Beyond (Afterlife book 1) by Willow Rose

stared at
the ceiling. Pictures of me and Jason kept appearing before my
eyes.
    The emotional pain was horrible. My heart
felt like it had been torn to pieces. And I had no idea how to fix
it.
    “ So do you want to go for
a fly?” Abhik finally asked. He knew that I loved that and it would
always cheer me up. But not today. I shook my head and saw the
disappointment on his face.
    “ I’m sorry, I’m not in the mood
for anything right now,” I said.
    Abhik smiled and got up from the bed.
    “ It’s all right. Just let me
know, when you’re in the mood again,” he said and left the
dormitory.
    “ Three months!” I kept mumbling
to myself. That was three months of our time, and much more of his.
Three whole months of knowing and doing nothing. I couldn’t go and
visit him, not without telling him what I knew. So I was looking at
three months without getting to see Jason and when I finally would
see him, he would be dead and probably never remember me. What
before had seemed like a great place to be, the Academy had
suddenly become the worst place in the world. The worst part was
that Mick had been right. I hated to admit it, but he had warned
me. I shouldn’t have peeked in that book and I shouldn’t have
broken the rules by leaving the Academy. If I hadn’t done any of
all that I wouldn’t be in this situation, I thought to
myself.
     
    The next couple of days I went to class as
usual but I didn’t pay much attention to what any of the teachers
said. I tried, I really did, but I felt horrible inside. Mick
stopped coming to my table when I was eating and I stopped visiting
him in the kitchen. I felt badly; I really missed hanging out with
him. I missed having him as a friend and asking him for advice.
Especially now when I really needed a friend to talk to. But Mick
had made his point of view very clear to me and there was no way I
could ever talk to him about Jason again.
    As the days passed, I became isolated and
lonely. People would come up and talk to me but I wouldn’t even
hear what they were saying. It all became so distant to me.
Everything became so indifferent.
    When the first week had gone by I was a
total mess. I couldn’t fall asleep at night, I stopped eating and I
didn’t talk to anyone, not even Abhik. I think he just wanted to
leave me alone. Some days he came to me with my plate of food and
put it on the floor next to my bed without a word. Other days he
just smiled at me if our eyes accidentally met. I sensed he hoped I
would snap out of this eventually, but I didn’t. Every day I felt
worse. I would picture Jason in bed waiting for me, or staring at
the bathroom mirror, not understanding why I hadn’t come back to
visit him yet. Maybe he would even blame himself. He would think it
was the kiss, that he had overstepped a boundary, and I didn’t want
to see him again. Maybe he would even think I didn’t like the kiss.
But I did. He must have felt that. I liked it a lot.
    I tried to keep busy, but nothing seemed
to make me feel better. I went to the stables next to the school
and volunteered to feed the Pegasuses that we were supposed to
learn how to ride in the second year of school. It took my mind off
Jason for a couple of days, but didn’t make me feel any
better.
    Not even a walk in the magnificent butterfly
garden seemed to cheer me up.
     
    Finally one day, I decided I couldn’t keep
this up any longer. I was miserable, worried, and depressed beyond
what was good for anyone. I had come to know the marble ceiling
above my bed better than I knew anything and I was sick and tired
of feeling this way. So I made a decision. I decided to tell Jason.
I had to warn him. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least
try to do something.
    So when the lights were out one evening and
everybody was sound asleep I got out of bed. I tiptoed down to the
cellar and found my way to the mirror again. I felt such a relief
when I saw it. In a few moments I was about to see Jason again,