Dead!

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

The next day, while I was wandering around the town taking pictures of the damage from the last demon attack, I ran into Samantha. "Hey Ivy," she said. "What's up?"

"Not much," I said. "I'm just trying to get a good picture of that tree that got knocked down over there."

"I know a spot where you could get a good picture," Samantha said. "Follow me." I did so, and Samantha led me behind the apartment building and up a hill. We reached the top of the hill and I looked around, breathing in the fresh air. Samantha was right. This gave me a near-perfect view of the tree. I took out my camera and took a picture. "Thanks for taking me up here," I said.

"No problem," Samantha said. "I just wanted to help."

"What's new with you?" I asked.

"Not much," Samantha said. "I talked to Adam."

"You did?" I said.

"Yeah," Samantha said. "Ivy, I'm really sorry about everything that I said about him. I judged him based on who he was in the past, and I shouldn't have done that. He seems surprisingly sane now. He turned around completely, and he's a totally different person now than who he was in high school."

"It's okay Samantha," I said. "I shouldn't have gotten mad at you. You had your reasons for thinking that I shouldn't be dating him."

"Adam actually seems like a sweet guy now," Samantha said. "I wish that I had seen that side of him in high school. I might have taken him first." She smiled and then said, "Of course, if you want to date him, then he's yours. You're much closer to him anyways, and from what I heard, he seems to like you."

"Really? I thought that he just wanted to be friends," I said.

"Well, I can't really tell," Samantha said. "As I said, I'm probably not a good person to be giving you romantic advice, but he said that you were the nicest girl that he knew."

"That's nice of him to say, but I'm sure that it's not true," I said.

"Don't say that, Ivy," Samantha said. "You're a very nice person."

"Thanks," I said. I leaned back, collapsed into the soft, green grass, and stared up at the sky. As usual, it was a clear blue with a few puffy clouds floating through the atmosphere. "How's judging going?"

"It's alright," Samantha said. "I have to say, the system's improved a lot since that one judge was reincarnated. Apparently all of the other judges hated him too. You know, I hope that he was reincarnated as a black guy. Maybe that would teach him something about racism."

"Yeah, that would be great," I said. "It's not fair how he was trying to send Azalea to Hell. She didn't deserve that."

"That's why we have Black Afterlives Matter," Samantha said. "Injustice like that shouldn't happen in Heaven."

"I agree," I said.

"By the way, we're trying to do another rally," Samantha told me. "We're trying another location, and we're trying to get enough people to go."

"That's cool," I said.

"Yeah, so if you know anyone who might be interested in going, then let me know," Samantha said. "It probably won't be for a while, and it might be far away, but we'll see."

"I might go," I said. "This sounds interesting."

"Great!" Samantha exclaimed. "We'd love to have you."

"What are you doing in the meantime?" I asked.

"Mostly blogging," Samantha said. "There's not much else that I can do, sadly. I'm just a pathetic nineteen year old with nothing better to do than to complain about everything that's wrong with the world."

"Oh come on, Samantha," I said. "You are making a real difference. Weren't you just telling me about how much better the judging panel is now?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Samantha said. "I just wish that I could make a difference in the real world too."

"Maybe you can after you get reincarnated," I said.

"Maybe," Samantha said. "So what's up with that Jordan guy? Is he evil?"

"I don't know," I said. "He seems like a charming bad boy, but it's hard to tell. He did take me to see my sister."

"Wait, what?" Samantha said. "How is that even possible?"

"Heather summoned Jordan, and he took me along," I explained. "It was nice seeing Heather again. I missed her."

"I could understand that," Samantha said. "I still don't think that he got into Hell for jaywalking though. Nobody gets into Hell for something that minor."

"I know, but I want to trust him," I said. "I'm sure he's sweet on the inside."

"Maybe he is, but it's better to be safe than sorry," Samantha said.

"We'll see," I said. "Hopefully there won't be any more demon attacks. Then I won't have to see him again, and we won't have to deal with this."

"There shouldn't be any more anytime soon," Samantha said. "From what I've heard, having two attacks this close to each other is unusual."

"That's what I've heard too," I said.

"We should be okay," Samantha said.

"I hope so," I said. I looked at my phone, and saw that it was getting late. "I have to go," I told Samantha.

"Okay, see you soon, Ivy," Samantha said. "It was nice talking to you."

"It was nice talking to you too," I said. As I walked away, I smiled, happy that I had restored my friendship with Samantha.