Page 51 of After Life

“Right,” he said after the second retelling, where he actually sat and took notes. “Okay. First things first. Call Julian.”

Harrison waved his phone between his fingers. “Already tried. No service in the area, apparently.”

I drifted closer to Ezra and he shivered. “Sorry,” I muttered. “Still getting the hang of this.”

“Hopefully you won’t need to fully grasp the nuances of being a ghost because we’re figuring this shit out.”

“Can you try Julian again?” I asked. “I don’t know if he even knows...”

“Still not connecting.” Harrison sighed when Ezra asked him to try again. Harrison had no idea I was even in the room, just accepting Ezra’s word on trust.

Goddamnit, I missed Julian.

“Can you, I don’t know, go to him?” Ezra suggested gently. “See if he’s okay? Like you came to me?”

I hesitated, frowning. “Possibly? Earlier, I just thought of you and here I am. But I’ve been thinking of him, too, and nothing.”

“Try,” Ezra suggested. “And if you don’t come back...”

“I’m not dead. I promise.”

He nodded, frowning. “I’ll keep trying to call him and sorting this shit out,” he sighed. “Harrison?”

“Already working on travel plans.”

“Don’t ruin your break just because—”

“Just because my best friend is a living ghost? Really, Oscar?” Ezra demanded. “Think that through.”

I snorted softly. “Right. Just don’t rush into anything alright?”

Ezra huffed. “Remind me later to kick your arse a little, alright? You’re cockblocking the hell out of me.”

“So the chicken wings were foreplay?”

“Don’t judge our sex life.”

Harrison glanced up. “Do I even want to know?”

“Not especially,” we answered together. I closed my eyes then and... had no idea what to do.

Ezra was looking in my direction expectantly. “Well?”

“Well,” I huffed. “I have no idea!”

Harrison was staring at Ezra like he was the most fascinating thing on the planet. “What’s going on?”

“Oscar can’t go to Julian.”

“Why?”

“Yeah, Oscar. Why?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be standing here getting verbally abused on what is possibly the worst day of my life!”

“He says he’s having a bad day,” Ezra relayed, a tiny smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

“I said more than that!”