two ghosts | benoftheweek

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tatum's pov

i finished making the bed in the guest bedroom and walked downstairs. "did you finish?" dad asked frantically. he was clearly stressed about this. "yeah. is mom making dinner?" i asked as i smelled her famous lasagna. "yup." i ran into the kitchen and inhaled the aroma of my mother's homemade lasagna. "mom it smells amazing." i smiled.

she looked so exhausted. it's been forever since she's cooked. "mom you could've asked me for help if you needed it, i wasn't doing anything important." she hugged me and said, "it's okay sweetie thank you though." i missed her hugs.

my thoughts were interrupted with a doorbell.

i was crying inside but i still needed to be polite. the three of us walked to the door and put on our best smiles. "hi mr. parker!" he smiled widely and shook his hand. "you must be the lovely mrs. parker." he shook her hand but she considered a hug instead. he turned his head towards me and said, "hey, i'm ben" and smiled. damn it, he's cute. I smiled back. "hi i'm tatum but you can call me tate."

me and my dad started grabbing ben's bags while mom started to set the table up. he didn't bring much so we easily made one trip to his car and back.

while he went into the bathroom, i sat at my seat at the dinner table and groaned. "this is so weird." i mumbled.

ben stumbled out of the bathroom and sat at the empty spot next to me, kailey's chair. the thought of someone else in her seat physically made my heart hurt. "is there something wrong?" ben asked, looking worried.  "oh, no. sorry." i laughed nervously and grabbed a chunk of the lasagna.

-

i walked away from the table to go to the bathroom to update pey and riles.

tate
omg so he's here.
he's actually been
here but I didn't
wanna be rude and
whip my phone out

peyton
OMG WHAT DOES
HE LOOK LIKE

tate
he's actually
kinda cute

riles
ndndmsndn
describe him

tate
uhm he has black/brown
curly ish hair and he's
abt 5'8 or 5'9. he's very
nice and from what he's
been telling my parents
he's funny and has a lot
planned for the future

peyton
hmmm seems
like your type
tate
no ty

riles
peyton is right.
go snatch him up

hate
anyways i have
to go before
my family thinks
i'm constipated
or something

i quickly walked back out and see mom taking cookies out of the oven. "mom you made cookies?" i gushed. "mhm." i've really missed this a lot. mom has always loved cooking, she always used to make homemade meals everyday. but after the accident.. she doesn't do much anymore.

-

i put my phone down after ending my facetime call with peyton and riley, telling them what happened during dinner. even though it was almost 1am, i still went to go shower. i started blasting my favorite songs and put on a full on concert for the shower head and shampoo bottles.

when I walked out of the bathroom i ran into ben. his hair was messy and he looked groggy. "is something wrong..." i asked. i was already irritated just by the way he looked at me.

"you kind of woke me up with your music." he said. "oh um sorry i guess." i pushed past him but he stood in my way again. "please move." i demanded. i was soaking wet and water was dripping on the floor. "well can you like think of others first before you do something next time?" he said. i chuckled out of annoyance, pushed past him and said, "whatever."

he scoffed and walked back into his room. i locked my door and threw my towel on my bed. i laid on my bed and sighed. "this is going to be a fucking long summer."

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