"So, you're really going to tell this dude about his grandfather's necklace?" Mister Dorinto asked as Alfie spat toothpaste into his sink. It had been a very rough night for the teen, tossing and turning. He had a horrible nightmare about being suffocated in a room full to his head with pills. Little white painkillers were the central theme for most of his dreams in the early hours of the morning. Alfie knew it was related to a ghost, but who, and why?

"Yes, unless you have a better idea to convince someone who hates me that I can see his deceased mother?" he grumbled, trying to force a brush through his tangled hair. Short on the sides and longer on the top, just the way Alfie liked his brown hair to sit. In dim lights, it looked black. When the sun shined on it, it still looked black.

It wasn't. Alfie was sure it was dark brown.

" Give me a day or two. I'll think of something better."

"Somehow I doubt that." Alfie stared at himself in the mirror, wondering if he'd look different if both eyes were blue. "Anyway, what are you still doing in my head?"

"I want you to talk to my wife again. I can't cross over while she's this angry at me. I can feel that it's wrong."

Alfie turned and leaned against the sink. The vitreous china was cold through the fabric of his t-shirt. "If you think that'll help you cross over, then I'll get in touch with her. I won't be surprised if she doesn't want to speak, so if she doesn't, you'll have to find yourself another medium. I know someone else in town if it doesn't work out between us."

Mister Dorinto nodded. "I understand. I appreciate you giving her another chance. That's very mature of you."

"Wow," Alfie scoffed, "I don't hear that very often."

The ghost laughed and moved to the door without making a sound. "Hm, I miss food. I think I'll go and see what the secret recipe is for that Kentucky Fried Chicken place. I've always wanted to know. Have a good day Alfie."

Before the teen could reply, Mister Dorinto was gone, and Alfie was left to stare at his reflection. Every time he thought of Koda, his heartbeat smashed hard against his bones. His entire body pulsed and his stomach churned like it was full of live bugs. Talking to a crush was hard. He had already made a horrible first impression. Alfie didn't want to make it worse for himself.

* * * * *

All day, Alfie Willow stalked Koda Oaks like the crazy teen he was labelled to be. All through his classes, he repeated in his head about how he would approach such a sensitive topic. Being his blunt self hadn't worked before, but he didn't know how else to say it.

"Koda, your mum is alive. Well, not alive. She's alive in my head and has something important to tell you." Alfie cringed and shook his head. "Koda, your dead mother wants me to give you a message..." Alfie groaned and stomped out of the empty college bathroom. No matter how he worded it, he sounded incredibly insensitive.

Now it was the end of the college day; he had to find Koda and talk to him face to face. Alfie thought the best place to wait would be the entrance. So he stood out of the way and watched hundreds of students piling through the door. Most looked the same. Tired, fed up, ready to go home. Some seemed excited to be free and spend time with their friends.

Alfie wasn't the type to make friends. He was always too busy with the spirits, and fitting in friendships around his mediumship felt like too much effort. He wasn't lonely nor felt it, but a conversation with a human from time to time was refreshing.

It wasn't long until Alfie spotted Koda in among a group of his friends. Alfie rolled up his sleeves and took a big breath, preparing himself to be laughed at, but he didn't care what people thought of him. When college eventually ends, he won't see most of the students ever again, and they won't dedicate their time to thinking about him, no matter how much he convinced himself that they do.

"Koda?" he said loud and clear, stopping in front of him and looking up to meet his eyes. Koda seemed much taller when Alfie was the centre of his attention. His heart skipped a beat when Koda stared back, so did his friends. The chatter stopped so abruptly, anyone would think they had seen a ghost.

"You know the nutjob?" a guy joked and Alfie had to bite his tongue to stop himself from verbally attacking. As much as he would love to break him with his sarcasm, now was not the time.

"No." Koda tried to go around the short teen, but he stepped in his way.

"I have to talk to you. It's really important!" Alfie didn't want to give up. Giving up on Koda would mean giving up on his mother. He had never done that before. Having a gift like his wasn't common. He had to help as many people as he could. Why else could he see ghosts?

Koda shook his head and one of his friends pushed Alfie out of the way.

"Please! It's important!" Alfie's crush was leaving and there was nothing he could do. It felt like the last chance he had before Koda's patience would snap. He didn't want his mother to find another medium. He wanted to take the case. He wanted to help. "Your granddad's necklace!" he yelled, and Koda stopped.

For a moment, Alfie thought he could hear Koda's heart beating when he turned and glared straight through him, but his crush had paused to listen, so now the time had arrived for Alfie to say what he had to say. "Your mother. She told me that your granddad's necklace has fallen down the back of the bookshelf in your room. You haven't lost it." Alfie felt breathless, especially when Koda's eyes stopped scowling. Did he believe him? There was a moment of silence when Koda's friends glanced at him, then back to Alfie. Everything around them slowed and came to a halt.

"You're crazy," Koda growled and turned before Alfie could process the fact that no, he didn't believe him.

Then Koda left. The back of his head was lost among the rest of the students who filtered through the exit. Alfie felt defeated and deflated. His mood hit the ground and everyone around him trampled all over it.

* * * * *

When Koda reached home, his bones felt like they were replaced with lead. His heart was just as heavy. A dark cloud swarmed him ever since his mother died last Thursday. It had been just over a week since she took her own life. Time really did stop for no one.

"Dad?" he yelled. Nobody was home. The silence never felt so noticeable. His house was small and wasn't filled with many things, so his voice echoed even when it was busy with people. Today the atmosphere felt thick and suffocating. Nothing looked right like the colour was sucked out of the furniture and the patterned wallpaper. He had lived in the bungalow all his life. This was the first time it felt unfamiliar.

Koda dragged himself to his bedroom and dropped his weight onto the chair by his desk. It creaked and threatened to break every time he used it. It felt like the first time he had been able to sit down in days. The short kid at college was really testing his patience. Why did he find it so amusing to mention the death of his mother? He knew the boy was weird, but he didn't think he was capable of being so mean.

The picture of him and his parents drilled a hole into his head before Koda slammed the frame face down. His mother's smile had been so happy.

He never had a great relationship with her. She only cared when it suited her. Well, that's what it felt like to Koda. She was a troubled woman and wasn't fit to be a parent. She had an addiction and it eventually killed her.

Even though she hadn't been the best of mother's, Koda felt guilty for not giving her a second chance or trying to stop her addiction, forcing her to go to rehab. He'd never be able to make things right and it started eating away at him. He was beginning to feel hollow. A part of him had died with his parent, and maybe it would never return. Perhaps he'd never feel like himself again.

Koda's mother was dead and he wasn't prepared. She had been hospitalized for her addiction before. This time, she didn't wake up.

Koda placed his head in his hands. After a few calming breaths, he forced himself to do something other than getting upset over a mother who didn't love him.

He grabbed his jacket, hearing the rain soaking the window and took a step towards his door. Then he saw his bookshelf. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't curious. How did that boy in his art class know about something he hadn't shared with anyone other than his parents? After hesitating, Koda stormed up to the shelves and shifted it back across the carpet. A few books fell to the floor and Koda paused, wondering if the grief was getting too much for him. Had he finally driven himself mad?

"This is stupid," he muttered and started hauling the shelves back until something shimmered against the light. Koda looked closer. Something gold sat on the dusty carpet. As quickly as he could, Koda squeezed his hand between the wood and the wall and grabbed it. He felt the cold metal and the long chain of something familiar.

When he moved his hand under the glow of the lamp, the blood drained from his face.

The short kid was right. He didn't lose his grandfather's necklace.