Chapter Text
George and Mason walked into The Pink Door. The wait time was an hour. The whole time, Mason played with her hair and rambled about nothing.
When they finally got a table, George was slightly freaking out. She was running out of time. She kept checking her watch. Mason brushed it off.
"It's fine! You'll find them. Just keep an eye out."
"Oh, great. That's so helpful. I'll be sure to tell them that after they've died painfully." George sarcastically replied.
Fortunately for her, Mason was right. Suddenly, a crowd of waiters was singing happy birthday to a girl named Sandy as they slowly walked to a table.
The waiter in front held a big chocolate birthday cake. George scanned her note anxiously. Sandy Peterson. Bingo.
George looked up to see a young girl with a big grin. A girl with silky blonde hair and bright brown eyes. Full of life.
"George? George, is that her?" someone said. George didn't hear them. She just heard her mom singing happy birthday to her on all of her birthdays.
Someone snapped their fingers in her face. She looked at Mason. He was frowning. He stood up and held out his hand.
"Come on, George. You got a job to do." Mason said. He was right. Why was he so right today? It was kind of annoying. George grabbed his hand.
"Oh, what the fuck." George whispered.
Mason led her over to the girl. She was eating the last dinner she'd ever have with her family on her birthday. George's stomach twisted into knots.
Mason gently pushed her in front of him. George realized everyone at the table was staring at her and forced her brain to cooperate. She checked her watch. 6:05 p.m.
Seven minutes. She looked at the girl who was clearly confused. George put on her best smile. She's practiced it so many times in the mirror that it's second nature at this point.
Becoming Millie or a variation of Millie required adopting a new personality. It's easy to forget that that's not who she really is. Millie is half George and half something else entirely. Her mom would probably be impressed by her for once.
"Hi. I'm George. I just wanted to say happy birthday." George held out her hand politely. Sandy raised an eyebrow but shook her hand anyway.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks. I'm Sandy."
George gently coaxed her soul out. She was both relieved and nauseated. She wanted nothing more than to leave. She didn't want to see this.
But it was like watching a slow moving train wreck. She'd already seen a real train wreck before but still. George was rooted to that spot.
"So how old are you now?" George asked. George wasn't sure why she asked that. It was such a stupid question. It didn't matter. She was about to die in six minutes.
"Eighteen." Sandy said.
"Cool. You have any plans?" George asked. Yeah, she's definitely a masochist. A therapist wouldn't need to tell her that. A therapist wouldn't even know what to do with her.
"Yup. I'm going to be an art major at Cornish."
Fucking fantastic. As if this wasn't surreal enough already. The dead girl walking that's a dead ringer for her likes art. The one thing George liked to do when she was alive. Well, before she lost all motivation to do anything with her life.
George always liked art. When she went to an art gallery for a school field trip once, that sealed the deal for her. Her mom never understood. Reggie thought it was cool.
Of course, George didn't care about what she thought. Not till after her death. George liked the shapes, lines, and colors. She liked sad or disturbing art.
George didn't smoke but she still related to Vincent Van Gogh's Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette. Even when she was alive, she was dying in other ways.
"That's...awesome. Good luck with um, art and stuff."
Sandy nodded with a quirk of her lips. George awkwardly shuffled away. Her stomach threatened to empty itself. Whatever. She doesn't care about anything.
She saw Mason waiting for her with a big thumbs up and a reassuring smile. She didn't notice something was on the table. George scowled and slid back into her seat.
"Happy birthday." Mason said. George looked up. He was holding a cupcake with a lit candle on top. George looked at the cupcake and then at Mason.
"What?" George asked, completely baffled. Mason causes her to say that a lot.
"Happy birthday. I forgot to say it earlier. So, I bought you a cupcake. I told them not to sing. I knew you'd fucking hate that."
"Mason..." George said. She held the cupcake in her head. She stared at the small flame and then promptly blew it out.
"Thank you, Mason." She said quietly. It honestly hurt how sweet he was. It made her feel like an even worse person in comparison.
"Anytime, Georgia. What'd you wish for?" Mason grinned happily. Before she could answer, she saw the Graveling drop down from the ceiling, right onto Sandy's shoulders. Mason noticed where her eyes went and turned around to look.
They watched as it wrapped its hands around Sandy's neck and squeezed. 6:12 p.m. Sandy ate her last bite and began to choke. Choking is silent. It took a minute for her family to realize.
Once they noticed, her mom started screaming. Her dad tried to do the Heimlich maneuver. Someone called 911. It was no use. Sandy passed away within minutes. The restaurant was deathly silent besides her mom's wailing.
"What the hell?" Sandy asked beside her. George looked at her. Mason stayed weirdly quiet for once.
"You're dead. You choked on your food." George said.
"Shit. My mom's crying. She needs me. I can't just leave her here." Sandy responded. George clenched her fist.
"Yeah, I know. It's fucked up isn't it? It's shitty and unfair." George said almost angrily. Sandy glanced at her.
"Sounds like you're speaking from experience." Sandy prompted curiously.
George looked at Sandy's mom. All that pain and grief will stay in her eyes till the day she dies. Her husband was holding her back from touching Sandy's body. His face was also covered in fresh tears.
"Is it that obvious?" George said. The portal opened. George thought she could see a giant art gallery. It was full of art pieces she'd never seen before. George could easily guess who the art belonged to. Sandy frowned at the portal.
"I'm sorry, Sandy. At least you get to be in peace. I'm dead as fuck but I'm still here. I might as well be in hell. You're luckier than me."
George was so resigned at this point. She never stopped being angry but now it was just a simmering fire under the surface. It had nowhere to go but up or down. These days, it went down. Sandy shrugged.
"Doesn't make it any less shitty, George." Sandy walked backwards into the portal.
"Bye Sandy." George waved.
"See you, George. I have a feeling I'll see you again someday." Sandy disappeared. George felt an ache in her heart. She's felt it since the day she died.
The police and the ambulance came. The paramedics took her body away. George and Mason walked out of the restaurant. The crying echoed in her ears.
"Hey, I just remembered...I have to do something!" Mason exclaimed. George looked at him quizzically.
"What, like right now? It's like-"
George checked her watch.
"It's 6:30." George said. Mason grinned at her.
"Yeah, and I got to do it right now. Before the day ends."
"Well, ok. Bye, I guess." George said reluctantly. Mason tilted his head.
"Why the long face, you gonna miss me?" Mason said teasingly. George full body twitched.
"Actually, I have to do something as well so...see you later." George walked away. She heard a laugh behind her.
"Bye, Georgia."
George turned around. He was already gone. It kinda hurt. It's fine. It doesn't matter. George took a walk for a couple hours. She wandered the streets aimlessly like a ghost with no purpose.
When she finally went home, the lights were off. She guessed that Daisy and Mason must still be out somewhere. Probably together. Whatever. George closed the door behind her. She turned the lock. The lights turned on.
A chorus of voices shouted, "Happy birthday!" while her back was turned. George spun around. Roxy, Daisy, and Mason were standing there, smiling. A cake was sitting on the table with candles lit. Birthday decorations were on the wall. Today was full of surprises.
"It was Mason's idea. He asked me to buy a cake. I wasn't sure what to get you, but I thought you might like a chocolate ice-cream cake." Daisy said with a smile.
"And Mason asked me to buy decorations. I tried to get you things you wouldn't hate as much. You're hard to buy for." Roxy chimed in.
George looked at Mason. He smiled so brightly at her, and it honestly took her breath away. It was stupid. It was nonsensical. It felt so right that it overwhelmed her.
George didn't deserve him. His smile and his kindness and his eyes. She wanted him anyway. Her favorite person.
She looked at them all. Her only friends in the whole world. She felt like her heart just grew three sizes.
"Thanks guys...I-" George stopped. The words got lodged in her throat.
"It's okay, we know. Sappy has never really been your thing. Blow out the candles and let's eat." Daisy said. George smiled so wide that her cheeks hurt.
Before she blew them out, she looked at Mason. He winked at her with a cheeky grin. George shook her head with a chuckle. She wished for something different this time.
They ate at the kitchen table. It actually was a very good cake. They talked for hours. Eventually, Roxy went home and Daisy went to bed. It was just Mason and George now.
"Mason, you really didn't have to..." George said. She was staring at the cake. She glanced at Mason. He was sitting next to her.
"I wanted to." He simply said. He said it so confidently that it left no room to argue. She couldn't find it in her heart to argue with Mason anyway. It felt wrong.
"You asked me what I wished for earlier. I guess I can tell you now because it came true." George shrugged. Mason raised an eyebrow.
"I wished for a good birthday. That's all I wanted." George stated. She avoided his eyes. A strand of her hair fell into her eyes.
George was just about to push it out of her face. Suddenly, Mason curled it behind her ear so gently that she stopped breathing. Again.
George looked at Mason. He was staring at her so blatantly. She stared back. She should've guessed what he said next.
"What'd you wish for the second time?" Mason asked quietly. George looked away.
"If I tell you, it won't come true." George responded. Mason chuckled.
"Oh, come on, George. Just tell me." Mason prodded. George shifted nervously in her chair.
"That day at my job years ago. You walked into the office...I thought you were drunk. You were being so weird. You told me you loved me. And then you-"
"I kissed you." Mason finished for her. George nodded.
"Um, yeah." George mentally kicked herself. Super eloquent, George. Masterful way of talking to a guy. Mason leaned forward. He stared into her eyes.
"George, I love you."
He softly kissed her on the lips. George's dead heart came alive for a second. She kissed him back. She pulled away.
"Can we do this all the time?" George asked breathlessly. Mason grinned.
"Of course, Georgie."