"Hello? Where am I? Is there anyone else here?" I'm standing in what appears to be an empty white room, or is it even a room? I'm not sure. I mean, it has no walls, no ceiling, not even a floor. Weren't those like three main requirements of a room? No, it's certainly not a room and, come to think of it, I'm not really standing. It's more like floating. But, how is that possible?
I'm too lost in my own thoughts to notice the man now standing, er, floating, before me. "Jade West?" I jump at the sound of my name.
"That's me," I say hesitantly, looking the man up and down. He displays no emotions at all. "Who are you? Where are we?"
"Nowhere."
"Excuse me?"
"We are nowhere." What was this guy talking about? We had to be somewhere, right?
"Well where is nowhere?"
"Right here." Okay this guy is seriously getting on my nerves.
"Can you at least tell me why I'm here?"
"Don't you remember?" he asks me. I shake my head. "They usually don't."
"Who, exactly?"
"You're dead Jade. You died last night."
Oh that explains it- wait, WHAT? "I'm dead? How?"
"Shall we watch?" He doesn't wait for a response. He simply gestures to the side and there it is, the car accident that had killed me, playing right before my eyes. It sends shivers down my spine. Watching myself die, seeing my lifeless form being pulled from my car, I got to admit, it's creepy.
"So what happens now?" I manage to ask despite being severely shaken up from the news I had just received.
"You'll move on to the Land of the Dead."
"And then what? I just stay there forever?"
"Yes, you'll stay there surrounded by others of your kind." My kind? He must mean other dead people.
"But what about my family, my friends?"
"What about them?"
"I didn't get to say goodbye." I couldn't care less about most of the people in my life but there were a few that I wish I could see one last time.
"Well," the man pauses for a minute as if he's thinking through what he's about to say, "There is a way."
"I can see them? I can say goodbye?" I interrupt him.
"You could go back to the Land of the Living but only for a maximum of twenty-four hours."
"That's all I need." It wasn't long but I could make it work. After all the list of people I want to talk to is fairly short.
"You didn't let me finish. Only one person would be able to see you."
"Who? Do I get to choose?"
"The person to whom you would be visible is the one person who truly loved you."
"Beck." Before the name escapes my mouth the man is gone and an instant later I'm standing in the middle of Sikowitz's classroom.
All of my friends are in there. Well, all except for Vega, but then again we aren't, sorry weren't, really friends. There doesn't seem to be much teaching going on. They're all just sitting there staring either at the floor or out the window. No one's talking. Some are quietly sobbing to themselves. I spot Beck sitting in his usual seat, staring into space. As I move closer to him I see a single tear roll down his cheek. My heart breaks. I sit down in my usual seat right next to him and place my hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "It's okay Beck. I'm right here. Don't cry." He's unaffected. "Beck? Can you hear me?" Still no response.
Okay now I'm mad. That jerk lied to me. He told me I'd be able to talk to the one I loved. 'No Jade,' says a voice in my head, the voice of the man, 'I said you'd be able to talk to the one who loved you.' But that was Beck, wasn't it? Seeing that me being here is pretty much useless since no one can see me, I get up and walk out into the hall. Standing in front of my locker I run my hand over the numerous pairs of scissors decorating the front. I'm about to walk away when I hear someone walk up behind me.
"Jade? Is that you?"
Startled once again by the sound of my name, I slowly turn around. My jaw drops when I see who it is. "Tori? You can see me?"