"Are you sure about this?"

"Um, duh. This is kinda my area of expertise."

I wasn't convinced. As I examined myself in the full body mirror in my hallway, I wasn't too sold on the whole idea of going out into public like this. My makeup was really sultry and smoky. My hair was (Y/F/H/S). And not to mention the outfit I was wearing. I had on tight, ripped skinny jeans, a black tank top, and strappy, black heels. I lowkey looked like a hooker.

"Maddi.... I dunno about this..."

She scoffed at me. "Please! You look absolutely fantastic!"

I sighed. "Okay... well, I guess if you say so. I'm.... really nervous about all this."

She smiled at me reassuringly, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you'll be fine. I am a matchmaker, after all."

I smiled at her, feeling a little bit better.

"Plus, Adler and I will be there, so it's not like you'll be alone with him or anything."

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Have you told Adler about all this, yet?"

She shook her head. "No, not yet. I'm just gonna fill him in on the way. It'll be easier that way."

I nodded in agreement.

Maddison had decided that what Beetlejuice and I needed to get past our awkwardness and friend-zoning each other phase was a loose double-date scenario. So that's what was happening. If Beej agreed to come, that is. Although, I wasn't really worried about it, considering he loved concerts and parties.

We had decided to go to see a local band in our area, Carver Commodore. (A/N: This is an actual band from my hometown, and they're REALLY good! Please go check them out, because they're an absolutely incredible band! They also did a rock cover of "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish and it high key SLAPS.) One of the great things about the local band was that they usually played free venues, so we didn't have to pay for tickets to get in. It was super cool.

I let out a self-conscious breath before hearing a knock on my door.

"That's probably Adler," I said, going to answer the door. I opened it and saw exactly who I expected: Adler, Maddison's red-headed boyfriend. He flicked some of his shaggy locks out of his eyes as he gave me a lop-sided grin.

"Hey, Poppins," he greeted me, his gaze looking up and down my small figure in surprise. "You look.... different."

"Oh hush, she looks good," Maddison corrected him, moving around me to give her boyfriend a quick peck on the lips.

"I mean, yeah, she does, but it's just not her normal look, is all I'm saying."

I nodded. "Definitely not my normal look. But this was Maddi's idea."

He arched an eyebrow at my friend, who smirked at me. "I mean, I am trying to hook you up, here."

I blushed a deep crimson while Adler gasped, a smile growing on his slightly freckled face. His icy blue eyes lit up. "Poppins' got a crush??"

I choked and avoided eye contact.

Okay. Lemme give you some context on me and Adler. We grew up together, have basically been friends for our entire lives. We went to pre-school and kindergarten together, and came up with nicknames for each other. I would usually call him something like "Cheeto", "Ginger", or "Pixie" due to his unusually pointy ears and his light way of walking. He would call me "Peanut", because I was always small, or "Poppins", due to the fact that I'm an artist and take pens and pencils with me everywhere. When I was younger, I would stuff as many of them as I could in my bag, so whenever anyone needed to borrow one, I could pull them all out and let them choose. I earned the nickname "Poppins" after Mary Poppins, because her bag never ends and she has all sorts of stuff in it.

Anyway, back to my friends teasing me about having a crush on a dead guy who watched the plague happen. Wow. What a sentence.

"I'm just shocked it took this long for Maddison to get involved, honestly."

Maddi nodded. "I'm shocked too."

Adler laughed at that.

I was just trying to fight the massive blush on my face and breathe.

"So....who is he?" Adler asked, smirking and leaning down to my height.

Oof. How am I gonna explain this one?

"Uh, well... he's sort of.... dead?"

Adler had this blank look on his face.

"Um."

"I mean, he's a ghost."

His brow furrowed as he gave me a look. "Poppins, I love ya, but I'm starting to worry about your mental health."

"No, seriously! Ask Maddi! She met him! Heck, this whole thing was her idea in the first place!"

The redhead looked over at his girlfriend questioningly. "Uh, Maddison?"

She grinned a "I can't quite believe it, either" kind of grin. "It's true. I met him, and I chucked the remote at his face."

He just stared at her. "You guys are being serious, right now?"

We both nodded in unison.

"I- I have no words. Of course you'd fall for a flipping ghost. Just- Go figure."

I laughed. "I mean, yeah. He's nice. Would definitely hide a body for me."

"Yeah, I no longer feel safe."

Maddilyn and I laughed.

"Oh relax, it wouldn't be your body, Cheeto."

"I would hope not."

Maddi was reapplying some mascara and lip gloss. "Well, I'm about ready to go, so like, summon the dead dude or whatever it is you do."

I rolled my eyes. "He got a phone after I taught him to work it. It's a lot better than just magically zapping him somewhere random against his will. I'll just call him."

Maddi nodded. "Yeah, I guess that makes more sense."

I stared down at my phone before taking a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing."

I was hoping that this would go well. Hoping.