"So, Muffin, what's the plan?" Casper asks, watching me drive.

I had already missed the start of college so I decided to just skip it completely. I wanted to get a way for a while. 

"We're going to the beach."

I see his half smile in the corner of my eye. "The beach, huh? Any particular reason?" 

"I felt like it, don't you ever feel like getting away sometimes?" I ask, grinning to my ears.

He chuckles. "It's the middle of November, Leah. And you want to go to the beach?" 

"Duh," I reply.

He shakes his head while smiling, "you're mad."

"All the best people are, isn't that what they say?" 

"Yeah, I guess they do."

The beach is my go-to place. Some people like their fancy coffees: cream and sugar with cream and sugar on top. But not me, give me the pebbles that move under my boots. Their loud crunch- louder than fall leaves and present all year.

 I suck in the salty air. "I missed this," I say, my eyes taking in my familiar yet always changing surroundings.

Above the sun is bright, but as always in November it has no real heat, only the power to render the ocean a glittering green-blue like my father's eyes. I miss those eyes.

"Did you come here a lot?" Casper asks next to me.

"I did, when we were a family." Although it pains my heart to think back to those memories, I found myself smiling. "My dad loved it here, we used to fly all sorts of kites, one year, dad bought a dragon one," I look up, as if to see it in the sky. "It was amazing to see."

Casper smiles at me, it was oddly familiar now, and I always found myself returning his gentle, crooked smile. 

The cold onshore breeze blew right through my coat so I wrap my arms tightly around myself and bow my head to shield my defenceless face from the iciness. 

"Are you cold?" 

"Yeah, but I'll warm up," I say.

"Really? I'm pretty sure it will just get colder, Leah. Why don't we go and sit in the cafe at the top, you'll warm up in there." 

I smirk at him. 

"Why are you smirking?"

"Because I know I'll warm up in no time, if I'm moving fast enough." He looks at me confused, "Race ya!" I shout, bounding away towards the sea. 

With every step the pebbles shifted. With every motion forward there was some backward and down. I slipped and tripped but I never stopped grinning. I ran until my eyes burned from dryness and my face felt like ice. My throat burned with the chill of the breeze.

The finish line was in reach, I looked behind me to see how bad Casper was doing, after all, I didn't really make it a fair start. But when my eyes fixed on where I thought he would be, he wasn't there. 

My face pulled in confusion, I turned back to see Casper right in front of me, I tried to stop but the pebbles were too wet to give me any grip and I fell right through him. 

I managed to balance myself before I could face plant onto the floor. Although I tried to look mad, once I turned around and we both looked at each other, we both burst into laughter.

"You should have seen your face," he laughs, resting his hands on his knees.

"You cheated," I say through my laughter. 

He laughs even harder so I stick out my tongue at him.

His gorgeous smile beams at me, his teeth whiter than the clouds above us. Damn I'm falling hard. 

We walked next to each other down the beach, there was no one around apart from us. I tucked my hands deep into my coat pockets and snuggled half my face beneath my scarf.

"So, what do you make of the psychic? She couldn't see you like Lily could." I ask.

"I don't know, maybe because Lily was so young, she could see me. Or maybe the psychic was crap," he laughs.

"I think she was alright," I say quietly. 

"Why, because she could 'sense' me? A lot of good that did." I look up at him confused, making my nose stick out from under my scarf. He rolls his eyes, "She had no idea how I died, or who I was in my past life. Nothing. Only some stupid stuff about us having entwined fate, or whatever."

That stung. "I guess she could have been more helpful, but you couldn't leave town before, and now here you are, at the beach with me. I guess that means we must be connected. Plus, she did say you were a blank, and that she couldn't read you."

"So what does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"And what the hell did she mean; we were meant to find each other? How does that work?" He asks, almost angrily.

"I don't know."

"I mean, come on, talk about cryptic. I'm a ghost, and you're just a girl who can happen to see me. That's all."

I don't reply, because he was no longer paying attention to me. Instead, he was looking across the ocean, his eyes twisted as if he was in pain. I knew this was hard for his, and that he didn't like to talk about this type of thing. But I think he needed to, I think he knew he needed to too.

"Casper?" His gaze fell to his feet for a few seconds, before he turns to me. "I promise, we'll figure this out, okay?"

His head slightly nods, but his eyes won't meet mine.

"Come on," I say, gesturing up to the beach, to where all the shops are. "Let's go for a walk, and then we can go chill in one of the coffee shops."

We start walking, our strides in time with each other. Neither of us say anything, we just walk next to the sea, lapping over the colourless pebbles, trying to wet our shoes. The sky was a light grey, the clouds so thick, it was almost like fog. The sun, now just a dull light behind the wall of clouds.

The icy wind stung my eyes, making them water. But I liked this. I liked my big coat wrapped around me, and my big cotton rainbow gloves holding the warmth around my finger tips.

"So this coffee shop, huh?" I look at him to see his lips turned up into that familiar smirk.

"What about it?"

"It could almost be a date." 

I gulp, feeling the blush rise to my cheeks. "You'd want it to be a date?" I ask, my question muffled by my scarf. I quickly pull it down to my neck. "With me?"

"Why not, you said okay when I asked you, so why not have it now?"

He had a point, but for some unknown reason, I couldn't grasp it. Why would he want to go on a date with me? I'm just me, he's probably just doing this because I'm the only girl who can see him. He just wants to play with me, see if I'll say yes now it's come to it. He doesn't like me.

"Muffin?" I snap away from my mind babble.

"Okay," I say.

A soft smile reaches his lips, "great."

When we get to the coffee shop, I'm thankful to be shielded from the cold wind. Warmth hits me as we enter, and I quickly take off my gloves, shove them in my pockets and unzip my coat.

"There's a corner table over there," Casper says, pointing to the back of the coffee shop.

­­­
I nod and head towards it, placing my coat over the back of the chair and sit down. Casper sat down opposite me.

"What's your favorite way to waste time?" Casper asks.

"To waste time? Why do you want to know that?" 

"Well, this is meant to be a date, right? So I want to get to know you better."

I open my mouth to reply, but I see the waitress heading our way so I quickly shut up.

"What can I get you?" She asks, beaming down at me. Her black hair framed her pale face perfectly. 

"Just a black filter coffee please," I smile back. 

"What, no pumpkin spiced latte?" Casper asks. My smile widens at his remark and I quickly break eye contact with the waitress. She walks off, not giving me another glance.

"So are you answer my question?"

"Ah yes, what's my favorite way to waste time? Hmm," I ponder the question for a moment. "I guess there's the cliche, reading. But my favourite has to be sitting on the bridge. I can forget the world up there, the sound is actually quite calming for me."

He nods. "If you opened a business, what kind of business would it be?" 

I laugh, "What's with the weird questions?"

Casper shrugs, sliding further down the seat. The waitress came back with my coffee, the smell warmed me before the liquid had even touched my lips. I eagerly grabbed it from her and held it between my hands, letting the mug warm my fingers. "Thank you," I said to her as I brought my nose over it and breathed in, closing my eyes as I did.

"A coffee shop," I smile at him. "I'd open a coffee shop, but the walls would be covered in art, on the walls, in frames, on the tables, on the cups and plates; it would be on everything. There's be a shelf dedicated to books, any book, any genre, and anyone could take one to read. There'd be board games under the tables, notepads and pens for drawing on the tables. The chairs wouldn't match and the food would be delicious. We wouldn't get busy, but have the regulars. The same people, having a place they can call home every time they need to leave reality for a while." 

"That's a beautiful vision." 

"It is. Mum always hated the idea, but dad," I pause, thinking back to him, and how his smile would always reach his eyes no matter what. "My dad loved the idea, he would buy me artwork all the time, and tell me that this piece would be hung above the first table, and this one in the bathroom. He would make it come alive for me. Then he left, and I guess the vision left with him."

"You should do it, it would suit you. I bet you'd love it."

"I would. But it won't happen."

"Why not?" He asks, leaning forward. 

"Because, Casper, that's a dream. It's not reality."

"So? Since when can't a dream become reality?" 

I shrug, trying to copy his calm persona. "It doesn't matter."

"It does." He says, determined. 

Knowing he won't drop the subject, I lift my coffee to my lips, gazing down into the sweet smelling blackness, readying myself for the tasty bitterness.

The hot liquid slips down my throat with ease, acting as a stream of warmth for my stomach. I sit like this for a while, my eyes closed, my coffee mug sitting at my lips, the steam warming my face. 

"Can I ask you a question?" 

"Another one?" I laugh.

"What do you actually remember from the accident?"

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Such a short chapter! I'm sorry! So much coursework :(