First Period History Class. Otherwise known as hell with bad florescent lighting. I hate waking up early. I was in the library, we were supposed to be researching for a history paper, but I didn't really have the energy. Instead I sat in front of my computer Googleing random people.

Jesse de Silva; Is the manager of the imperial irrigation district. Um.... whatever you say Google.

Susannah Simon; It says I'm a chiropodiatrist in Louisiana. No thank you.

Susannah de Silva; apparently I died in Massachusetts in 1765. Man. And I thought Jesse was old.



"Watcha looking at?" I heard a voice say from behind me. I quickly x-ed out of the Google screen and turned around.

"Um nothing." I said quickly. Paul sat down next to me.

"You know Suze," he said lowering his voice. "If you want to find out about shifting stuff you really shouldn't try Google. It's all bull shit." I shook my head.

"I wasn't looking up shifting stuff." for once I was telling the truth. Paul grinned at me.

"Whatever Suze. Anyway, I just wanted to remind you that' we've got a date tonight ." I glared at him.

"Lesson. Not date. LESSON." I said. He smirked.

"Sorry. Slip of the tongue." He pushed back his chair and walked away. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. The lesson. Right. I had totally forgotten about that. Great, that just ruined my day.

On the plus side, Jesse was pretty insistent that he come to these things. So he's not going to be able to avoid me. Ha. So there de Silva.

The rest of the school day was pretty standard, other than the ghost of this one girl who showed up in my math class to tell me that I absolutely positively had to tell Father Dom she hadn't cheated on her midterm. Jeez. I hope that if I ever wind up a ghost my unfinished business is no where near that boring. When I got home no one was there, I checked the fridge and found a note saying;

Suzie;

Andy and I have to work late today, dinner is in the fridge, Be good.

Love,

Mom.

I check the fridge, old macaroni and cheese. Oh yum. I order pizza and walk up to my room. Jesse isn't there. Maybe he forgot about the lesson with Paul. At least I hope he did. I throw myself onto my bed and prop myself up on my elbows before pulling out my math textbook. Just as I'm about to start my homework the silver glimmer of someone materializing catches my eye. I look up hopefully,

"Jesse?" But of course it's not, instead a tall guy, about my age, with brown hair and blue eyes stands in front of me.

"Whoa. What.... where am I?" he says looking around. While he checks out my room I look at him, he's pretty hot. Not as hot as Je– Stop it. Your not thinking about him remember? God Suze. What's with you and dead guys anyway? Says a voice in the back of my head. I ignore it and answer his question.

"Your in my room. I'm Suze, I'm a mediator." he stares at me.

"A mediator? What?" I sigh. This part of the job gets old. Fast.

"I help people move on, too...they're next life, or wherever your supposed to go after you die." The guy just stares at me.

"I'm DEAD???" he says.

"Didn't you notice that you were glowing?" he looks at me skeptically.

"No." he said stubbornly. "I cant' be dead. I'm only seventeen. I can't die." I shrug

"Looks like you can." What? Subtlety is not one of my talents. The guy just stares at me some more. I sigh.

"Alright, what's your name?" he looks down at his hands which are, obviously, glowing, and then looks back at me, dazed.

"Matt."

"Okay Matt, do you think there's any particular reason why you haven't moved on?" He shrugs.

"Not that I can think of." Then all of the sudden comprehension dawns on his face.

"Wait. You said you're a mediator. If you can talk to me, and see me, you can bring me back to life. Right?" I shake my head sadly,

"Trust me buddy, if I knew how to bring someone back to life I would have done it a long time ago." Stop it Suze. Stop it Suze. Don't think about him. He shakes his head and starts pacing around the room, then all of the sudden he stops and looks at me. Something in his eyes scares me.

"Do it." he says grabbing my shoulders

"Do what?" I ask, I know what he's talking about but I'm stalling.

"Bring me back to life! I don't care what you have to do! Sell my soul. Sell YOURS for all I care. Just bring me back!" I stare at him.

Jesse! I say inside my head. Jesse get in here now! Matt shakes me by the shoulders,

"Come on!" I shake my head

"I can't" He doesn't seem to hear me. He just smirks.

"Can't or won't?" he says pulling me closer, "I'm too young to die alright? I have my whole life to live. And your not gonna take that from me." I try to pull away but this guy is strong,

"I didn't take your life away you jackass, the person who murdered you did." This little piece of information makes no impact on him whatsoever. He just pins my arms to my sides and starts pushing me toward the window.

"Come on" he says, "your coming with me" See? I try Father Dom's method of peaceful mediation and look what happens.

"Get...off...me..." I say struggling, he's got a grip like iron though and I can't move. That's when I hear a voice behind us,

"Get your hands off her." I look up and grin.

"Jesse! It's about time!" Matt ignores him though. Jesse walks over and pulls him off me,

"I told you not to touch her." he growls as he pushes Matt across the room. Aw. My knight in shining erm...eighteenth century clothing. Matt's eyes widen and he puts up his hands in defeat.

"Alright, Alright." Matt dematerializes. I sigh.

"So much for Father Dom's method." I say. Jesse is looking at my arm, I look down and see where Matt's fingers left bruises. He looks up at me,

"Are you alright Susannah?" I nod and look away, there's a silence before I say,

"I've gotta do my homework before the lesson." Jesse nods.

"If I'm not here call me before you leave." he says. I nod, not meeting his eyes.

"Querida," he says, ducking his head so that he can see my face, "promise me." I roll my eyes but I promise. A promise that I have absolutely no intention of keeping. If he gets himself exorcized again I don't want to have helped him there.

"Good." He says. I turn away expecting him to disappear but instead he walks over to the window seat and starts reading.