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Ian walked to the river to give a Valentine to the dead boy.
Ian had been there many times. He had to walk underneath a bridge and through some thorny bushes to get in close to the murky water, down along a muddy ditch that he could sometimes see tadpoles flopping in.
Technically, he wasn’t allowed to go down there, but his mom couldn’t yell at him if she didn’t know.
The dead boy was sitting on top of the brusquely moving water, as if it were as solid as the ground.
He saw Ian and smiled. Even though he was slightly transparent, Ian could make out his short, blond hair. His clothes looked like a funny, overly proper uniform, with a vest and everything. Ian didn’t know any schools around here with a uniform like that. But maybe it was an old school. Lots of ghosts wore funny old clothes.
“Hi Ian!” the dead boy said.
“Hi Petey!” Ian waved from the ditch.
Petey was the name Ian called the dead boy. It wasn’t his real name because he didn’t remember his real name. Lots of ghosts didn’t. Ian wasn’t sure why, but he figured it was because their brain wasn’t, well ... around anymore.
(“Wonder where it is,” Petey said once, sitting with Ian on the creek, looking for frogs.
“It’s worm’s meat, probably,” Ian said with a smile, his hands and knees covered in mud.
“Gross,” Petey said with a sweet giggle.)
Petey glided above the water to meet Ian. He gave a chuckle that made Ian’s stomach have butterflies.
“How are you?” he asked.
Ian, suddenly feeling bashful, looked down.
“Um ...” He dragged his shoe along the mud. He almost slipped down towards the river, but Petey put his hands out to steady him.
Ian’s chest felt like it was on pins and needles where Petey touched him. The fact Petey was touching him made him forget that the sensation of a ghost touching him wasn’t exactly pleasant.
“Careful,” Petey said. “I know you can’t swim.”
“Right ... sorry.”
“This water is really rough!” Petey said. “Trust me, I know.”
“Right.” Ian let out a laugh, though he wasn’t sure why. He trailed off awkwardly.
“Everything okay?” Petey asked.
“Well ...” Ian honestly thought of running away in the other direction, but Ian had met enough ghosts to know they consider that rude. His cheeks felt hot and, unable to finish his sentence, he pulled out the card from his pocket, stiffly pushing it outward. “H-here.”
Petey blinked in disbelief as they looked at the card. It wasn’t amazing, just one of the tiny Valentines his parents bought tons of whenever his school did a Valentine’s Day exchange. Petey took it in his hand, looking at the drawings Ian did on the envelope.
“Did you draw the hearts on it?” Petey asked.
Ian’s cheeks grew hotter.
“Yeah ...” he said. “I’m sorry they’re shaped weird. I could never draw good hearts.”
“I like them!”
Ian put his hand up to hide his face. “T-thank you.”
Petey smiled and pulled the card out. Ian felt a lump in his throat.
“I’m sorry,” Ian said. “I-it’s kinda dumb.”
The card had a bottle of glue with a face and a cute smile cheerfully saying “I’M STUCK ON YOU!”
Petey laughed. “Awwwww, that’s cute.”
Ian felt flattered, even with his heart pounding and the urge to cut his losses and jump in the river in his mind.
Instead, he gave a nervous smile and said, “Thank you.”
Petey returned the smile. His eyes looked moist.
“No ... thank you.”
All of a sudden, Petey gently embraced Ian. Ian’s shoulders felt like they were falling asleep the moment they touched, but he didn’t care. It still felt nice to him.
“It’s a good feeling,” Petey said, “knowing you were remembered.”
Ian didn’t say anything right away, but he did think about the fact that no one else seemed to come down to the river but Ian. And that Petey’s clothes looked so old Ian didn’t recognize him.
Aside from Ian, was there anyone still alive who even knew about Petey? That there was ever a boy like him?
Ian didn’t say much of anything. He reached out to hug Petey back, but his arms just phased through.
“Ah,” Petey exclaimed.
“OH GOSH, I’M SO SORRY!” Ian yelled, his voice cracking.
“It’s okay!” Petey said with a laugh. “It’s fine ...”
Petey finally broke the embrace. There was an awkward silence as Ian fidgetted his hands together, unsure what to do with them.
“You want to just ... sit here with me for a bit?” Petey said, a little hesitantly.
Ian nodded. “Yeah. Yeah I would.”
And for a while, they just sat.