Ghost Best Friend

{Oh it felt so nice to write Jessie and Harper like this for a change. Two more chapters and one more loose end to tie up after this.

Let me hear some of your favorite moments from Jessie and Harper's summer.}

Between going back to school, Jessie being grounded from seeing me for two whole days, and, ya know, that entire breakup thing, life has been busy. My mom let me take off from school today. I know this sounds crazy but I got suspended, went back for two days and now I'm skipping today. I will finally get to see my girl so I'm not complaining. Jessie is only here a few more days and she has Levi's birthday party tomorrow then leaves the following day. It leaves no time left for us to be together unless I take off from school today. Jessie and I have been texting a lot, but it's not the same. I can't wait to just be with her. I'll take her to my special little place and then she'll sleep over at my house and I can cuddle her all night.

When I arrive at her grandparents' house, I text her that I'm outside. She texts back almost right away. She tells me she will be out in one second and that someone wants to come outside to say goodbye to me. I hope it's not Collin. I never want to see that man again.

She comes outside a few moments later with Levi following behind her. I get out of the car. "Hey bud"

"I'm not your bud," He says when he gets closer to me. Surprisingly, he wraps me in a tight hug. It takes a second but I do hug him back. "I'm mad at you but I am going to miss you. I had fun this summer."

"I going to miss you too" Honestly, I forgot he existed most of the time. He lets go of me. "Have fun at your birthday party this week and make sure you eat a lot of cake."

"Oh, I'm gonna eat all the cake" He has the biggest smile on his face and his eyes are wide.

"Go inside, I'll see you tomorrow," Jessie says and hugs him.

"Bye Harper"

"Bye Levi"

He runs inside and I finally turn to Jessie. "Hi"

"Hi," She says back.

I open the passenger door for her. "Such a gentleman" She jokes.

"Thank you. I try" I laugh.

I go around and get in the car. I start driving away from the house.

"So what's the plan" Jessie asks.

"Wait I thought you were making the plans," I say.

"You always make the plans" She turns to face me.

"Well, I guess I can come up with something on the fly," I say.

I always had a plan, I just had to push her buttons a little bit though.

"Sorry," She says.

"Don't be. There's somewhere I've been meaning to go for a while"

She gives me a confused look but doesn't say anything. A few minutes later we arrive at my favorite little lunch nook. We head inside and the hostess shows us to a table for two. It is somewhat busy. She looks over the menu, I already know what I'm getting.

"What are you going to get?" She asks while still looking at the menu.

"A salad and fries," I say.

"Love the balance" She puts the menu down on the table.

"What about you?"

"I think a burger," She says.

"How's being back at school?" She asks.

"Honestly, I'm happy to be back. All my friends were keeping me up to date with the latest gossip but I wanted to be there with them, you know?"

She does not know. She probably doesn't keep up with the latest drama happening at her school. She fakes it though. "Yeah I would feel left out too"

"What's the first thing you are doing when you get home?" I ask. Right as I do the waitress comes over and introduces herself. Her name is Miriam.

She orders a burger while I order a salad and fries. I only come here for the fries. I can't only order that though. Once the waitress walks away she answers my question.

"Getting a bagel" She states bluntly.

"You New Yorkers and your bagels" I joke.

"Once you grow up in New York you'll get it," She says.

"Explain it to me then" I sit up in my seat a little further.

She furrows her eyebrows, "It's simple, you grow up with amazing bagels. You go to any other state and get a bagel there and you end up disappointed" She says.

"It's the water right?" I joke.

"Yes, it really is," She says.

"I guess I'll have to come visit you to try one of these bagels," I say.

"You've never had one?" She questions. I shake my head. "Oh, that's not ok. I'll have to mail you some as soon as possible"

"Don't worry about it. I'd rather have my first New York bagel with you"

Our food comes out. We waste no time and start eating. We chat a bit, mainly small talk about school and Levi's birthday party this weekend, which I have lost my invite to. Every summer this doubles as their family reunion and so Jessie's entire extended family from out of state will fly in for it. I want to bring up the elephant in our relationship, what happens now when she leaves but I didn't want to ruin the moment. It's the first time we get to go on an official date in my town.

We finish eating and the waitress comes over to ask if we want dessert. Jessie is about to say no when I step in.

"Desert sounds great. Do you have chocolate lava cake?" I ask.

"Yes," The waitress says.

"That sounds perfect. One of those please" I say.

The waitress walks away and Jessie turns to me. "I'm not hungry"

"It's our last full day together. Let me treat you" I say.

"You've been treating me all summer," she says.

"Well in that case you can treat me tonight," I say.

She raises an eyebrow, her face turning slightly red. She looks away trying to hide a smile.

A few moments later the waitress brings over our cake with two spoons. We both take two bites each before we decide we can't eat anymore.

A few moments later the waitress comes over with our check, I pay and we head out. We head to my car parked on the side of the building. On the side of the building is a large geometric mural, with various hues of light blue. The light in my head goes off.

"Wait Jessie, can we take a few pics together in front of this?" I ask.

We have very few pictures together and the majority has our family in it. I can see she is about to protest but she surprises me with her answer.

"Yeah, sure. I guess I need something to post on your birthday" She shrugs her shoulders.

"So romantic" I joke.

I set a photo timer and prop my phone up on my windshield. She wraps her arms around my waist and pulls me in close for the photo. My phone takes the photo and then we change poses. I go behind her slightly and rest my head on her shoulder. As the phone takes the photo an elderly lady walks out of the restaurant.

"Do you two want me to take some photos for you?" She asks.

My face lights up. "That would be great. Thank you" I say.

"No trouble at all. I wish we had cameras back in the day so I could have some pictures with my best friend" She says. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. "She's dead now," She says in a joking tone.

I try not to laugh and Jessie can tell because she subtly steps on my foot. "I'm so sorry to hear that," Jessie says.

"Eh don't be. I can feel her ghost following me around judging my decisions"

It was silent for a moment. I grab my phone, turn off the timer, and hand it to her. We choose more friendly poses and the elderly woman snaps a few. After a couple of minutes, she hands my phone back to me. We say goodbye and thank you before getting back in my car.

"That was so awkward," Jessie says.

"I don't know, I kind of hope your ghost follows me around when I'm old," I say.

"I hate to break it to you, but I don't think I'm dying first," She says.

"Only time will tell" I shrug my shoulders.

Absolutely awful jokes to make aside, now that the cat is out of the bag, I loved my little lunch date with Jessie. It felt nice to not have to hide our relationship and drive a good hour away in fear that someone from my school or her family might see us. And I even have a few cute pics to remember it by.