“Aw, thanks for lying.” I clasp both hands to my chest as I follow him inside. “That’s the sweetest fib anybody’s ever told me. I think.”
Rafe’s face twitches a little, but he hangs on to the happy. “Well, it’s not a total fib. I did crash into the bathroom door last night, so I got to learn the error of my ways in private instead of in front of the class. Well, relatively private. Scared the crap out of poor Quinn.”
We sit on a pair of mats near the back of the classroom. It looks a little like the Discovering Your Unfinished Business classroom. The only difference is that there are no desks and the front of the room is full of various objects, presumably for us to practice handling with our ghosty hands.
Quinn sits a few rows in front of us. I’m a little surprised to see him here, but then again, I don’t know that much about the kid, not yet anyway. I give him a little wave and he offers me a small smile. I’m pretty sure I misread his shyness before.
Yasmin floats in and snags the empty spot next to him, a grin with almost the same wattage as Rafe’s lighting her face. Quinn looks mildly overwhelmed as she immediately starts chattering at him, but he nods and even mumbles a few times in response.
They would be so cute together...
A woman wearing an obnoxiously bright green polo drifts through the open door. When she reaches the front of the room, she gives us a smile. “Good morning.”
The entire class responds in unison, repeating her greeting in a sort of dull drone. I suppress a laugh. We sound dead even for the life deprived. Maybe I’m not the only one who missed my morning coffee.
“My name is Ms. Troges and I will be your Corporeal Contact instructor. In this class, you will learn how to interact with objects still in the land of the living. All of them are unspelled.” She gestures to the balls and books behind her. “Once you have mastered the first part of this class, you can begin your combat training. Both of these skill sets will be necessary for completing your unfinished business and eventually passing on.”
Ms. Troges squats to pick up a frisbee. “This class can be tricky, as those of you who have been here for a few weeks already know. Because we are not technically on the same plane as these items, our forms essentially pass by one another.” She smiles and tosses the frisbee to Quinn.
Automatically, he throws up his hands, but it sweeps right through him like he’s not much more than smoke. It then pings off a wall and slides across the ground next to my mat. Everyone laughs a little. Without really thinking about it, I reach down and grab at the edge. Though I don’t get a grip, the frisbee does move, scraping about an inch toward Rafe.
“That’s a good start, Ms…?”
“Martin.”
“As I said, touching objects in an opposite plane is difficult. But not impossible,” Ms. Troges says. “It simply takes concentration and practice. There is no exact science to it. Something you will learn when we cover our unit on telekinetic contact. Any of you who wished to have this ability while you were alive are in for a treat. Now Ms. Martin, why don’t you give it another try?”
I squint at the orange disk. This feels like a trap. If she uses me as an object lesson, I will be most annoyed. I’ve already banged my head against a door, I can’t be used as an example of what not to do again.
Eyes still narrowed, I reach down a second time, concentrating on crossing over planes. That phrase slides through my mind as my fingers make contact. “Score.” I pick up the frisbee and wave it for the whole class to see.
Rafe starts a round of applause that Ms. Troges joins until I throw it back to her. “Excellent work, Ms. Martin. Tell me, what was your thought process?”
I wind a strand of hair between two of my fingers. “Well, there was this phrase that popped into my head. Crossing over planes? I’m not sure exactly what it means, but it helped. When I was alive, I was a witch with medium abilities, so maybe that’s why I knew it?”
Ms. Troges’ brow lowers a bit, but she nods. “That is a possibility. Though that phrase is...specific. We can discuss it later. For now, I want everyone to partner up. I will bring you each an object from the front of the room to practice with. Keep what Ms. Martin said in mind. It is excellent advice.”
Stomach all twisty, I watch Ms. Troges’ face, trying to figure out what that hesitation was about. Why the heck did she sound concerned when she said “specific”? Was I some kind of creepy, abnormal medium when I was alive? What if…?
My jaw clenches. I can’t even form the thought. Thankfully, Rafe cuts me off before I have to.
“Partners?” He grins and lifts both brows. “I don’t have your mad skills, but I did get a lot of experience interacting with the land of the living when hanging around at Blakemore.”
“Hmm, I don’t know.” I tap my chin. “I mean, you do bring a lot to the table, but I feel like I need some more convincing.”
Rafe holds up a finger. “Hang on, think I got something.” He winks, then shifts into fox form.
I’m so shocked I cackle. Loudly. Fox Rafe rolls onto his back, wiggles with his tongue hanging out, then flops back onto his paws to lick my knuckles. It’s cold and wet and delightful all at the same time. Every little shake throws me into more laughter, but I cross my arms.
“Do you really think this is going to work?”
He lets out a little chirping bark. It’s so ridiculously high and adorable that
