Page 28 of See Through

I nod.

“I would love to. Just let me know when I have to free my schedule up, and I’m all yours.” She taps her feet against the ground. “Wait, this is going to be so much fun! Do I know this Cooper Dean is bringing?”

“I don’t think you’ve met him. He’s nice, but he’s a huge goofball. Dean assured me he would be a little more serious for the investigation, but I don’t mind. We honestly need someone to bring the jokes just to lighten the mood.”

“Okay.” She nods. “And I assume you want to have a meeting before we do this so you can tell me everything I need to know?”

“You know me so well.” My hands cross over my chest. “Sometimes, I still can’t believe I get to do this as a job. I wish I had started this with Adrian before he died.”

“You guys used to ghost hunt around the funeral home part of your house, right? I vaguely remember you saying during group one time that you guys duct taped a fake camera together and pretended to capture them on camera when you were little.”

I smile at the memory. “Mhm. We loved watching those ghost hunting shows with our dad at way too young of an age. After our parents went to bed, we used to roam around the house as quietly as we could to try and capture the paranormal.”

We did it more than once too. I remember multiple nights when we would roam around different sections of the house we weren't allowed in, trying to find evidence to show it to our parents how they did on television.

“Aubrey, come feel over here, It’s freezing!” His voice is as clear as day in my memories, and I’m thankful I can still remember what he sounded like as a kid before we got older.

“Wow, that’s crazy.” I remember making the noises of the thermometer as I read a fake number off our cardboard one. “Forty five degrees!”

“Write that down in your journal. There has to be more. Come on!”

I spot the same journal in my bookbag sitting next to my chair, and I feel emotions crawling up my throat. Dean told me when I hit a million subscribers that Adrian would be proud of me, and I’m sure that’s true, but it feels different hitting all these milestones without him when he was my very first ghost hunting partner.

“Aubs? You okay?”

“Yeah.” I wipe away a stray tear. “I just miss him. I know he would have loved this. He’s the entire reason I chose to leap into this career. I didn’t imagine I would be this successful, but here I am, living comfortably off my passion without him.”

“I know how you feel, babe.” She grabs my hand. “But your relationship with Adrian isn’t a ghost story, despite how you may feel.”

“It’s not?”

“No. It’s familial. It’s got love in between all of it, and I like to think all ghost stories end up as love stories at a certain point. In everything, there is love, and you going back to see if your brother might still be at your childhood home is love. You miss him. You want him to know he wasn't forgotten. That’s love, Aubs. He may be a ghost, and he may not be here anymore, but he will always live on because of what you’re doing to keep his legacy alive. Your entire existence is tied to his, and when you see him again one day, he’ll tell you the same thing.”

“That was beautiful, Mave,” I tell her. “Have you thought about letting me go to⁠—”

“Not really,” she interrupts me. “I don’t think I could handle it.”

“I’d love to see where you guys hung out and spent most of your time. Not even with the cameras, but just to⁠—”

“It’s okay, Aubs. I don’t know if there’s a universe in which I face what happened with an open heart.”

“I know,” I sigh, hating I brought it up. Her loss is much fresher than mine. I lost Adrian when I was in college, but she lost her friend a little over a year ago. A year after Adrian died, I was still floating through life like a ghost. “Sometimes, I don’t know how you’re still standing.”

“Therapy,” she jokes, but I know she’s being serious. “And having you and the group has helped. I know it has been a minute since we went to a meeting together, but it really has helped. Talking it out is more helpful than I care to admit.”

“It always is. I just want to remind you I’m here⁠—”

“You’re here for me and you love me and I can call you any time? I know, Aubs.”

“Will you stop interrupting me when I’m trying to be nice to you?”

“Nope.” She smacks her lips. “You know I don’t do well with compliments or help.”

“I know.” I roll my eyes. “I just wanted to remind you. Life is hard sometimes, and none of us can do any of this alone.”

“If I need you, I’ll call you. I promise. For now, I’m going to focus on the fact that I get to be on the Aubrey Spencer’s channel for a ghost hunt.”

I can’t hold back the laugh that comes bubbling out. “I’m not famous, Maves, but I appreciate that.”