20th June 2019

NOAH

Shay used to be a bully, playing pranks and making fun of people whom she thought were weak. She had always prided herself to be better than others, a superiority complex that broke down when Isaac had been severed.

I thought she'd put an end to her drama after that, but apparently, she hasn't, since she had lied to Renee and me.

The thing was, I never expected Shay to trick me about my love life. She knew how serious I was about Renee, so it wasn't like her to start messing up my relationship.

She must have had a reason, and I was determined to find out why.

"Shay!" I yelled as I kicked her door open.

I saw Shay crying silently, Isaac's Shield unfurled in front of her. A memory of them embracing each other was displayed on the Shield, reflecting off her eyes.

As soon as I entered, she quickly stuffed the Shield inside, and wiped her tears, returning to her tough as steel attitude.

"Do you know what privacy is?" She snapped, throwing me a dirty look.

"Spirits don't have privacy," I repeated a line from the ISA.

She muttered something about me having a whole realm of privacy, while she just had a bedroom. Then she added in a lot of swear words which I'd rather not write here.

"I want to know why you lied," I said, with a determined look on my face.

"I lie all the time," Shay said impatiently. "How are you, Shay? Oh, I'm FINE... Do you love your job, Shay? Yes, I freaking LOVE my job..."

"Why did you lie to Renee?" I cut her off.

She gave me an evil grin. "So she believed me, huh? What an idiot."

"I'd rather you refrained from insulting her in my presence," I replied.

"I don't care. I hate her, and her little-miss-perfect attitude. She isn't the right person for you, Noah!" Shay said dramatically, before rolling her eyes.

"Haha, as if that is going to make me stop seeing her," I gritted my teeth, trying hard not to lose my temper.

"Fine, Noah! Here's the truth: I'm worried about you!" Shay screamed, "What are you going to do when the ISA assigns you a soulmate?"

My soulmate.

The ISA introduced the concept of soulmates as a pair of souls who were compatible with each other and would help the other in reaching the White Realm. Of course, there wasn't anything romantic in the term, but most soulmates tended to be in a romantic relationship.

My parents were soulmates. So were Shay and Isaac.

"Noah, you're going to turn seventeen in November. You need to be ready to accept your soulmate into your life." Shay looked anxious.

When we were seventeen, the ISA would tell us who our soulmate was. Isaac had turned seventeen two years ago, and when he found out that it was Shay, he was overjoyed.

And that was the day I became a third wheel.

"I don't have to be in a romantic relationship with my soulmate," I said slowly.

"And you think your soulmate would be fine seeing you gallivanting off to her illegal Realm?" Shay questioned, crossing her hands.

I didn't know what to say. Everything Shay said was right, and it hurt me immensely.

"I'm already risking a lot to see Renee," I said, feeling my heart clench. "I don't mind risking more, Shay."

"Does she even feel the same for you? Is she risking her job, her safety, for you?" Shay asked me fiercely, but I saw concern too.

"She's risking her life," I said simply, before telling her about the bookshelf incident, and Renee's weird brother.

Halfway through the story, Shay brought out her alcohol and began to drink again. I didn't say anything against it, because she wasn't drinking as much as she normally did.

"She's not a fighter, Noah," Shay said at the end. "She stayed away from you after she thought we were dating."

"That's just how she is! Do you know how guilty she felt to even talk to me? Like we're at the brink of the seventh dimension, and then she tells me this." I argued.

Shay didn't say anything. She just handed me a bottle of alcohol and opened one for herself.

"I don't want this," I gave it back to her.

"You'll need it, especially since you're going to end up with a broken heart soon," Shay said, trying to hide her smirk. "Like me."

Is that what Shay thought? That Renee and I could never be together?

"No," I said. "I won't end up like you."

"Okay, you'll end up worse then," She said sarcastically.

"Why can't you support me for once?" I yelled at her, hurling the bottle on the floor, watching it shatter into pieces. "Why are you so pessimistic?"

"Because, despite seeing what happened to Isaac and me, despite the ISA suspecting you, you still don't understand how dangerous everything is." Shay stood up.

"You are blindly in love, Noah, and this is going to end horribly. Mark my words, you'll regret the fact that you even met Renee."

With that Shay left her room, slamming the door on my face.

*****

A while later, a happy tinkling voice woke me up from a stupor.

"Noah, are you there?"

"Renee?"

"Noah!" Renee cheered, her voice filled with excitement.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm supposed to be studying. What about you?"

"I'm... Talking to you. Oh, and I'm drinking." I glanced at the empty bottle lying next to me.

"What are you drinking?" Renee asked curiously.

"Alcohol."

"You drink alcohol?!"

"You don't?"

"Well, I've tried it, but it really isn't my thing." She answered.

"I'm not particularly fond of it either, but I drink just because I'm a bit of a rebel," I found myself grinning.

"I bet you are," Renee laughed, "But, can you like, get drunk on it?"

"Only to a certain extent. Explains why Shay drinks all the time without having liver failure."

"So, there is some psychological effect then."

"Yeah, there is. Why, are you researching the effect of Alcohol on Spirits?" I asked her sarcastically.

"No, I'm just asking you highly specific questions to check if you were drunk or not," Renee answered, and I could almost see that little smirk on her face.

"Did you ask Shay why she had lied to both of us?" She asked me a moment later.

"Yeah, I did," I took a deep breath. "She said something about how she wanted to test us or something... It's really stupid."

I didn't want to tell Renee the real reason. It was bad enough that I was worried, she didn't need to be affected too.

"That doesn't make sense." Renee sounded confused.

"She's Shay. Her life is so boring that she messes up other people's lives for drama," I responded bitterly.

"You sound so done with her."

"I really am. I wish she didn't boss me around like a three-year-old."

There's a small pause before I talk again.

"So," I prodded. "What were you studying?"

"Well, my final exams start in five days, so I'm revising math right now."

"You have your final exams coming up? And you've been hanging out with me in the Realm all evening?" I asked her incredulously.

"Well, yeah," She said awkwardly. "I really wanted to see you... And tell you about the bookshelf." She added as an afterthought.

I found myself grinning widely. She had wanted to see me.
Did she miss me?

"Oh yeah. Are you still worried about the bookshelf incident?" I asked her, realising that I still hadn't replied to what she'd said.

"Not anymore," She said brightly. "Now I'm a superhuman with telepathy!"

"Of course you are," I laughed, then added, "You know, I used to hate Telepathy."

"Why would you? It's like the coolest thing ever!"

"The ISA loves telepathy. They think it's civilised and proper, unlike barbaric human speech where you spit out each word-"

"Okay stop. I get the picture."

"So, when the ISA puts it out like that, trying to brainwash us into believing that we were better than humans... When we aren't... You really feel like punching them in the face."

"But Noah, Spirits are better than humans," Renee said.

"Renee, we don't have to deal with a human body. We don't live in a world as complex as yours-"

"But you have other problems right? You stay as Spirits for eternity, guiding people to the Spirit Realm every single day..."

"Trust me, it really isn't as hard as it sounds. We aren't supposed to worry about ourselves, we think for the greater good." I answered.

"Exactly! Spirits are so selfless, and I admire that..."

"Because selflessness is forced onto us. We don't have a choice."

"Say what you want Noah, but I really love the concept of being a Spirit. Maybe the ISA isn't doing it right, but I know that it wasn't started with bad intentions."

"Well, guess what. Augustus found the ISA for the sole purpose of lording over the rest of us."

"And how do you know that?" She asked.

Ahh, she caught me.

"That's a story for another day," I replied quickly.

"Why not now?" She questioned.

"Because, you have your final exams in five freaking days, and I don't want to distract you," I told her firmly.

"Fine, Mr I-don't-share-my-secrets. Good night." Renee retorted.

"You know Ren, I want a better nickname than that," I complained.

"Speaking of nicknames, I want a better nickname too." She answered back. "Ren is overused."

"Okay, babe," I bit my lip, wishing to see her reaction. I didn't know where that sudden courage had come from, maybe because geeky guy had ended up becoming a figment of Shay's imagination.

"Babe?"

"Yeah, babe is a nice nickname. Good job, Renee." I replied sassily, trying to sound like I wasn't affected, when in reality, my face burned from embarassment.

"But you just said-"

"That it's a nice nickname. Finally, you've used your creativity." I told her, wishing I was anywhere else than flirting so directly with her.

"Noah, don't you dare play around or I'll..."

"What?" I challenged, my voice filled with awkwardness and bravado, "What will you do, babe?"

She made an impatient noise, to which I laugh.

"God, I love messing with you," I tell her, trying to imagine her face, her cheeks as red as mine. Those big grey eyes, grazing over every part of my face. And her lips, I could go on and on, and I wouldn't have described even one per cent of it. My heart thudded loudly, and I got goosebumps by just thinking about her.

Damn, I had it bad.

"I really want to tell you something," Renee said shyly making my heart beat faster.

"What is it?" I asked her immediately.

"Something about my feelings for you," She replied, making mouth go dry, and sending me straight into panic mode.

Was she going to confess?

Oh my god.

"What do you mean?" The words automatically fell out of my mouth.

"Well, I've got five freaking days before my final exams, like you mentioned... so I can't tell you now," She answered in that mock-serious voice.

"Renee! Come on!" I protested.

"No chance, Noah." She told me and I could visualize that smug grin of hers.

"Fine, goodnight, evil Renee. Keep your secrets to yourself."

"Look, who's talking, Mr I-don't-share-my-secrets," She retorted.

"Fine, we've both got secrets. Are we even?" I asked her nicely.

"Hmm maybe. Goodnight, Noah."

"Goodnight, Renee."

*****

(A/N: This was a really fun chapter to write. I really hope that you guys liked it!
And since I'm free again, I'm going back to updating twice a week, or at least more frequently than before.)