School For Spirits

by Aron Lewes

  “However...” Amber holds up a finger. “There is a downside. Well... a couple of downsides. To begin with, you'll have to enter an alternate reality, one where you never died. You'll notice some changes, of course... everything from minor changes to major changes. In your case, Chandak, never getting cancer would be a huge change. But you might notice smaller, subtler changes as well... like movies with different titles, or famous quotes that have changed a bit. Things like that. If you do decide to reenter the mortals' realm, we'll try to get you to a reality that's as close to yours as we possibly can. Don't worry.”

  My heart is racing at the thought of this. What if I could see my parents again? What if I could hug my sister again? It almost sounds too good to be true.

  Of course, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

  “Additionally,” Amber continues, “you will have no recollection of anything you did in the spirit realm. When you wake up in the mortals' world, all of this will be like a hazy dream, and you will eventually forget everything.”

  Amber's words put a dagger in my hope. I need to be clear about this, so I slowly raise my hand.

  “Yes, Leigh?”

  “Umm...” In the corner of my eye, I can see Mr. Sood glaring at me. For some reason, he really doesn't like me. “Does that mean I'll forget about Taishi and Alyx?”

  When Amber nods, her black curls bounce. “Yes.”

  “I'll forget about everything we did together?”

  “Unfortunately... yes.”

  Great. In other words, I have to choose between Taishi and my family. That's great. In a perfect world, I could have both.

  Why can't anything be perfect? I want to scream. I need to scream. This isn't a “reward,” it's torture. I'd rather be oblivious to this. If Amber wasn't in here, I would punch the desk and scream at the top of my lungs.

  “I'll ask Chandak first,” Amber shifts her attention to my classmate. “Mr. Sood, what do you think you--”

  He doesn't give her a chance to finish. “Take me back!” he cries. “Let me go back to my wife, please! This is the easiest decision I've ever made!”

  I wish it was easy for me.

  “Are you absolutely sure?” Amber asks. “Remember, we're taking away memories of your illness as well. When you wake up next to Riya, you won't remember being sick, and you won't remember the spirit world.”

  “Yes!” Chandak repeats himself, sounding a bit annoyed. “I want to go back more than anything in the world. You don't have to ask me again, Amber! My answer will always be yes!”

  “Very well. And what about you, Leigh Riley?”

  Oh great. Now it's my turn. Do I have to answer right now? This seems like an important decision that I'll need more than a few minutes to make.

  On one hand, I love my family more than anything in the world. If I could be a part of their lives again, how could I pass that up?

  On the other hand, I've bonded with people here. I would miss spending time with Alyx, and the thought of never seeing Taishi makes me physically ill. On top of that, I would forget all about him. He's become someone important to me. Leaving him, forgetting him, losing him—it's too much to fathom.

  All of a sudden, I hear Taishi's voice in my head, and it's so clear, I check my ears for a thoughtshare.

  I want you to do what makes you happy, Riley-chan... Leigh. Don't worry about me.

  Taishi? Is he really speaking in my mind right now, or am I imagining it?

  You're not imagining it.

  There! I heard him again. How is that even possible?

  Once again, I hear his voice in my head. If two spirits have bonded, and their need is great, they can communicate without a thoughtshare. I've... never been able to do with this anyone before. Only you.

  Only me. Taishi's words are crushing my heart. How can I choose my family now?

  Choose them if you want to, Riley-chan. I won't resent you if you do. Your happiness matters more to me than anything in the world, so if you choose to go back to them, I'll understand.

  But will he really understand? Or am I going to make him eternally depressed?

  Oh, I'll be sad, Taishi answers me. I'll be sad, but I'll accept it. Make the choice that makes you happy, Riley-chan. Either way... I love you.

  A tingle scurries along my back when I hear the words.

  I love you.

  Taishi Nakamura loves me.

  And now I have to make a choice.

  As I walk barefoot on the beach, I can feel the sand crunching under my toes. The color on my toenails is called “Mango Sherbet.” Believe it or not, I didn't even have to paint them. I manifested the color.

  I close my eyes and listen to the soft swish of waves, surging and receding. When I open them again, I see a screeching seabird gliding on the wind. The sky is painted by a burnt orange sunset, and the descending sun is lashed by purple clouds. It's a beautiful scene.

  It's actually the perfect scene for our reunion.

  My sand-stained feet carry me forward, toward the black-haired man who's staring into the ocean. His black locks are adorably windswept, his hands are deep in his pockets, and his shoulders are slightly hunched. It almost looks like a sad posture. It's the posture of a heavily burdened man.

  I clear my throat to get his attention. When Taishi Nakamura turns around, his eyes brighten, and his lips stretch into the widest smile I've ever seen on him.

  Getting Taishi Nakamura to smile is still my afterlife's greatest success.

  “Leigh...” My ears prickle when he whispers my name. “You chose... to stay?”

  “Yeah,” I answer with a nod.

  And I don't regret my choice. Not even a little bit.

  “That must have been a difficult decision for you.” Taishi's smile falls a bit. “I'm sorry.”

  “No, don't apologize. For some reason, it wasn't that hard. After seeing you with your family, it made me realize something. You were so happy with them... and I'll be happy with my family someday. We'll be reunited, I just have to be patient.” A smile weakly climbs up my cheeks. I'm so nervous right now, it feels like I've got razors in my belly. “But... to think that I would never be reunited with you? To think that I'd forget about you forever? I couldn't let that happen.”

  There are so many things I want to do right now. I want to touch him. I want to drag my hands through his windblown hair. I want to hug him. I want to kiss him. But I have to remind myself to take it slow.

  It feels like the right time to tease him, though. “So... you love me?”

  Taishi chuckles and blushes. And I mean really blushes. I've never seen his cheeks so red. With a nervous scratch of his head, he asks, “Was it... too soon? I'm sorry, but I had to tell you how I felt. I wasn't sure I'd have another chance.”

  “And... is that really how you feel about me?” My chest buzzes with excitement as I wait for his answer.

  Taishi's hand stretches toward me, carefully brushing a wisp of hair from my forehead. In a whisper, he replies, “I do.” Before I can say anything, he quickly changes the subject. “How did you find me out here?”

  “I don't know. I just closed my eyes and tried to warp to your location,” I tell him. “And it worked. Obviously.”

  “Your warping skills are very impressive, Riley-chan,” Taishi commends me.

  “Thanks.”

  “And your healing skills? To my amazement, they were top-notch.” He still sounds like a teacher talking to his student, and for some reason, I think that's hilarious.

  “It's nice to get praised by the Great Taishi Nakamura!” I exclaim. “In the beginning, you used to pick on my inability to manifest!”

  “Well, you were really bad at it,” Taishi teases me. “To be honest, I thought you'd be a terrible student. You really proved me wrong.”

  I get distracted by his hair for a moment. His bangs are tousled, his eyes are intense, and he's got the cutest smile in the world. God, he's gorgeous. I can't believe I was ever interested in Jophiel when I h
ad Taishi Nakamura at my side the entire time. I was such an idiot.

  After a short pause, I speak up again, “So, you can hear my thoughts without a thoughtshare now? That's... all kinds of awful.”

  Taishi chuckles at my misery. “It shouldn't happen too often. In fact, it's very rare for it to happen at all. When two spirits communicate telepathically without a thoughtshare, their need must be substantial, and their bond must be strong.”

  “Yeah...” My eyes not-so-secretly comb the length of Taishi's body. He's wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. It's simple, yet sexy. To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen anyone look sexier in my entire life. It's hard to concentrate when he looks this gorgeous. “So... you're not going to listen in on my thoughts all the time, are you?”

  “No,” Taishi replies. “But you never know when it could happen, so you better be careful. I might catch you thinking about Jophiel.”

  “Pfffft!” I make such a loud scoffing noise, Taishi laughs at it. “Believe me, I am not thinking about Jophiel! No way. Never again.”

  “Good.” When Taishi takes a step in my direction, his hand lightly cups my cheek. As his thumb glides along my cheekbone, he asks, “So, you don't like him anymore?”

  “No! Is that not obvious yet?” I roll my eyes at him. “Geez, Taishi, for such a smart guy, you're really--”

  And then he kisses me. My entire body is dizzied by the touch of Taishi's lips, so I grab his arm to steady myself.

  I'm kissing Taishi Nakamura. As his lips connect to mine, I can't believe it. This is—by far—the most extraordinary, amazing, unbelievable moment of my life or afterlife. I'm literally giddy with joy.

  “You're beautiful, Riley-chan,” Taishi whispers as his lips depart. “I've always thought so.”

  “And I had no idea you thought that,” I answer with a chuckle. “You're pretty good at hiding your feelings, you know.”

  “I know.” His smile turns a bit cheeky. “And you're good at hiding yours... so I have to ask... how do you feel about me? Do you like me?”

  I decide to tease him a bit. “No.” Before his smile fades away, I quickly add, “I love you, Taishi.”

  Inspired by my reply, Taishi kisses me again, deeper and more passionately than before. I'm feeling a little more brave, so I wrap my arms around his waist.

  This is probably a strange thing to admit, but... if I could see us right now, I'm pretty sure we'd look cute together.

  When the kiss ends, I'm tempted to pull him down for another one, but I decide to make myself wait. After all, I have an entire afterlife of Taishi Nakamura kisses ahead of me. I have to be the luckiest girl in the universe, right? By some miracle, I managed to win the heart of this beautiful, complicated, smart, serious, stoic, perfect man. My good fortune shall forever baffle me.

  “So, Riley-chan...” Taishi's smile broadens as he gazes into my eyes. “Are you ready for our next mission?”

  Thanks for checking out my book! If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review. It would really help me out.

  If you liked School for Spirits, you might enjoy my steampunk series, Belles & Bullets (written under my pen name, Caylen McQueen) https://www.amazon.com/Barefoot-Barmaid-Belles-Bullets-Book-ebook/dp/B072FRCNDM/

  If you're curious to know what actors I had in mind for this book, check out my blog: https://aronlewes.tumblr.com/

  And for news on future releases, sign up for my mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/c-PqSH

  Keep reading for a glimpse of The Darker Ages, a virtual reality romance.

  Thanks again!

  “Mirror,” Prince Jonah demanded, snapping his fingers at the peasant to his right. When the looking glass was raised, Jonah grinned at his reflection. There was no face he liked better than his. He checked his teeth. Perfect. He checked his nose. Perfect. As he dragged a hand through his floppy golden hair and all the lustrous tendrils fell into place, it took him less than two seconds to decide it was--

  “Perfect,” Jonah said aloud. Turning to his brother, he asked, “There's no way she won't like me, right?”

  Prince Findlay indulged himself in a cavernous yawn before he bothered to answer his brother's question. “Probably not.”

  “She'll think I'm handsome, won't she?” Jonah checked the looking glass again, making sure his appearance didn't need any minor adjustments.

  “Most women do,” Findlay replied, sounding bored.

  “Do you think she will be pretty? God, I hope she's pretty. Even if she was plain, I could tolerate it. But I'd rather not be leg-shackled to someone so unappealing, I can't stand to look at them.” Jonah checked the looking glass a third and final time. He could see the princess' carriage in the distance, kicking up a storm of dust as it sped toward Castle Fellborn. Turning to the servant on his left, he commanded, “Cloak.”

  The servant immediately tossed a black hooded cape over the prince's broad shoulders.

  “Gloves,” Jonah demanded of another servant. Though he owed them no explanation for his whims, he gave them one anyway. “I'm cold.”

  Prince Jonah's servants had to be ready for anything. Within a few seconds, they located an appropriate pair and tenderly tugged the black leather over the prince's chilly fingers.

  “Be glad you're not the eldest, brother,” Jonah said to Findlay as the carriage drew near. “Be glad you're not subjected to this sort of... unpleasantness.”

  When the princess' carriage halted in front of the castle, Jonah momentarily stopped breathing. Two women alighted from its interior, and one of them was his future bride. Both of them were at least passably attractive, but they were as different as they could possibly be. One was a statuesque, olive-skinned brunette, while the second woman was petite and pale with strawberry blonde hair. As they headed in his direction, Jonah couldn't decide which one he preferred.

  “Greetings!” Prince Jonah exclaimed, bowing as the ladies approached. “Which one of you is Princess Arienne?”

  The strawberry blonde stepped forward and bobbed a curtsy. “That would be me.”

  “Wonderful!” He raised the princess' hand to his lips and barely brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “I'm Prince Jonah.”

  “I assumed as much,” Arienne responded with a sigh.

  “I'm your fiance.”

  “Indeed.”

  “The fiance you're meeting for the very first time,” Jonah pointed out. “Even though we're to be married in three days.”

  “I know.”

  When Arienne sighed a second time, Jonah's eyes narrowed. She sounded extraordinarily dissatisfied. But how could she possibly look at him and feel anything less than overwhelming satisfaction? Her reaction disappointed him.

  It wasn't the prince's lack of appeal that made her glum. With his shiny blonde hair and face full of freckles, Prince Jonah was, without question, a striking young man. In some ways, he had the face of a cherub. The softness of his features made him look more pretty than handsome. However, there was an undeniable wickedness and mischief in his pale blue eyes. It was as if devils and angels were at odds on his face.

  “Your journey was safe and uneventful, I hope?” Jonah spoke again.

  Arienne nodded stiffly. “It was.”

  “And you're not too tired to join me for supper?”

  “Not at all.”

  “My brother will be joining us.” The prince directed her attention to the man at his side. “This is Findlay.”

  “Hello, Prince Findlay. It's a pleasure to meet you.” Arienne dropped into another curtsy as she greeted the second son of Fellborn. She preferred the look of the younger brother. He was shorter and more slight than Jonah, but he looked friendlier by far. His smoke-colored eyes were much less sinister than his brother's. They sparkled with modest wisdom behind a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles. His hair was light brown, slightly curly, and kissed by sunshine. Unlike Prince Jonah's, Findlay's lips were not averse to smiling.

  “It's a pleasure to meet him?” Jonah asked with a snort. “Is it not a pleasur
e to meet me?”

  Arienne's eyelashes fluttered at the unexpected coarseness of his words. “O-of course it is.”

  The prince's nostrils flared. “If so, why did you not say it was?”

  “I'm quite certain I did.”

  “No. You didn't,” Jonah corrected her. “But I suppose it doesn't matter. Who is your companion?”

  “This is Jalen.”

  Jonah could feel his nose puckering as he studied the woman at his fiance's side. She was well-dressed, but he had a bad feeling about her. She had the look of a peasant. “And what is Jalen to you, exactly?”

  “She's my friend.”

  “But what does she do?” Jonah required a better answer. “Is she nobility?”

  Arienne exchanged nervous glances with her friend. After a few seconds of hesitation, the princess replied, “Not... exactly.”

  “So that means she's a commoner.” The prince sounded less than impressed. “Why do you keep a commoner at your side? That seems odd. Do you care to explain?”

  Arienne wasn't sure her fiance deserved an explanation, but she gave him one anyway. “Jalen was once a maid in my father's castle. We're rather close in age, so we befriended each other. There's nothing odd about it. Not really.”

  “Of course it's odd. Your companions should be the daughters of dukes... or earls, at the very least. The company you keep says a lot about you, Princess Arienne.” Jonah sent a blatant sneer in Jalen's direction. “I hate to say it, but your friend will not be permitted to join us at the dinner table.”

  Jalen suddenly spoke up. “I'd like to stay with the princess, though. I want to keep an eye on her.”

  “Very well. If you're incapable of extracting yourself from Arienne's side, you may stand against the wall and watch us eat. Is that acceptable?” The prince's ice blue eyes shifted between both women. Neither of them looked particularly pleased by his edict.

  “I... suppose,” Jalen tensely conceded.

  “Thank you for being reasonable. Now, if you'll follow me inside, I'll escort you to the dining room.”