Chapter 13

The airbeside the altar shimmers, and a second later, Kellan materializes. Curses fall from his lips, and he throws his hands up in frustration when his gaze lands on me.

"You have to be fucking kidding me."

"How was Eli?"

His gaze shifts away from me. "Arabella was there."

The news surprises me. "What?"

"He was sick, and she was at the cabin."

I frown. "But they haven't been around each other in years."

He drops down beside me onto the dusty wooden bench. "We can't let this opportunity go to waste."

"What opportunity?"

"Getting them back together."

"Kell—" My tone is wary.

He raises a finger to silence me. "I spoke to him."

I roll my eyes. "Not this again."

"Seriously. I jumped into his brain."

"Into his brain?"

"His consciousness, then. He saw me."

I press my hand to his forehead. "I don't think ghosts can get sick, but are you sure you haven't caught something?"

"Ha, ha. Very funny." He slaps my hand away. "If we can get Eli and Ari back on track, maybe that's how we get to move on."

For a second, I'm not sure I've heard him right. "Move on?"

"Move on. Go back." He shrugs. "Same thing."

"No it's not."

"You know you can't fight me and win. Just roll with it."

He's not going to let this go. I can see it in his expression.

"There is nowhere to go."

"Just because we haven't gone anywhere yet doesn't mean there's nowhere to go."

I tilt my head and study him. "And what if they aren't meant to be together?"

His laugh is derisive. "If there's one thing that I'm one hundred percent certain of, it's that Eli and Arabella are meant to be together." He rises from the bench. "And that will never change."

Joining him, we leave the chapel and head toward the school. There are three large, white vans parked out front of the dorm building, and people carrying boxes inside.

I stop and stare. "What's going on?"

Kellan halts beside me. "Does the building look strange to you?"

My gaze roams over the structure. "It's different."

"Someone's started renovations." He frowns. "How long have you been waiting for me in the chapel?"

"I don't know."

"Let's find out."

We cross the grass toward the dorm building. The place is a hive of activity. Dust no longer covers every surface. Cleaners move from room to room while decorators paint the walls. It makes my heart ache when I walk into my old room and discover the artwork Eli had covered the walls with are all painted over. Kellan avoids the one he shared with Eli while alive. He hasn't stepped foot in there since his death. Instead, he prowls around the rest of the floors.

"Are they turning this place into a hotel?"

He shakes his head. "No, I don't think so."

"Then what are they doing?"

Kellan doesn't reply.

Leaving the dorms, we venture into the main part of the school. There's more evidence of changes here. The classrooms are clean and smell of paint and disinfectant. New desks and chairs replace the old ones. The old wooden floors have been replaced. New blinds cover the windows. It's as though someone has come along and wiped away the past.

I stop in front of a glass trophy case in one of the hallways. "They're going to reopen the school."

Kellan peers at the photographs in silver frames inside it. "Impossible."

"It's obviously not."

"We would have noticed."

"But we didn't. The veil between the limbo we are stuck in, and the world isn't always thin. How much have we missed and not even realized it?"

We're forever young. Stuck in the same clothes we died in while the world around us continues.

What else has changed while we haven't?