I’m standing on a street corner. Right next to me is a small coffee shop, the local kind you only find around here. Here? Where is here? I look down at my shirt. Seattle Seahawks is what it says. Seattle! That’s where I am, my hometown. It’s where I live. Live. Alive. That word is sticky in my head for some reason. No matter.

What am I doing here anyway? I’m holding a note. It says, To Jake. Jake! That’s who I’m here for. I remember now. I remember he said he had feelings for me, and I said nothing and ran. I bottled up the fact that I liked him too. He caught up to me, being so fast. Then he said I could meet him at this coffee shop if I wanted to.

I did want to. A lot. But not having the courage to speak to him, I preemptively wrote this note proclaiming my feelings. It all makes sense now. Gosh, I must have been waiting for Jake for an hour. I look at the note again, my best handwriting on a scrap of notebook paper. Then I look at my hand holding the note. It looks… wrong. Pale. Almost translucent.

That’s when I notice there’s a girl talking to me. How long was she there? And how did I not notice her before? Come to think of it, she looks just like my classmate, Rain. But I’d know if Rain got a job here, I’m here all the time. Must just be a doppelganger. Wow, is she talking loudly.

“Dude! Can you even hear me? You’ve been standing here for what? Eight months? Nine? Do you know who you are anymore? Do you remember anything other than standing here waiting around? Do you remember me?”

I stare at her. She’s wearing a barista apron. But she looks and sounds like Rain. We were never that especially good of friends, but I’d definitely know if she worked here. And what did she mean months? I’ve been here for like, an hour tops. Rain-or-not-Rain is still talking.

“Jake is gone, you know. He moved away. It’s been a while since that. And you don’t even know it. You’re dead, and you don’t even know it. You’re in denial, man.”

Denial. I was in denial about Jake. That was the only denial I had. I’m out of that. I know I like him. I like Jake, who did not move months ago. I saw him just yesterday. I saw Rain yesterday, too. We were all together with some friends, enjoying our summer freedom.

Summer? There are cherry blossoms in bloom right now. It’s spring. Summer was eight, maybe nine months ago. I look at my hands. See-through. My shirt, Seahawks. Seattle. My hometown. Where I lived, and where I…

My vision goes dark for a moment.

I’m standing on a street corner. Right next to me is a small coffee shop, the local kind you only find around here.