Free The Afterlife Academy by Frank L. Cole Page B

Melissa’s painted fingernails and her chemistry book. “I have Mrs. Morales.”
    “Oh, I heard she’s tough.”
    “She’s not so bad,” Charlie answered, relaxing a bit. “She just sometimes—” He stopped short and stared at Melissa’s arm. That was odd. Where did she get that bracelet? Had she always worn it? He’d never noticed it on her before.
    “Here we go again.” Walter’s voice snapped Charlie from his trance. “How many times are you going to make her say your name over and over before you answer?”
    “Charlie?”
    Charlie finally realized Melissa was speaking, and he dropped his eyes once more to the floor. “I better get to class,” he mumbled.
    “Yeah, me too.” She moved to the side, and Charlie shuffled past.
    “What happened?” Walter asked. “Do you always freeze up when you talk to girls? That’s a real problem. If you would just listen to me, I could help you not act like such a doof.”
    “I don’t need your help,” Charlie said, pausing at the drinking fountain. He took a gulp of water and glanced around. “I froze up because I noticed something about her. Something weird.”
    “What kind of weird?”
    “She was wearing a Spirit Spy bracelet.”
    “A what?”
    “Spirit Spy is Wisdom Willows’s trademarked brand. The same geometrical design is stamped on all his merchandise. T-shirts, excavating gloves, jewelry. Melissa’s bracelet had that symbol!”
    “Whatever, man. It probably just looked a lot like a spirit—whatever you called it—bracelet.”
    “I think
I
would know what it looks like, okay? I’ve seen that design hundreds of times on SpiritSpy.org. That was definitely one of Wisdom Willows’s products.”
    “Well, I bet she doesn’t even know what it stands for.”
    “I guess so.” Still, where would Melissa find a bracelet like that? It wasn’t like they were sold at the mall.

    “¿Sí, Charlie, puedo ayudarte?”
Mrs. Morales asked as Charlie approached her desk. The bell had rung a minute earlier, and all of Charlie’s classmates had already left.
    “Um, yeah, um…what?” Spanish was not Charlie’s best subject.
    “May I help you?” she translated.
    “I was wondering if you know what language this is written in.” Charlie unzipped his backpack and removed the book. It thudded loudly against the desk.
    Mrs. Morales frowned at the dirty cover and ripped several tissues from the box next to her mug of pens. After wiping most of the dirt clean, she flipped open the cover and raised an eyebrow. “Is this from the library?” she asked.
    “Yes…I mean, no. Uh…” Charlie stumbled over his words. “It’s not from the school. I checked it out from Gabbiter Public Library.”
    “Well, it’s definitely not Spanish or any language I’ve ever seen before,” she said.
    “Can you read any of it?”
    She wiped one of the pages with another tissue and narrowed her eyes. After several more flips, she sighed. “I’m afraid not. I would assume it’s written in some sort of dead language.”
    “Oh, snap!” Walter shouted.
    Charlie jerked back in surprise and nearly knocked over the plant on his Spanish teacher’s desk. Mrs. Morales gasped, and Charlie quickly faked a sneeze.
    “Sorry!” Charlie apologized, wiping his nose. “I think I have a cold.”
    “It’s all right,” she said.
    “Did you hear her?” Walter still spoke with a blaring voice. “A dead language? We were right!”
    Charlie glared down at the floor and shook his head.
    “If she knows it’s written in a dead-people language, maybe she’s a paranormal geek too. Ask her why the demons want it so badly,” Walter continued.
    “Be quiet,” Charlie hissed.
    “Excuse me?” Mrs. Morales peered over her glasses.
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean you. Thanks for your help.” Charlie collected the book and walked hastily out of the classroom.
    “Why did you tell me to be quiet?” Walter asked once they were out in the hallway. “And why did you leave without asking her