STARDUST ⭑ LUKE PATTERSON

two

GROWING UP, EMMY ALWAYS WONDERED WHERE SHE WOULD BE IN THE FUTURE. Nothing could have prepared her for this: living in a run down house on the outskirts of Los Angeles with two other ghosts. People used to visit when it was just Dawn and Emmy, and the scariest thing about the abandoned building was Emmy playing the piano in the front room.

    Ever since Willie joined, him and Dawn commit absolute chaos. The weird moaning. Flickering lights. Slamming doors. All of it. And they laugh every time teenagers run out screaming.

    "So, what were you two ladies up to today?" Willie asks as the three of them were sprawled out on the dusty couches of the living room after a long day of shenanigans.

    "Watching underage boys."

    "EMMY!" Dawn exclaims. "Why would you word it like that?!"

    Willie laughs as the lavender haired girl places the needle over an old vinyl, the sound of Louis Armstrong's trumpets filling the silence of the "empty" house in a low hum.

    "Another high school?" he questions.

    "Los Feliz High School," Emmy claims with faux adoration. "Home of the hottest fifteen year olds in the tri-state area."

    A crusty, stained throw pillow flies across the room, going right through Emmy. "Stop making me sound predatory!" Dawn cries.

    "Stop making me go to high schools!"

    "You're right," she sighs. Emmy wears a satisfied smile. "We should start going to colleges!"

    Emmy rolls her eyes before looking at Willie. "And what did you do today Willard?" she asks in a posh accent.

    He clears his throat, back turning into a rod as he purses his lips. "Well, Lady Emerson," he begins, "I went skating in Justin Bieber's empty pool today."

    "How lavish."

    "Oh, it was luxurious."

    "Stop using big words. I'm stupid and don't understand."

    "Dawn, babe," Emmy says, "They're synonyms."

    "What does cinnamon mean?"

    "No wonder you died young," Willie mumbles, evoking a loud laugh from Emmy, her lilac hair falling out of its messy ponytail and onto the smooth skin of her brown face. Dawn blipped over and yanked at her hair before transporting next to Willie to do the same to his chest length hair.

    The laughter died down after Willie and Emmy got a few more jabs in, and Dawn complained about having life-long (death-long?) bullies. When the silence settled over, and the sound of jazz music was the only thing the three of them could hear, a funny feeling settled in Emmy's stomach. One that would've made her heart skip a beat and breath hitch in her throat.

    "Hey guys," Willie says quietly, only continuing when the two girls turned to look at him. "Do you ever miss your old life?"

    "You mean the life I had before I was harassed by a girl who won't tell me she loves me and a guy who has the same taste in boys as me?"

    "I don't like little boys."

    "STOP SAYING THAT!"

    "BUT THE JOKE IS SO FUNNY!"

    "Just say you hate me and leave."

    "I tried to leave last Wednesday and you cried because I went to visit Lady Gagas's house without you."

    "I wanted to see the meat dress--"

    "Yeah," Emmy interrupts, silencing the other two immediately.

    Dawn's brown eyes widen. "Oh my God, are you gonna talk about your past?" Willie hit Dawn in the upper arm, for the two of them were still sitting on the same couch.

    "Nah, I don't want to anymore."

    Willie smacked Dawn again, enticing a yelp from her. "You see what you did?" he mutters bitterly.

    "C'mon, Em," Dawn says, walking over to the armchair the purple haired girl resided on. "Just share a lil bit. I'm curious. What was your best friend like?"

    "Annoying."

    "She meant while you were alive, Emmy."

    Dawn instantly glares at him, a look so lethal, Willie could have sworn he just died again.

    "Mmm, okay," Em says, sitting up a little straighter. "We did everything together. Ditched classes. Hung out after school. Wrote songs." Dawn's eared perk up at the sound of that, her chest filling with warmth at the thought. "Uh, yeah..." she trails off. "But we had a really big fight before I, um, died, so...I don't really think we're best friends anymore."

    "Why don't you visit? I go to see my sister all the time. She's twenty now, you know. In college for mechanical engineering. What a loser, right?" Dawn tells her.

    "Same reason I don't visit anyone from when I was alive," she shrugs.

    "You're so silly, Emmy. People aren't better off without you."

    "I never said that," Em replies quickly. "I'm a fucking delight to have around."

    Dawn smiles softly, hand going over her friend's. Emmy wasn't a touchy person, so she instantly retracted her hand, but Dawn hissed and grabbed her tighter. Willie stupidly smiles at their interaction.

    "Without you, I'd probably still be wandering around all alone. I'm glad to have you."

    "Stop kissing my ass, Knoll."

    "But, I love you."

    "Thanks."

    "SAY IT BACK!"

    Emmy stares back into her best friend's eyes, Dawn's deep brown eyes looking into an even darker shade of coffee. A flash of mischief sparkled in Emmy's eyes, like a splash of creamer in a cafe's darkest roast blend. "Never," she whispers, disappearing from the living room, leaving a groaning Dawn and laughing Willie.

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onlyphans:
the way that im literally buzzing with excitement because of this story sdlgzigbrsilbg
what do you think of emmy so far, i love her dynamic with dawn
also i wanna get to know my readers and since this book is very music heavy, what was your top song of 2020. mine was falling by harry styles (i genuinely did not think it was going to be that) but i think it says a lot about my mental state the entirety of this god forsaken year