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"They’re not out yet!" Don yelled frantically. Determined to make sure Kayla did not die on this day, he broke down a door. His large shoe shattered the glass almost too easily. "Stay here," he commanded Brian as he walked into the flaming school.
Moments later, Kayla landed on the dirt beside Brian. Bright yellow hair spread itself all around her. She shook the dirt out of it and looked up, slightly confused.
"Who are you?" she asked Dana. "How did you get out of there?"
"I’m your aunt. I wasn’t trapped because I never entered the building during my life. That’s how I was able to save you. What we do after death doesn't count. Those others can't leave because they were in the building while they were still alive."
"I have an aunt?"
Dana explained that she and Don were married a few years before Kayla was born, and that she died in an accident when Don’s sister, Amber, was pregnant. Amber and Don were angry at each other back in those days, so Kayla and Amber never knew about Dana. After the accident, Dana became a ghost but swore not to tell any mortal other than Don that she was still around. The promise was broken now, but the situation had been an emergency.
"Where’s my husband?" asked Dana suddenly, turning to Brian.
"He went in to look for you two."
The three of them turned to look at the school as it burned. It was beginning to crumble, and white figures floated up to the darkening sky. Kayla looked for Jill and Ally, but did not see them. They were not headed up.
"They’re moving on," said Dana in awe. "The school is no longer part of the mortal world, so it imprisons them no more."
"Now you can move on, too," Don told her as he walked casually out of the doorway he had walked in through.
"Uncle Don!" screamed Kayla, collapsing to the ground weakly. She was not ready to see the sight of her uncle in pure white, or to accept that the flames of Hawk High School had claimed his life.
"It’s okay, Kayla. Dana and I can be together now."
The couple held hands and began to float upwards with the other spirits. Brian turned to his best friend and offered his hand. She took it and used it to help herself to her feet. He knew what he had to say, but the words did not come. The urgency was gone now that Kayla was safe. Brian no longer felt the need to reveal the truth. Once again, he put off his feelings for the next day.
"Brian," started Kayla hesitantly. Afraid of what she needed to say, she paused. She had noticed something different about Brian in the past few months, and she hoped he wasn’t falling in love with her. That would only make her next words harder to say.
"What is it, Kayla?" asked Brian, wondering if she would save him from speaking the truth inside his heart. Maybe she’ll say it first, he told himself hopefully.
"Don was my last blood relative," Kayla managed to say as her eyes became the ocean they resembled. Brian wanted to wipe her tears away, but he didn’t want her to think anything of it. He wanted to deny his feelings for a little bit longer.
"I’m really sorry you lost your uncle," he told her softly, unsure of what she meant to say. "I know how much he loved you."
"Don’t you know what this means, Brian?" Kayla asked him impatiently. "I have to live with my godparents now," she continued before he had the opportunity to answer her question.
"So you won’t live next door anymore?"
"My godparents live in Vermont. I’ll be hundreds of miles away."
Kayla was moving. Brian knew that he might not see her again. Still, she was just moving. She wasn’t dying. Maybe there was still time to say what he needed to say.
"You’ll come back, though. We’re still going to South Hawk University together, right?" he asked, trying to confirm that he had another chance.
"Yeah, I guess so," she answered thoughtfully.
"Okay. I’ll see you in a year or so," Brian replied simply. He swallowed the words in his head again, glad to have an extra opportunity to keep quiet. Finally relaxed again, he couldn’t help but smile. His thin lips spread to reveal a perfect, white smile. Glancing at him briefly, Kayla decided she would be happy to return to that bright, thin-lipped smile and the deep, secretive hazel eyes that came with it.
The two friends walked away from the ashes and left the rubble of Hawk High School behind them forever. They both held their heads high and denied the feelings inside, soaking in the luxury of time that had not been there a few hours before.
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