Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

like a weirdo.”
Hugo crossed his arms and glared at his feet.
Wallace frowned at the scooter. It should be easy. It was just like the
chairs. “Unexpect it,” he mumbled to himself. “Unexpect it. Unexpect it.”
He lifted his leg once more, throwing it over the back of the scooter. He
knew he looked ridiculous as he lowered himself slowly, but he was beyond
caring. He was going to do this if it was the last thing he did.
He crowed in triumph when he felt the back seat of the scooter pressed
against his rear and thighs. “Hell yeah! I’m the best ghost ever!”
He looked over at Hugo, who fought a smile. “You’re going to fall off and
—”
“Kill myself? I have a feeling I don’t need to worry about that. Get on.
Come on, come on, come on.” He patted the seat in front of him.
It was awkward, more so than Wallace thought it would be. The scooter
was small and Hugo and Wallace were not. Swallowing thickly, Wallace
studiously avoided looking at Hugo’s rear as he threw his leg over one side
and settled on the seat. The scooter creaked as Hugo propped it up, raising
the kickstand with the heel of his shoe. They were close, so close that
Wallace’s legs disappeared into Hugo. The cable stretched between them
tightly. It was oddly intimate, and Wallace wondered what it would be like to
wrap his arms around Hugo’s waist, holding on as tightly as he could.
Instead, he reached back and gripped the metal bars at his sides, settling
his feet on the footrests.
Hugo turned his head. “We’re not going far.”
“I know.”
“And you’ll tell me when it starts getting bad.”
“I will.”
“I mean it, Wallace.”
“I promise,” he said, and he’d never meant it more. The whispers he’d
heard in the house were louder now, and he could no longer ignore them. He
didn’t know what they were calling him toward, but it wasn’t the door. They
were calling him away from the tea shop.
Hugo turned the key. The scooter’s engine whined, the seat vibrating
underneath Wallace pleasantly. His laugh turned into a yelp when they started
rolling forward slowly, picking up speed as dust kicked up behind them.