Chapter 10 

-Wrigley-

When my best friend and their boyfriend showed up this morning it didn’t even occur to me that Cash might appear at some point. Waking up with him nowhere in sight and my friends here early in the morning made it feel like everything that’s happened in these past few days was a dream.

And then Cash appeared and he kept inspecting my hair with his chest right next to my face and his shirt was hanging open slightly and I had to pretend that he wasn’t there at all. I feel like a monk now; if I could resist staring at Cash’s chest for as long as I did then I might actually have some kind of magical power.

And then he touched my hair. And I hate when people touch my hair, unless it’s a select few people, one of whom is Leigh. And also Cash now apparently. Because it was nice, and I wasn’t even thinking about how I might accidentally make Cash visible. 

I can make Cash visible. To other people. I really did not expect that but hey. And I may have also told Leigh that Cash is my boyfriend. That’s no biggie, I mean it’s fiiine and hey at least Cash didn’t seem horribly offended when I said that. That’s always a good sign, right?

I may have fucked up slightly with the whole genetic disease thing but hey I panicked and then Cash came up with some bullshit word which did sound kind of science-y but also sounded like he made it up on the spot, which. Fair enough. It was a good attempt so hey. Points for trying.

I think Leigh expects Cash to move after that, to go sit elsewhere so they can finish my hairstyle, but Cash makes no move to get out of the way and when Leigh gives me a pointed look to say ‘get rid of him’ I just pretend to not understand.

Eventually Leigh huffs, tapping Cash on the shoulder. “Sorry but can you move? I’m going to end up elbowing you in the head or something, and I’d just really rather not.”

Cash sends me a panicked look and I kick him slightly. He seems to get the gist and slowly shuffles backwards, keeping our legs touching the entire time. Leigh looks at us like we’re utterly mad but it doesn’t matter and now Cash is sitting opposite me, my leg resting on top of his and him still visible and solid.

Randy comes back eventually, wrapping his arm around Leigh’s waist and kissing their cheek before starting at the sight of the super pale dude in all white sitting on my bed.

“Uh, hi?” He asks, looking between all of us and Cash as he tries to work out what he missed whilst on a snack-break. “Yeah um Randy, this is my boyfriend Cash. Cash, this is my friend Randy; Leigh is his joyfriend.”

Cash nods awkwardly, giving Randy a small wave and looking back at me slightly, panicked. It’s then that I realise that it’s been over two years since Cash last spoke to more than one living person at a time, and whilst just me and him might be ok because I’m the least intimidating person ever, two people with pretty strong and slightly intimidating auras is probably a lot.

It’s not like Leigh or Randy is scary, but if you don’t know them then they can be quite…impressive, in a way that my grumpy-dormouse vibes just aren’t.

As soon as Leigh finishes my hair, I turn around slightly, making sure that I’m still touching Cash as I give my friends my most convincing smile. “Thank you so much, I really should get going now though.”

Leigh nods, patting my shoulder before glancing over at Cash. “Are you going with him?”

Cash does a wonderful goldfish impression for a bit and if this was any other situation, I’d take the piss out of the look and probably elbow him in the ribs a few times for good measure. But instead, I just nod quickly.

“Yep, and we’re going now, so. Yep. I’ll see you later?”

Leigh and Randy nod, following us downstairs as I grab Cash’s hand and practically drag the ghost out the front door. Leigh and Randy walk with us for a short while until we reach the bus stop where Leigh gives me a big hug and whispers in my ear “dude I never knew you were into PDA so much, I swear you and he haven’t stopped touching since he showed up. It’s cute, you guys are sweet together.”

I laugh awkwardly, aware that I’m still holding Cash’s hand. “Thanks, and uh we’re not- I haven’t been touching him that much, just the occasional uh, just the occasional hand hold, nothing extreme.”

Leigh raises their eyebrow, knowing that what I said was complete and utter bullshit but deciding not to call me out on it. We wave goodbye to Randy and Leigh as the bus arrives, and as soon as my friends are safely gone I let out a sigh.

“Oh my god Leigh totally called me out for always touching you they kept looking at me like ‘bro y r u still holding his hand’ like when they hugged me and I just- I’ve never been so paranoid in my life,” I say all in one breath.

Cash stares at me blankly for a moment before erupting with laughter and touching my hair gently. “Sorry for getting us into this mess, I shouldn’t have touched your hair at all. It didn’t ever occur to me that other people would be able to see me too.”

Gnawing on my bottom lip like the dumb little rodent I channel the energy of, I let out a nervous laugh. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sorry that you got roped in as my boyfriend. I thought it’d be easier to play it off that way, but I honestly don’t even know at this point.”

Cash smiles, finally letting his hand drop from the back of my neck. “I don’t mind, I haven’t been called someone’s boyfriend is a literal age so it’s kind of nice actually. Also are you hungry or something? Stop acting like a cannibal.”

I snort, finally releasing my lip from my teeth and instead fiddling with one of the buttons on my shirt. “Well, if you don’t hate pretending to be my boyfriend around Leigh and Randy…they come around kind of a lot sometimes, so…”

Cash gently takes my chin in his hand, tilting my face towards him. “Sure, I’ll be your fake boyfriend.”