A boy’s voice.
Tears fill my eyes and Haya touches my shoulder. “Did you just experience a life flash?”
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “A what?”
“Sorry, you’re new to this.” Haya taps one of her temples. “Sometimes we get flashbacks of our former lives, especially if we’re missing pieces of them. Instead of complete memories in our heads, they kind of play out in front of us. It’s always riveting to observe someone experiencing their first. It’s a bit jarring, isn’t it?”
I pull my hair away from my face, tugging until the roots hurt. “Very jarring. I just wish I could remember the whole thing. Anything other than my name, really.”
“I’m sorry,” Haya says. “It’s far from ideal, especially when attempting to calculate your unfinished business. One more mystery in the grand puzzle to solve. If it makes you feel any better, I marched right past the door to the afterlife. Somehow managed to completely miss it.”
I half-gasp, half-laugh, remembering Kaz’s comment from earlier. “You’re kidding.”
“Not at all.” Haya settles on her bed. “I was distracted. I died of a brain aneurysm in one of my classes and I was right in the middle of this mathematical conundrum I was attempting to work out.”
Glancing at my mattress, I attempt to sit too. It feels pretty solid under me, so I release my weight and, much to my relief, stay in place. Score! Thank goodness for ghost-friendly spells. “Couldn’t someone, like, show you the way back?”
Haya adjusts her glasses. “Kaz could have, but I decided I wasn’t ready to pass on quite yet, which became my unfinished business, I suppose. Not to mention the fact that the study of ghosts is extremely interesting. We’re still ourselves without our corporeal bodies. A piece of us is missing.” She taps the end of her nose. “So, I stick around to find out more and help other people. I mean, we all have to help other students at Locklear finish their business, but I’m kind of a special case. I’ll start training to be a Ghost Guide after I’m done with all my classes. And since my body’s already been secured and moved to Locklear, I don’t really have to worry too much about the Xers.”
“Is that all it takes?” I ask. “I mean, to decide to be a Ghost Guide. Just wanting to be one?”
Haya pulls her glasses off completely, and cleans the lenses on her shirt. “No. Actually, it’s common for ghosts to get signs. They’ll show a propensity for protective spells, visions, things like that. Usually Ghost Guides were witches with the ability to see ghosts when they were alive — also known as mediums — but this isn’t always the case. I haven’t had any signs yet, but I like to keep a positive attitude. Especially considering the fact that I’ve helped other students pass on. There’s nothing quite so rewarding.”
“Did you,” I bite my lip, then let it go, “help your roommate, um, Erin, pass on?”
Haya bumps her heels against the floor. “I need to change for bed. It’s intriguing. We can actually change clothes. I’m still trying to work out the science behind it, but in practice it’s fairly easy. You just think about what you want to wear and... well...” She stands and squeezes her eyes shut. Her blouse ripples, shifting into a white tank, while her jeans soften into a pair of pajama bottoms. “The bathroom’s over there. We don’t actually need to use it or anything. Even though we can eat, we don’t experience typical body functions. But...it’s nice for privacy.”
I want to push the question but figure she might disappear on me or something if I do. Instead, I try for a much less invasive inquiry. “Can we see ourselves in the mirror in there?”
“I’m afraid not.” Haya pulls off her glasses, then slides under the sheets.
“Then I have a weird favor.”
“Don’t remember what you look like?”
My eyes widen. “Dang. Good guess.”
Haya smiles and slides her glasses back on. There’s a small gap between her front teeth I didn’t notice before. “I had enough context clues to form an appropriate theory. You have brown eyes, like, really dark brown, which looks awesome since you’re a blond. Though, your brows are dark, so that color might come from hydrogen peroxide.”
I chuckle and hold a fist full of my hair in front of my face. It’s not exactly curly, but not straight either. Kind of an in between wave that reaches all the way to my elbows. “That feels right. Think this texture is natural though.”
“It’s gorgeous. Oh! And you have a little scar on your upper lip.” She touches the spot on her own face. “Almost like you had surgery to correct a cleft palate.”
I mimic her gesture, feeling the raised surface, trying to pull up a memory. Nothing comes, so I look back up at Haya. “Thanks. Not just for telling me what I look like. You’re a great second-wave welcome crew.”
“No problem.” She scoots down further under the sheets. “Sorry again about Landon too. He’s not a nice guy, per say,” she yawns and slides off her glasses, “but he’s not the nightmare you met in the hall tonight. He’s had a rough time since...since Erin.”
I arch a brow at her, unconvinced but also massively curious at another mention of her former roommate. Tall and blond are both my type, but brooding makes me want to punch the pout right off his perfect face. And since we physically ran into each other, I assume I can actually make this happen if he gives me a good enough reason.
Not that I would ever use violence as an answer. At least I don’t think I would.
But I’m not losing sleep over a punchable face. I have another mountain to climb. Eyes squinted shut, I focused on changing my clothes the way Haya did. A small breeze brushes across my body and then my
