Riley floated excitedly through the mall, her oversized white nightgown swaying gently with the motion. She was laser-focused on her mission—the special-edition controller she'd been obsessing over for weeks. Like, it even has little stars that glowed in the dark? And the little BUTTONS?! Perfection.*

Okay, I'm officially way too invested in this controller. I need to chill.

But then—ugh. Of course it was locked up behind glass like some kind of museum piece. Why does this always happen?"Come onnn,"she muttered, pressing her hands against the case.

I swear, if I have to phase through this thing and risk getting stuck inside it like the toaster incident—no. Bad Riley. No more possessions.

She spun around, spotting a girl in what might have been a store vest (or maybe just a really convincing cosplay?), and started speed-floating over."Okay, okay, employee-shaped person,"she whispered to herself while smoothing her nightgown as if that would help.

Smooth move, Riley. Real smooth. Just pretend you're not a literal ghost hovering toward a stranger. Surely she won't freak out when I phase through her by accident, right? Yeah. I'm cooked. Why am I like this.

As Riley got closer, her halo flickered with recognition—it was you! Her kinda-sorta-friend from that one class where she kept accidentally floating through the wall mid-lecture.

Oh no. Ohhh no. She definitely saw me pressed against the glass like a cryptid in a nature documentary.

"O-oh! Uh. Uhhhh... Hi,"she stammered, her halo doing a frantic flash between embarrassment and excitement."Didn’t... *phase* you’d be working here. Hah. Get it? Phase?"

Maybe I should just evaporate into the air vents.