"Your first assignment, though starting small, is still a huge task for a beginner." Connor could feel all eyes on him. "Koda, you will come with me and I will assist."

"Um..." Koda had a sudden urge to move back and far away from Connor. "What do I have to do?"

"You have to take a soul of an animal."

The silence somehow grew more intense. Alfie and Morlen both stared at Koda, watching his reaction. Morlen recognised the stress before Alfie did. Koda's neck tensed, then his jaw, then he linked his fingers together too tightly and his eyes fixed into a position in the distance and he stopped blinking.

"I don't want to do that." Koda's voice sounded distant and small.

"You have no choice." Connor leaned against the doorway, knowing it might take a while to convince the teenager.

"I don't want to be the sidekick."

"You have no choice in that either."

"I should get a choice."

"You should, but you don't," Connor sighed. "If you don't come with me and take the soul, then the Grim Reaper will guide the animal to you and I must say, they don't like messing with fate."

"Can Koda not have a little more time to come to terms with all of this?" Alfie asked when he could see how stiffly Koda sat. He looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"I'm afraid not. Death thinks that by getting Koda involved with tasks right away will speed up his acceptance process." Connor smiled with sympathy, remembering what it was like to take his first soul. "I agree. You can't sit and solely think about your duties, you have to experience them. This is who you are Koda, and it won't change now."

"What if I refuse?" Koda asked, crossing his arms to stop his fingers losing circulation. He stared at Connor, trying to inject him with his seriousness.

"You can't refuse. It's who you are. Eventually, you'll enjoy it and there's nothing you can do to stop your feelings. Rejecting it will only make your tasks less enjoyable."

"Well, I'm not going with you. The Grim Reaper can either find a new sidekick or plan around me because I'm not cooperating." Koda was very matter of factly, and he didn't care that Connor's lip twitched with irritation.

"Not a wise choice, but I understand. This life has sprung onto you too suddenly," Connor said and turned his head, knowing the medium was next to him. "Alfie?"

"Yes?" Alfie perked up, wondering if he could say anything to change Koda's mind.

"Can I speak to you privately please?"

Alfie turned and walked out of the room. Connor followed the sounds of his footsteps, knowing the layout of Alfie's home rather well. Alfie led him far away enough so they were out of anyone's earshot. He leaned against a wooden table that held a huge potted plant. Thankfully, it was fake so Koda couldn't kill it. "Do you want me to say something to Koda?"

"Yes. It's not good that he rejects this."

"There's only so much I can say, Connor. He's still dealing with the fact that ghosts are real. Collecting souls is like some locked up topic and he threw away the key. Earlier, he wanted to take the soul of a guy at college. He changed so suddenly. Is that normal?"

"Quite normal. Right now, there's Koda that you know and his dad knows and his friends know, but ever since he turned eighteen, a side to Koda has woken up and is pushing to the surface. That's Koda, the Grim Reaper's sidekick. Eventually, the two Koda's will merge once he accepts his fate. We need to shove him in that direction."

"Lightly shove him. I still need him to like me when all of this settles." Alfie looked left and right, making sure to keep his voice down. "Also, I tried to get in touch with Enya earlier. She rejected me."

Connor's features froze in time like Alfie was looking at a photograph. "The Grim Reaper is dealing with those who are a threat to Koda. As I said, it's quite the task to direct fate in certain directions."

"Enya's murderers?" Alfie whispered and Connor nodded his head once.

"Anyway, keep bringing up the topic of sidekicks until Koda gets used to it. I should be going. I doubt we can convince Koda tonight."

"What about the animal soul?" Alfie asked, following his mentor down the corridor. "When will that happen?"

"I'm don't know, but death will make sure Koda takes the soul no matter what. Call me when it happens. Koda doesn't know how to handle souls."

"Okay." Alfie stopped and watched Connor leave, tapping his cane as he walked. If only Koda was introduced to ghosts at an earlier time in his life, then maybe he wouldn't struggle to believe that what went on around him wasn't a part of his imagination, and if he simply stopped thinking about it, it would disappear.

Koda was pale and emotionless when Alfie entered his office. Morlen's face was also blank, but there was a shimmer of uneasiness and worry. He wasn't glaring, he studied Koda quizzically.

"Anyone want more tea?" Alfie asked, clasping his hands together. Koda didn't move an inch.

"No. We're going home." Morlen stood and for the first time, Alfie felt a little intimidated by his height. "Koda," Morlen barked loud enough to make him jump. "Get your coat, we're going."

Koda nodded and slowly, as if it caused him pain, climbed to his feet. "I'll see you tomorrow," he mumbled and Alfie stood aside to let him through the door, but Koda grabbed his wrist and pulled him into his chest. He hugged Alfie tight as if to squeeze the warmth out of him.

Alfie felt Koda's head press into his hair and wondered what kind of face Morlen would pull if they kissed. "Don't think about anything tonight. watch a film or something or go to bed early."

"I'll relax." Koda then squished Alfie's cheeks with his palms and tilted his head upwards. Alfie's heart crashed against his ribs when Koda's face moved closer. Morlen cleared his throat when Koda's face was close enough to feel his breath, and Alfie wondered if Koda would kiss him. Then Koda turned Alfie's face and kissed his cheek. It was still a win in Alfie's head, and Morlen's eyes went far too wide.

Morlen stormed to his son and grabbed his elbow, yanking him away. "Medium," he muttered and stomped down the hall, pulling Koda behind him who turned to wave, almost tripping over the rug.

* * * * *

The next morning, Koda was way too early for his art class. Miss Pecan was setting up the room when he hovered outside the room, foolish enough to let her see him.

She swung the large wooden door open and the smell of paint and chemicals wafted towards him. Koda loved the smell. It flared his creativity.

"Good morning Mister Oaks," Miss Pecan smiled, motioning for him to enter. "Take a seat while we wait for the others."

Koda had no choice but to sit in the empty classroom with a teacher who knew exactly who he was and what he did to fresh flowers. He wanted her to merely be his teacher, but it was apparent from the awkwardness that she was more involved with his life.

"How are you doing today?" she asked while dropping individual tubes of acrylic paints onto a thick wooden counter at the back of the room.

"Good." Koda surfaced his phone to text Alfie. He didn't want to make small talk.

"Do you have anything interesting planned for the weekend?" Miss Pecan asked and turned with a raised brow. "You know, anything strange?"

Koda stopped and stared at her. She was old enough to be his grandmother and quirky enough to fit right in at Connor's shop. She was also prying in his personal life and Koda didn't like it. "I'd rather not talk about it," he said quietly with a polite smile.

Miss Pecan nodded and wrapped a purple silk shawl around her shoulder. She smiled back and announced that she had to get paper, leaving the room quickly.

Koda relaxed when she was gone and waited for Alfie to respond to his text that said 'Hurry up and be early for once'. But shortly after the door closed, it re-opened by someone Koda didn't want to see so early.

"You know, I started warming up on the treadmill. My warm-up was ten minutes. After that, I looked around the gym and couldn't find you or your dad, so I went to the locker room and your stuff was gone." Chris sat down at the table, letting the stool scrape painfully on the tiles. "What happened? And why didn't you text to say you'd left?"

Koda tossed his phone from one hand to the other. Anger boiled in his throat and he tried to fight back the urge to snap. "I deleted your number. We're not friends anymore Chris."

Chris's beady eyes darkened. "Your dad told you what I said, didn't he?"

"Yeah, and so did my boyfriend." Koda put his phone down and smiled at Chris's reaction. He flinched like someone flicked paint water in his face. "Why are you so concerned about our relationship that you went to my dad for help? Are you jealous or something?"

"No!" Chris choked. His face blotched and his mouth twitched. "I'm just- I just think you deserve better."

"Please, it's not about that. You and your stupid clique have bullied Alfie for years. Now that I'm dating him, you're concerned about your image, yeah?" Chris didn't respond. "But you don't need to worry because we're not friends anymore. I'm not a part of your group. I should never have been a part of it in the first place. I deserve better friends."

Other students started to fill up the room. Koda had kept his voice low enough to not attract attention, but the irritation on Chris's face was unmissable.

Chris glared at Koda for long enough to still be there when Alfie ran into the room with a minute to spare. He was out of breath and barely noticed that Chris was sitting at his 'loser' table until he was right behind him.

"Excuse me," he said and climbed up onto the stool next to Koda. "This table is for talented students only."

Koda failed at fighting back a smirk as he greeted Alfie with a quick hug.

"Who do you think you are?" Chris growled, keeping his voice down. Koda's ex-friends were already staring, but it didn't mean others should get involved.

"Me?" Alfie grinned, loving the opportunity to verbally attack so early in the morning. "Well, let's see. I'm Alfie Willow and I'm the towns best medium. Oh also, I'm pretty good at-"

Chris silenced him with the sound of his stool screaming against the floor. He looked furious. Koda had never seen him so agitated.

"You took my best friend," Chris accused.

"No, your best friend realised how toxic your friendship was and kicked you to the kerb where you belong. I had no involvement. You just decided to make it my problem." Alfie crossed his arms and kept his head held high. Koda had never felt prouder.

Chris opened his mouth to retaliate and spluttered on his words. Alfie knew that laughing would make it worse, so he laughed with amusement before their teacher yelled at Chris to sit down. He sulked back to his table and Katherine shot daggers at someone other than Alfie for a change.

"That felt as good as being given a puppy or something," Koda chuckled, finally able to pull out his notepad.

Alfie scoffed, eyeing up Koda's paper because he forgot his own. "Well, you were given me, which is even better."