AMELIA LOOKED SAD TO see her friend go and without waiting a second, Mateo pushed Chase towards her. He stumbled and Mateo grabbed a bewildered Luca and pulled him along to the group of waiting people to their left. Chase looked at him in betrayal and Mateo gave him a thumbs up, grinning all the way, before mouthing a lot of undecipherable words.

Gabriela wasn't sure what to think of the whole spectacle she just witnessed, but thankfully for him Amelia only noticed him standing there alone a second after. He immediately straightened his back and fixed his hair, offering her a shy smile.

"Did your friend become a ghost too?" she said.

"Yeah," Chase said dazedly," a person, ghost, whatever you want."

"What?" she blinked.

"Did I say that out loud?" Chase said, cheeks reddening," I meant to just nod."

Before he could make it any worse Milo interrupted them, a charming smile on his face as he gestured at Chase.

"Why don't you pair up together?" he suggested," you both don't have a partner yet."

"I'm up for it," Amelia smiled," if you don't mind, of course."

"I don't," Chase said, voice a bit too loud. He scraped his throat, quickly collecting himself and repeating it with a lower tone. "I mean, I don't mind."

"Great," she beamed," I'm Amelia, by the way."

"Chase," he said," like the verb."

"Did he just explain the name Chase?" Luca murmured to Mateo.

"As he should," Mateo said," it is a weird name. What is he chasing? Love? Fortune? Friendship?"

Luca stared at him for a second, but then just decided not to reply, shaking his head instead. Despite all his friends discussing him, Chase only seemed focused on Amelia, her reply to him a soft chuckle. Gabriela still felt slightly worried for how Chase would act, but a teacher gestured for her to come along before she could help.

Alina blew her friend a kiss, giggling as she skipped beside her and Milo. Though Amelia kept mostly to herself, Alina was a whole different story. Her reputation preceded her by far and though Gabriela wasn't one to listen to rumors, the way Alina smiled was enough to confirm every one of them. There was something sharply dangerous about it, like the girl was a second away from snapping, her smirk with too many and yet no emotions all at once.

"That verb guy sure is funny," she said, whistling along to a Christmas song after.

"His name is Chase, not verb guy," Milo said.

"That's the first time I've heard you correctly say his name," Gabriela said.

"Thank you for noticing," Milo smiled proudly," I suck with names so I tried."

"Let me guess yours," Alina said, stopping right in her tracks and pointing at him," is it Brad?"

"Do I look like a Brad?" Milo frowned," did I turn white and privileged when I wasn't looking?"

Alina didn't seem bothered, squinting as she looked at Milo. "Gregory then."

"I'm not even going to reply to that."

"We're here," the teacher interrupted them.

The forest had been silent as they had followed the neon arrows, the sky wide and open above them. The teacher had stepped off the road and behind a few bushes, gesturing behind it. He let them know to follow the arrows back in case of an emergency and turned around, ready to leave.

"Wait," Milo said," this is it? With all the talk about ghosts I was half expecting costumes."

"We're on a budget," the teacher said.

"That's very obvious," Gabriela said.

The teacher looked her right in the eye without any emotion, before shrugging and walking away without another word. Whatever point that was supposed to convey, she somehow got it, shaking her head in pity at the teachers here. The principal was honestly one of the few who looked like he was getting joy out of his work, but that was just surprising in itself.

They were standing behind a couple of bushes and trees, high enough to hide most of them out of sight, the shadows helping to mask the rest of them. Milo sat himself down, peeking above the edge of the leaves at the completely empty path, Gabriela taking a seat beside him. She didn't really care about the whole test of courage, her mind at the tests they were supposed to take. With the end of the first semester coming soon so were their exams and the stress at failing was settling in her stomach like a stone.

"Are we supposed to just grab their legs or something?" Milo said, interrupting her thoughts.

"I can jump out of the trees on their backs," Alina suggested happily.

"Let's not do that," Gabriela said.

"Come on now," Alina said, grin wide and eyes sparkling," don't be a bore. Gabriela, isn't it?" Gabriela inclined her head at that and Alina continued. "Lia talks a lot about you. Says you're fun, but all it looks like to me is that you should really loosen up."

"And why should I do that?" Gabriela asked, eyebrow raised.

Milo glanced between the two of them, like he was expecting a cat fight, but Alina just smiled at her. In the moonlight she seemed innocent, with her long chocolate hair and golden eyes, dressed in her usual oversized sweater and skinny jeans. With the cold weather Gabriela had even wrapped a scarf around herself, but Alina didn't seem bothered by her lack of a coat, instead twirling to a beat only she could hear.

"I don't mean it in a bad way," she said," I just used to be like you, all lost in my own head. If you get too far, you might end up getting lost forever."

She didn't wait for Gabriela's answer, instead turning and grabbing a branch from the tree beside them, easily hoisting herself up. Milo jumped to his feet, frowning, but she was already on the second before he could pull her back down. Her words were still swirling with the beginning fog in the air though, cold when Gabriela breathed them in.

"You'll fall," she said as she watched Alina climb further.

"Let me fall," Alina said, her exhilarated laughter tumbling down her lips," at least then I'd feel what's it like to fly."

"Okay," Milo said as he peered at her go up," so she's crazy."

Gabriela wasn't sure of that. There was something hauntingly empty in the way Alina smiled, like the world could burn and she wouldn't care. Though she was sure whatever the girl was on probably helped too, it mostly seemed like she was just trying to forget things. Still, she stood up, just in case she had to catch her when she fell.

"Surprised you haven't flirted with her yet," Gabriela said," last I heard she has a boyfriend."

"You're not going to let that go, are you?" Milo laughed, glancing at her amusedly," I was only messing around, I promise." He shrugged. "I mean, if your relationship was going to go off the rails by me just talking to you, it all wasn't meant to be anyway."

"You're right," she said simply," but you're sure brave. Mateo was very close in getting in a fight with you."

"I'm glad he didn't," Milo chuckled," with the way he cut wood for a fire this afternoon I'm not planning to get him mad again any time soon."

She smiled at that memory. Mateo had been carrying the logs with ease, before calling her so she could watch his, as he quoted, devastatingly handsome lumberjack skills. With the sweat glistening on his skin and the shirt he was wearing clinging to his biceps she hadn't minded at all.

"What's up with all the couples here though?" Milo huffed," I'm feeling more single than ever."

"You don't have anyone on your mind?" Gabriela said.

At that Milo looked away, a blush beginning to tint his cheeks as he placed a hand in front of his lips. He hesitated, before nodding his head, his dark curls falling in front of his eyes. It was weird to see him anywhere near shy, all he had shown until now cool amusement, but Gabriela didn't remark on it.

"I have a girl at home," he said," and she's honestly a dream. Her father doesn't think I'm good enough for her though. Someone insulted her at a party and I only saw red, but I suppose me being sent here because of that proved his point as well."

"Does she like you?" Gabriela asked.

Milo looked at her, surprised. "Yeah, at least, she said so."

"Then what does it matter what her father thinks?"

He didn't reply, but before their conversation could even continue Alina's hushed voice interrupted them. The girl was halfway up on the tree, legs dangling from a branch as she peered in the dark. She looked back at them, smile widening.

"Those transfers from Gaia are coming," she said," let's scare the living hell out of them."