything when you’re constantly working or travelling. Especially because you have to have the forethought to download it in advance if you want to watch it on the bus. Then there’s the potential for distractions because there are so many of us in one small space.” He sat in silence for a moment so he could think before answering, “I like chocolate bars that have peanuts in them. I also like peanut M&Ms and all that. I mostly like things that are fruit and sugar. Strawberry shortcake and stuff like that.” He watched as his marshmallow caught fire and let it burn evenly before bringing it closer so he could blow it out.  “Don’t judge me for this. Once you take off the burnt outer layer the inside is perfect for a smore.” 

“aren’t you the one that’s meant to be convincing me it’s all real and extra spooky? what happened to our dynamic? when did i become the main believe here?” 

“That has got to be the worst part about being a ghost besides the whole being dead thing. I’d knock popcorn out of people’s hands too.” She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about what it must be like to be a ghost, but for the moment Mika didn’t have any plans on finding out. “Why not? Are they shy all of a sudden?” She looks at Destiny up and down. “So you don’t deny it?”

At first, Frankie thought he hadn’t heard her right. Maybe she’d said plate. Or late. But neither of those words made sense in the question she’d asked, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, he blinked back into awareness. Though his stomach was suddenly in knots and his cheeks had grown uncomfortably warm, when he spoke he was grinning. “Who, me? Or did you mean him—” He turned around in his chair, tapping the man behind him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir, but I think the lady here would like you to ask her on a date. And I’d advise you not to say no, because, I mean — look at her. One in a million.” 

Having finished his breakfast, and with his stomach satisfied, Frankie settled into his chair comfortably. He propped his ankle across the opposite knee and glanced around at the other guests. “That’s what they get for inviting a bunch of young ghost hunters to stay here for free.” He paused, picking at the hem of his pajama pants. “Well, come one now, Destiny, do I look like a psychic? I can’t tell the future.” 

“That’s probably way less pressure, but still an important task. You never finished it? I think I finished it in, like, a week. Which is rare for me because I really don’t watch that much tv. You should retry watching it. Even if it’s background noise, it’s a good show.” He laughed and shook his head, “no. I’m usually not much of a chocolate bar sort of person. I have to be in the mood for sweet food.” He followed suit, skewering a marshmallow and holding it over the fire, his attention turning from her to his attempt at toasting a marshmallow well. 

Spencer felt the corner of his lip tug up into a smile and lifted his head back up. “Yeah, you got it.” He replied with a nod. He gestured towards the large building, trying to figure out what else to talk about. “You think there’s something in there?” He asked. 

“so, i’m going through some of the videos i took last night and i swear i can hear…not right stuff in the background. like, sure, my phone could just have janky audio and i’m high as hell but also this stuff ain’t right.” winnie looked up at them, holding out their phone for the other to take if they wanted to listen. “or i’m just not with it.”

“usually i don’t care about the kinda stuff they want me to pull on camera. you know the classic turn the flashlight off if you’re here shit? but something about this place doesn’t sit right with me at all. i don’t think i’ve felt normal since we walked in.”