Finally, he made it. 

The journey there hadn't been easy. Starting with the news of her death, he had just about given up. He'd been so depressed with his best friend gone, he nearly lost his own life in a head on collision with a truck. But afterwards, he saw it as a head on collision with fate. It woke him up, and through it he was able to find solace in this hard time, and in the back of his mind, now unhindered by grief, he remembered a fable; a tale she had told him when they were just kids. Somewhere far off in the country, there was a cave where you could see the spirits of the dead; your family, your ancestors, the ones you loved. He researched what he could, and ventured off into the unknown. Along the way, he had quite an adventure. He almost got arrested once, but at least he made some friends that helped him out. Now, after piecing together clue after clue, he was, finally, walking down the last ridge. 

Finally, he made it. 

The entrance was in the bottom of a huge cliff, and the setting of the sun cast a brilliant purple into the mouth of the cave. When he walked in, he found the small altar, just like the legend said. He laid a box of day-old chicken nuggets on the stone table, pulled out a small bottle of oil then, after soaking the box thoroughly, set it on fire with a match. He backed away, and dropped to the ground with a loud sigh, exhausted from the expedition. "She'd better like these as a ghost, too, or I'm gonna kick her spiritual butt." The smell of the crispy nuggets was starting to get pretty rank, so he doused the flames with water from another bottle, then splashed his face with it. As he wiped his face, he heard a gasp behind him that echoed ethereally.

"James?" 

He whipped his head back, and the sight got him to his feet. She was standing at the mouth of the cave wearing her favourite blouse, her dark hair tied back in a ponytail. He slowly stepped toward her. "Lily?" 

She smiled widely. "You're here," she said with relief. James stood dumbfounded, trying to find the words he'd wanted to say. "You've always been there for me, it's the least I could do." He saw her look down, then she started to giggle. "Aw, look at you, so sentimental. I'm getting choked up." She looked up, her eyes squinting happily, a grin on her face. James wasn't up for the banter this time, though, and he stuck his hands in his pockets. "Hey, I was about to start baring my heart and soul for a minute. Don't make me change my mind." Lily's expression changed, and her face softened. "Sorry. It's just… I miss you. I know it hasn't been that long, but I miss just… hanging around you and talking, you know? And I guess we can't really do that anymore because of…" she gestured to the space between them, and James nodded his head, lowering it as he contemplated what he'd been waiting to tell her. There was a little silence, but he finally spoke up. "Y'know, I never told you because it seemed weird to bring it up before, but I needed to let you know that… That I valued our friendship. More than anything." He stuck on those words for a second, his head still bowed. Lily interrupted him as he opened his mouth. "Me too." James looked up. Lily continued. "Of course I never said anything because no one ever says so before it's… Before it's too late, but I cared about, um, this. Us. You." James smiled a little, then said, "I know what you would've said if I told you this before." He waited a beat before mimicking her in a silly voice: "Aw, look at you being sentimental. I'm getting choked up." She laughed, her eyes scrunched up again, making James laugh, in turn. Once the giggles subsided, Lily sighed contently. "See, this is what I missed. No one could ever make me laugh like you did. I never felt the same around anyone else. Now that we're here I may as well lay all the cards on the table." She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and looked down. James ran a hand through his own hair and jumped ahead of her. "Lily, I wish I'd told you before, but…" He forced the words out, even though his nervous gut told him not to, "I… Loved you." She put a hand over her mouth and turned around. James' heart sank, but he knew it didn't matter anyway; their friendship couldn't get anymore distant than it already was. He was about to turn around himself, when he heard a sniffle come from her direction. Lily turned around, wiping a tear away with her thumb. "James, I… I wanted—I should have told you before, but I love… loved You, too." 

James stood there, dumbfounded once again, his mouth hanging open. "Y-you did?” He paused for a moment. “I’ve liked you since, uh, senior year, I think. How long did you...?”

“Middle school. Since middle school,” she half whispered, the tears coming back. She stepped forward, and so did James, closing the gap. She still looked so real, even from this close. “Look,” said James, “maybe it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to tell each other this before. Maybe we would have gotten the chance to see how it could have been.” Lily simply nodded. “Hey. I know we’ve done weirder stuff together, but I wanted to do it now before we-” she choked on her words before she continued, “before we never see each other again.” She swallowed, and closed her eyes. James leaned forward and shut his eyes, too. He could imagine her getting closer, imagine how it would have felt to…

Suddenly, his forehead hurt. His hand reached for it instinctively, and rubbed it. “Ow…” she said in a low groan. James’ eyes shot open. Across from him, holding her own forehead, was Lily. He couldn’t believe his eyes. “What the…” Lily’s eyes darted toward him, and her face adopted a similar expression of shock. “So, wait, you’re not-”

“-a ghost?” she finished. They stood there in stunned silence before Lily abruptly slapped James in the face. It almost didn’t faze him; it was proof. “Ow…” he muttered. “Idiot!” she exclaimed before she burst into laughter again. Those eyes, that smile. “I thought you were dead! You died in that car crash!” James practically talked over her to say his side of the story. “The only reason that happened was because you died!” He laughed too, and now hurried forward to hold each other, tears of joy streaming down each of their faces. Finally, James exhaled into Lily’s hair. “Y’know, now that we’re both done being each other’s ghosts, can we do it for real?” Lily pulled back from the embrace, her eyes now red and creased with happiness. She sniffled and closed her eyes, leaning forward. With a sense of deja vu, James put his hand against his forehead to stop any further injuries, and leaned in, thankful he no longer had to imagine.