Ghosts {L.P.}

9:40

Ｇｈｏｓｔｓ Ａｃｃｅｐｔ Ｈｕｇｓ
＆ Ｋｉｓｓｅｓ Ａｓ Ｔｈａｎｋｓ

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။၊|• 1:09

Riya stared blankly out the window while her father followed Julie's father through the city, forehead pressed against the cold windshield while the lit streetlights zoomed past.

The cold of the windshield couldn't even compare to the iciness of Luke's hugs. The windshield was the type of cold you shied away from and hid beneath layers of blankets to avoid, Luke's was like a still steaming popsicle being pulled out of the freezer in a warm summer day, the type you chased and craved as much as life itself.

"You know," Her father broke the silence, forcing Riya to turn to face him, so the searing cold only pressed against the back of her head with his eyes still glued on the road. "There's email... Messages... Voice calls... Skype."

"Are you just mentioning all the different ways to communicate with someone?" He shrugged, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel before switching the blinkers alight to turn behind Ray's van into a less crowded street.

"I'm just saying, the success rate for long-distance relationships isn't zero, you could make it work," The realization of what her father was trying to insinuate felt like a ton of bricks being piled over Riya, heartstrings pulling against one another trying to see which one would snap first against the pressure while she outwardly scoffed.

"What? I know a crush when I say one, I was once a teenager too, you know," Riya slumped further into her seat, turning back into the rapidly passing streets hoping her father would catch the hint and stop speaking. The last conversation she wanted to have then is about relationships, when she had just lost someone she would have easily considered her boyfriend.

"I don't think I've ever seen you look that way at someone, with so much admiration and love you become goo at his feet. And heaven knows I've never seen someone adore the very same ground you walk on the way this Luke fella does,"

Riya clung to the seatbelt over her chest, knuckles whitening. She dug her teeth so deep into her trembling lip to keep steady she thought she'd draw blood while she felt the beginning trembles of an incoming heartbroken cry crawl it's way up her throat. Her father was right, no one had ever even looked at her the way Luke does, and she'd never get to experience his particular way of admiration ever again.

"If you're waiting for my approval, you got it. Luke has my dad of the year stamp of approval. And if you also want me to shut up, I will, and you'll never hear me talk about your potential boyfriends ever again." Even against all odds, Riya laughed, sounding more like a breathy exhalation yet still present.

How could she explain the complex situation in simple terms to her father? Riya couldn't very well utter the truth, how she had fallen for a ghost who had stumbled into her out of pure coincidence and practically blackmailed her into joining a band until she started to enjoy it, and that very same ghost had to cross over to not have to join this other powerful ghost's band and be able to have a choice in the matter.

Too complex to even summarize in a paragraph.

"Luke and the guys... They're quitting the band," It was the best lie Riya could come up with without having a dozen other questions being thrown her way, yet anyone who knew the guys would know they'd do anything rather than quit the band. At least her father didn't know any of them personally. "They want to focus on their studies and can't have sort of distractions like a band... or a girlfriend."