Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Cynthia’s POV

It's a nice summer day, and by nice, I mean the weather is barely windy enough to keep me from melting. I’m outside with my best friend (debatable), Adelia. What are we doing? Oh, well what all best friends do in summer, you know! Oh, you’re asking if I’m at the beach? I’m too broke for that. Instead, we’re doing something much more fun!

We’re going to study in the library.

Yeah, I’m as disappointed as you are. Adelia, my best friend (debatable), has been constantly nagging me about how summer vacation is just more time to prepare for college and even further, law school. Should I tell you that I literally just finished my third year of high school? I should be out having fun! Possibly even getting a part-time job so I can go to the mall and buy stuff with my other friends, and what am I doing? Studying.

At first, I tried to object using all those fancy words and sentences she’s taught me, but she refuted all of those excuses. What did I expect when she’s the one who taught me them anyway? Not to mention I subconsciously made it a debate which was exactly what she wanted me to do since she’s always rambling about practicing. At this point, I just didn’t want to fall for her tricks any more than I already have, so I gave in. She just giggled as if she knew I would eventually crumble. Yeah, scrap that best friend title, she’s more like a parasitic, devilish being. Which is a sibling. 

We arrive at the library by walking, since apparently, she despises how cars emit too much carbon dioxide or whatever. It's fine though since my apartment is only like two blocks away anyways.

The first thing Adelia does is pick a table for me beside a large window facing the hoards of buildings and push me down onto this uncomfortable wooden chair before she floats through the table towards the bookshelves. 

Oh, did I mention she’s a spirit?

I’m pretty sure you know this already unless you’re like… A five-year-old or something, but I’ll explain anyway. In this day and age, we have things called “spirits”. In a way, I guess they can be compared to imaginary friends or more like… Ghosts. No one else other than you can see your spirit, but they are in no way imaginary. 

They appear on a person’s 10th birthday and stick together with the person for the rest of their life, guiding them towards their best future. No one knows when or how they started appearing. Basically, they’re just emotional support since they can’t even physically move things, even if they can touch them. I mean, they could let you cheat on a test, but Adelia is dead set on being fair.

“Hey, Cynthia! I found some books, so help me out!” Adelia says from across the room. Dang, she sure found the books quickly. I was hoping she would take longer so I could randomly explain this world to imaginary people more.

I shake my head and follow Adelia.

She guides me toward the books she found on civil law cases and psychology, which is apparently one of the most important parts to study if you want to be a lawyer. I mean, I understand why, but… why?

I grab as many books as I can fit in my arms and put them down at the table with a loud thud. As I sit back into my seat, Adelia does a little “hand slam that a teacher does to someone who’s dozing off” on one of the open books.

“I’ve looked at the books and divided them into our study session today. We’re going to be taking a look at the laws and civil cases from the Norithian era.” She declares. “Don’t you even dare think of slacking off just because it’s summer vacation!”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it, mom.” I snap back.

She glares at me but brushes it off. If she started arguing with me, she would’ve wasted a lot of time, and she’s aware of that. What a shame. 

She starts to guide me through a bunch of the laws and explains them thoroughly, then guides me through some of the cases and applies the laws that she just taught. She’s knowledgeable in most political things, but the Norithian era seems like her area of expertise. Maybe she’s more interested in those times, which is kind of weird since she usually teaches everything equally. 

Well, I can’t judge her or anything though, since spirits are almost as human as we are. They’ll definitely have their specific hobbies and things they like or dislike, and boy am I glad for that. Thanks to that, I have something I can use against her, which is… celery! Okay, look, she really doesn’t have any weakness I can exploit, so it’s definitely unfair since she uses my weaknesses against me all the time!

Adelia starts quizzing me on everything, and like the genius I am, I get every question wrong. So we do it again, and again. 

Now that I think about it, why are spirits so much smarter than us? They’ve only been in this world for as long as the person they’re guiding exists, so how is it that they know things better than most experts?

I start to feel a little off. My eyelids feel as heavy as leather, and I feel ready to fall asleep any minute now. Maybe this is the toll of Silver’s harsh training regimen. Then, for some reason, my stomach starts churning. I start drifting to sleep despite the pain and Adelia yelling at me to wake up in the background. I can’t pay attention to her voice, especially when it seems so far… away… 

“CYNTHIA!”

I jolt upwards and my head spins. “I’m awake, I’m awake!” I shout.

I look around as I rub my shoulders, “Woah, I think I almost passed out. That was weird.”

“Almost?! You’ve been out for an hour!”

“Oh. Then definitely passed out.”

Adelia grumbles in frustration. Still, she cautiously asks, “Are you okay?”

“I mean, I think so,” I reply, stretching some more. She sighs in relief.

“I’m glad you’re okay, but we’ve wasted a perfectly good study day today.” She says, disappointed.

“Sorry about that. I really don’t know what came over me, I feel fine now! I’ll study 20 times harder!”

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Adelia stares at me for a second, then shakes her head. “Oh, never mind. If you’re that tired, I think we better just go home. It might be a good idea to check in with a doctor, too. Leave that motivation for tomorrow.”

“Wooo!”

“Don’t say it with that much energy or I’m going to change my mind.”

“Jeez! Okay, okay. I’ll just clean up then.”

I reach for the books I’ve slept on (thank god I didn’t drool), and try to flip the covers close. They won't budge.

“Eh?”

I try once again. I grab the edge of the cover. I can feel myself grabbing it, I’m sure, but they don’t move. At all.

Why? Why aren’t they moving?

It’s like they’ve been superglued to the table. It’s stuck but it doesn’t even feel like it’s heavy. I’m using all of my strength, but I… don’t feel anything? It’s weird. It feels like my whole body’s numb.

“Did someone…” Come by and do this? I leave the sentence unfinished, but Adelia understands and just shakes her head.

“I was the only person around you the whole time.” She replies. Yeah, it wouldn't make sense for someone to pull a prank like this anyway. Supergluing books onto tables? Lame.

Adelia looks stunned, a clear sign that even she doesn’t know what’s going on. 

I barely grasp an idea, but it seems crazy. Well, ideas, crazy or not, should be tested if you want to find the truth. I walk up to the librarian. 

The first thing I try to do is talk to her, just in case. “Hello?” No response. Oh, please don’t be what I think it is…

I climb up onto her desk and jump. She doesn’t bat an eye, much less flinch. I get a sinking feeling in my stomach, but maybe the librarian’s just… blind? Sleeping? Oh, who am I kidding? I jump down, head hanging low, but instead of landing on the carpet floor, my feet never reach the ground.

I’m still in the air. I’m floating.

It’s just like how Adelia does, albeit a little more disoriented.

No, no… Is this really happening? Even Adelia stares at me with eyes full of desperation as I move clumsily to reach the floor again. Not being able to move stuff even if I can touch them… Being able to float… What else could spirits do?

I attempt to grasp the pencil in the cup full of writing utensils on the librarian’s desk and I focus as best as I can. The pencil doesn’t disappear from my view, which is what should happen when Adelia does it. 

Something should always happen when a spirit focuses. It was one of the other traits that distinguished them from humans. 

Trait number one: Floating.

Trait number two: Access to countless information used to prepare for the person's future.

Trait number three: Focusing, which includes making some objects in real life invisible.

I let out a single laugh of relief, grabbing onto that sliver of hope when my hand suddenly goes through the pencil.

Oh right, there were different ways of focusing.

My awkward smile immediately disappears.

Wait so…

Am I a spirit now?!

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