Saturday felt like the longest day in human history. Alfie was in a bad mood from the moment he woke up, to the moment he said goodbye to his last client. He wasn't snapping at people, but his enthusiasm was gone, and he put minimal effort into every action and every thought. Most clients left feeling satisfied, but some thought their medium would be happier and more empathetic.

"Everything okay?" his mother asked as Alfie stood in the doorway of her studio. The room was brightly lit with a huge wooden table in the middle, half sanded and covered in paint. A white canvas was propped up on an easel by the window. Molly hovered her brush over it, ready to drown it with colour.

Alfie nodded and moved to the couch. He laid down and stared at the ceiling. Even that managed to have splodges of blue all over it.

"Not very convincing," Molly mumbled. Alfie heard the splash of her brush being dropped in some water and her feet shuffling towards him. "Talk to me. Why are you so grumpy today?" She lifted his legs and sat down, placing them over her lap.

Alfie studied her. Having paint in her hair was so normal, she didn't look herself when she was clean.

"It's just one of those days, I guess," he sighed, not wanting to talk, but also wanting to talk about Koda until his cheeks flushed and his heart ached.

"Is it about a ghost?" Alfie didn't say anything, and Molly patted his ankles. "Your father and I don't know what it's like to see what you see and feel what you feel, but we try to understand. Maybe talking about it will help."

"It won't."

"Maybe it's not us you need to talk to."

Alfie could feel his phone in his back pocket, cold despite his body heat resting against it. Koda. He had to talk to Koda. "Your studio smells like dead flowers."

Molly pointed to the paint covered lilies, scattered across fabric under the window. The paint was crusty and the flowers withered, but the pattern she had made was bold and eccentric. "Don't change the subject. Summon the ghost you need to talk to; it'll help."

Alfie did have to summon someone, but it wasn't a ghost.

When his mother got up and returned to her painting, Alfie pulled his phone out and stared at the blank screen. It felt like straining effort to unlock it, go to his contacts, and find Koda's name. Reading his texts from last night hurt a lot, like his mother's sharp pencil stabbing him hard in the chest.

After taking a calming breath, he typed, "If you still want to meet tomorrow, go to 'Gems and stuff' at noon. It's a shop in town. I think we need to talk about this, and not over the phone."

When he pressed send, he cringed at the name Connor had given his shop for mediums, though, a simple name suited such a quirky shop.

Alfie put his phone on his lap when Koda read it. He swallowed, hoping it would stop his heart from leaping from his mouth. When the three dots appeared at the bottom of the screen, Alfie let go of his breath. He didn't want the silence; he couldn't stand it.

"Okay."

Alfie wanted to reach through his phone and shake Koda by his shoulders. He was thankful for a reply, but it wasn't a satisfying response. At least he would see Koda tomorrow. It might not be for lunch, but they had to talk and cut off any loose threads in their developing friendship that was turning it sour.

* * * * *

When the bell above the door rang loud, Connor paused his hands and listened to it close. "Good morning Alfie."

"How do you always know it's me?" the teen replied, wandering over to the counter.

Connor smiled. "You open my door with confidence and familiarity... and the ghosts said you were coming."

"Was it Dorinto?"

Connor ignored his question and continued to put the stones in their correct boxes. He could usually tell which were which by the weight, shape, and the texture. "So, what brings you here? Did your mother throw out something else?"

"I thought the ghosts would have told you."

Connor's mouth twitched with amusement. "Told me what?"

"I'm meeting a client here."

"You mean a friend." Connor could feel Alfie's stare, the curve of his brow, the narrowing of his eyes.

"You talked to Dorinto, definitely Dorinto."

"Whatever is going on, remember that clients are trusting you to be truthful. They're vulnerable and need you to tell them everything their deceased tells you."

"What if the ghost doesn't want you to be truthful to the client?"

Conner reached behind him, knowing his chair was only a few inches away. He sat down and linked his fingers together, still feeling Alfie's gaze aiming in his direction. "Do you need assistance with this case?" He had helped Alfie through many challenging clients. He had handled many ghosts when they take advantage of Alfie's age and experience. For some reason, Connor knew the teen didn't want to give this ghost up, so maybe they could work together.

"I don't know. I'll tell you after I meet up with my client."

"Friend," Connor corrected him, chuckling when Alfie sighed.

"It's not quite midday yet, but he should be here soon. I'm gonna make myself look busy."

Connor listened to him shuffling down the aisle towards the dream catchers. Alfie usually walked with more enthusiasm. He hoped that meeting with his friend would fish the teen's mood out of the gutter.

Alfie planted himself on the floor in the corner above the window, crossing his legs and playing with the feathers hanging from a small dream catcher. It was all black with a green Jade stone glued to the string in the middle. He moved it back and forth, watching how the light shone through it.

The bell at the top of the door rang, and Alfie froze. He glanced at his watch, and it was 11:50 am. Koda was usually early for everything but meeting up with him, so he wasn't sure if it was his crush until he heard his voice.

Koda, very politely, asked Connor if he knew Alfie and whether he was here. Connor must have directed him to the right side of the shop because Alfie could hear him getting closer. He had no time to relax himself when he saw his shadow and then his shoes as they stopped right in front of him.

For a second, Alfie wondered if it was too late to bolt out of the door and run home, but he forced his neck to crane up and up and up until he connected his gaze with Koda Oaks.

His crush looked wrecked. His eyes were hollow and empty like his personality was sucked out of them. They looked tired too, and a little bloodshot. Alfie wondered if he spent the night crying because he certainly didn't spend the night sleeping. He was also pale, making the dark circles under his eyes seem a little more protruding.

Slowly, Koda sat down, but not as close as what Alfie would have liked. "You wanted to talk," he said quietly. His voice sounded a million miles away.

"Well, mainly I wanted to apologise." Alfie couldn't bring himself to look away. He wanted Koda to see the pleading in his eyes. "I should have told you, even if your mother didn't want you to know."

"She didn't?"

"She didn't even tell me how or why it happened because she was worried about my safety, so she definitely didn't want you to know." Alfie chewed on his bottom lip. Koda's face was as hard as cement. "I'm not trying to make excuses, but ghosts can hurt me if I make them mad. I'm still learning how to deal with that. Respecting their wishes is the safest option for young mediums."

Koda then looked down to his hands. They were trembling lightly. Alfie wanted to hold them and massage his tense knuckles. "She dragged you into all of this. You didn't have to help me, but you did, and I still don't know why." Koda paused, eyeing the dream catcher in Alfie's grip. "I'm not mad at you. I have no right to be mad at you. You were putting my feelings first, and you're right in thinking that I wouldn't have been able to handle her real death if you told me this two weeks ago. My dad locked himself away because he was so angry that he would've done something stupid."

"Your dad knew?" Alfie was now subconsciously picking the feathers apart. "He was the one who told you?"

Koda nodded. "It was driving him crazy not being able to tell anyone. He's the most paranoid person I've ever known, and the police don't exactly like him."

"Why?"

Koda looked back up, the light was returning to his eyes. "He's an idiot."

Alfie choked back a laugh. "It's not like we can go to the police station and say your mother's ghost told us she was murdered." Alfie shook his head at the thought as Koda tugged something large out of his pocket. A leather journal. He handed it to Alfie without a word, but the medium knew it belonged to Enya.

"Alfie?" Koda's voice cracked. He had been on the verge of tears since arriving but he was doing well to hold them back. "How do you know if ghosts are lying to you?"

Alfie ran his fingertips over the leather. The journal was heavy with emotion. "They usually have no reason to lie."

"What if my mother does?" Koda shuffled closer until their knees touched. Alfie felt the usual hot rush of excitement. "What if she did accidentally end her own life and is too ashamed, so she's making it all up?"

Alfie flicked through the pages. It seemed like Enya documented the last few weeks of her life, but was it a trustworthy source? "How would that explain this journal?"

"I don't know," Koda whispered. Every part of him was willing for her death to be an accident. The thought of it being a murder was worse, and the closure was ripped from him. He didn't think he would ever get it back.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do," Alfie said, leaning over and placing the dream catcher on the shelf. "We're going to go for lunch like we planned, clear your head, and then we'll go back to either mine or yours and summon your mother. Your dad should be there too. We all need the truth, and we need it today."

Koda nodded and puffed out air like he was trying to push out his sadness. "I'm hungry." Alfie smiled as Koda got to his feet.

"Me too-" then Koda held out his hands, offering them to the medium. Without skipping a beat, Alfie took them, and his brain turned to mush as Koda pulled him up too. Making physical contact never felt so intense and perfect. His skin was always so warm, much warmer than his own cold hands. He felt Koda squeeze them before letting go. Maybe Koda knew just how much stress he put on Alfie for not replying to him last night.

As they walked down the aisle, Alfie looked to see if Connor was still behind the counter, which he was. "See you later."

"Yes, you will." Connor then smirked, and Alfie hated it when he did that because he had seconds to prepare for what was about to come out of his mouth. "Have fun on your date."

Alfie almost flinched at the word and backed up into Koda who had a raised eyebrow. "You told him?" he mumbled, inspecting the blush as it swarmed Alfie's entire face.

"No." Alfie turned in time to miss Connor's grin and threw himself out of the shop. "The ghosts did."