The Medium Kid

Chapter 25

I can't believe I'm on chapter 25 already! There's still so much left of the story ;)

- Sian

"Alfie," Koda whispered, staring at the lilies like he expected them to glow. "What if..." He didn't want to say it.

"They die?" Alfie was more focused on the fact that they were white lilies, the same type of flower his mother used to paint with, the same type of flower someone sent to Koda's house, and the same type of flower Miss Pecan was using for her students. The way his art teacher was smiling sat somewhere between excitement and smugness. "Just relax. If one of them even tries to wilt, we'll go, okay?"

Koda nodded, looking around, stopping on his group of friends. One person absent. Katherine. Maybe his words had hit a nerve. He hoped they did. "They're lilies again," he whispered.

"I know that." Alfie started chewing rather violently on the end of his pencil. "There's a connection. There has to be a connection." He didn't like how nothing made sense. He wanted answers, and if the flowers were going to die, then he would demand answers from Connor or Enya. One of them would eventually give in.

The boys pulled out their sketchpads. Koda's heart felt like it was beating loud enough for others to hear it.

"Koda, stop breathing like that." Alfie hissed. His crush was starting to panic, and thankfully, only the medium had noticed. "Nothing's happening yet, see?"

The flowers were still fresh and elegant with their soft petals and long stalks. Some were still closed, but they showed no signs of decay- then Alfie felt it. The darkness. It seeped into his chest like the air had turned to icy water. He shivered, pulling at the top of his jumper because his throat felt tight.

"Alfie," Koda whispered again when Miss Pecan sat back at her desk, linked her fingers together, and stared hard at the boys. The row closest to their table was slowly beginning to droop. "We need to leave."

"I don't get it." Alfie's eyes swapped between his teacher and the flowers. "What is the connection?"

"Alfie, pack your things. We can't-"

"What is the connection?" Alfie mumbled to himself, seeming to be in a world of his own.

Koda gave up and packed away his pencils and his pad. Other's had noticed the flowers and some students were even pointing. Koda felt sick to his stomach. Something was very wrong with him.

Alfie didn't notice that Koda packed his things too. He snapped out of his trance when his crush pulled him off his stool and towards the door. Nobody paid attention to them; everyone was too preoccupied with the dying lilies. Well, everyone but Miss Pecan. She watched the boys leave without a single word, and Alfie didn't have time to think about why she was acting out of character because Koda was walking fast with his big legs, meaning that Alfie had to jog with his arm still tightly in his grip.

He didn't say anything until Koda had successfully guided them out of college. They got a few odd looks, but nobody attempted to stop them.

"I can't do this anymore!" Koda yanked his jacket off and threw it next to the steps. He plonked himself down on the marble, and his head fell into his hands. "It's too much!" On a daily basis, he reminded himself that his mother was dead. Life had changed and would never be the same. His happiness came in waves instead of being one big calm sea like it always had. He woke up with no goals or ambitions, no desire to get things done, no motivation to treat the day like it could be his last.

Grief was tearing him apart. He used to think that if the day started bad, it would always end happy, but that wasn't the case anymore. He didn't have the mental strength to believe it and being sad was exhausting.