The next morning, Matt (in his invisible state) decided to venture out of his safe house to watch Julia at school. Anything he could learn about her would be helpful, and he managed to learn a lot. During English class, He listened happily as she told her friends how she met a “really cute guy” at the mall yesterday and was meeting him again today. During gym class, he snickered at her complete and utter lack of basketball skills. During lunch, he laughed with her friends at her clever sense of humor. During choir he listened in stunned silence at her angelic singing voice. During algebra class, he smiled understandingly at her struggle to stay awake. As he watched her volleyball practice, he reflected on what he had accomplished. To his own surprise, his feelings for her had changed as the day went on. He no longer saw her as an expendable pawn in his plan. After watching over her all day, he began to feel as if, in a way, she belonged to him. It was an irrational feeling that certainly didn’t fit the plan, so he attempted to ignore it.
He didn’t have any money! How could he get her to kiss him if he made her pay for everything? He groaned, realizing he would have to go home to get some, but he discovered some cash in his pocket. That wasn’t always there, was it? Yeah, it must have been…
When 4:00 drew near, Matt made himself scarce so he could appear without being noticed. As he waited cheerfully in the corner booth at the diner for Julia, several girls walked in and out. He grinned to himself; yesterday he would have made a pass at them, but not today! It was odd—Matt had never been a particularly cheerful person in life; he wondered what was wrong with him.
Julia entered right on time, and, upon seeing Matt, flashed him a big smile. Her beautiful smile sent a chill all throughout Matt’s body. After spending an entire day following her unseen, it felt strange and wonderful to be acknowledged. The two ordered burgers and milkshakes, and they spent nearly two hours talking and laughing together. After discreetly fishing for choir details, Matt got Julia to reveal that she was the star of the school choir, and her solos always got top-notch ratings at competitions. Likewise, after fishing for details, Julia got Matt to admit that he was ranked first in his class.
Finally, Julia rose from the table, saying, “I’m sorry, I have to go. I’m meeting my friends for a movie… But I had a really great time!”
“Me too!” Matt grinned, standing. “Would you like to do this again? Tomorrow perhaps?”
“I can’t tomorrow,” she sighed, “But I can the next day, is that okay?”
“Yeah, that’s great,” he answered, masking his disappointment. If he didn’t see her tomorrow, he had nothing to do during his visible hours.
“Okay, I’ll see you then. Thanks again!” She embraced Matt in a hug, and he hugged her back. For a moment he considered trying to kiss her but quickly dismissed the idea. There was no need to try and rush things. In fact, maybe he would let her be the one to kiss him…
Matt still had a few visible hours after Julia left, so he wandered aimlessly around the city trying to sort out what had happened in his head. Where had his money come from? He was fairly certain that it hadn’t been in his pocket earlier, nor did he have any money in his pocket when he was driving to school on the day of the accident. Also strange was the fact that he had eaten at all; until today, he hadn’t had the urge to eat anything since his return to Earth. A more pressing matter, however, was the nature of the personal information he had given Julia at the diner. Their schools didn’t have too much to do with each other, but she could easily come across the information that the academically highest ranked student in Matt’s class died in a car accident. It wasn’t like him to be so careless! Matt sighed. It seemed as if all his plans went out the window when Julia was around. When she was with him, he seemed to just forget everything else.
The following few weeks went about the same way; Matt would stalk Julia during his invisible hours and date her during his visible ones, and the two grew closer every day. Curiously, every time he needed money for a date, he would find it in his pocket. He was careful to heed his strict curfew; as he explained to Julia, he’d “be dead” if he missed it. During this time, Matt went to her volleyball games, met her friends and her parents, attended her choir’s concerts, and grew rather attached to her. He hadn’t yet tried to kiss her; he decided he was satisfied with his plan to wait for her to kiss him first.
The moment for which Matt had been waiting finally came one evening while watching TV with Julia at her house. She was sitting to his right, his arm was around her, and her hands held Matt’s left hand. After laughing at a commercial, their eyes met. Julia looked down at his lips then back at his eyes and smiled. Matt’s heart started pounding. Slowly, Julia leaned in. This was it!
