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followed obediently.
    As they departed, Jonas heard Ellington mutter under his breath, “She’ll need to be.”
    Wrong , Jonas thought. Alex would finally be able to make her own choices. She wasn’t made of glass anymore.

 

     
    Alex didn’t care where Jonas led her. He was a piece of home. She’d rather be in the company of familiarity than be left alone.
    They crossed through the courtyard, and Alex thought the scene was like something out of a dream. The rain had stopped, but several spirits formed circles around the dark puddles. They held their hands above the water, which rose and fell like a solid object, morphing like putty. Near them, a mob chanted for what appeared to be an unorthodox race. Two spirits sprinted towards each other until, in the split second before collision, one disappeared, like a game of invisible chicken. Jonas called it “child’s play.”
    Though the sun had not decided to show itself at all that day, it appeared the moon was much more curious as to what was going on below. As the day died, the sky darkened in mourning, and the clouds parted for the moon to peek through.
    “Jonas,” Alex began. “Was that normal?”
    “What?”
    “That bench?”
    Jonas let out a little laugh. “It’s normal when you’re new. I’m not sure when the tradition started, but it’s like a rite of passage around here.”
    “It isn’t very nice.”
    “You’re dead, Alex. Don’t be so sensitive.”
    She glared at him. “What’s the point of it?”
    “I guess to see the reaction. To see the new kids squirm.” He stepped over a dimple in the stone walkway. “That dent is from Kaleb’s initiation. He had a tree nearly fall on him. Newburies don’t usually demolish the object like you did.”
    “I have no idea what happened,” Alex admitted. How could she even be sure she’d been the one who caused the explosion? The only thing she’d done was wish for the pain to cease.
    “It would be weird if you did.”
    The wind flitted through Alex’s hair. It reminded her of childhood bike rides, or cruising in Kaleb’s jeep with Chase at her side, and she wished for him. “Jonas, what did Chase do? Why is he in so much trouble?” A shadow flashed across Jonas’s face, but it happened too quickly for Alex to identify the sentiment. For a moment, the air was filled with the sharp reek of salty bay water.
    “He got a taste for breaking the rules, and I guess he liked it.”
    Not likely. Chase was never one to stray from order, but to Alex’s exasperation, Jonas didn’t seem willing to offer more of an explanation.
    “Where are we going?”
    Jonas looked back haughtily over his shoulder. “There’s a festival tonight.”
    “A what?”
    “A festival. Like a party.”
    She doubted this day could become any stranger. Death, third grade, California, and now a party? A part of her would prefer to curl into a ball and take time to process this unbelievable world, but Jonas wasn’t the type to sit at her side and pat her hand. If she needed to go to this festival in order to keep him around, she’d do it.
    “Feel that charge around us? Spirits like to let loose. You’ll learn that pretty quickly.” He skirted around some loose bricks. “One of the perks of being dead. With all the time in the world, why not have a little fun?”
    She understood what he meant about the charge. The air around them began to tremble. “Is that why you’re dressed up?”
    Jonas hurriedly rolled the sleeves of his button-down shirt. “I hadn’t noticed.”
    “How could you not know what you’re wearing?”
    “Because it changes according to my mood.”
    “Is everyone that way?”
    “Of course.”
    That explained the eccentrically dressed kids in the courtyard. Ellington had said the mind created its own version of reality. She just hadn’t realized how public it would be.
    “You look nice,” Alex noted. “Is there an occasion for this party?”
    “Actually, yes. Autumn is like Christmas around here.