I turn away from their intense gray eyes until my own gaze drops back to the floor. But Seth isn’t curled up on the floor anymore. The only thing left of him is a streak of dirt leaving a trail along the ground.

Well, if I ever want to see what Seth thinks I am, I need to find him.

“Is it cool if I meet up with you later?”

“Err… not really,” Castiel says, the edges of his mouth turning downward. “You aren’t supposed to be down here at all.”

Before I can get reprimanded anymore, I turn on my heel and make a mad dash, knocking into laundry machines that knock me right back. Seth couldn’t have gotten too far away but at least I have the trail of dirt to follow until I find him.

“What are you doing?” Castiel asks. For managing to get to the other side of the room from them, somehow they don’t sound all that far away.

It’s only when I look up from the floor that I notice them gently flapping their angel wings, hovering only a few feet behind me. At this rate I won’t be able to find that mysterious boy without leading this person right to him. I don’t try to run again but still decide to push myself against the wall, putting as much distance between us as I can.

“Something is wrong here.”

“I know. It will feel like that as you adjust to the afterlife.” They smile their lovely smile that manages to make me not as afraid. “Trust me, I feel that everything is wrong too.”

“What do we do about it?”

“We live through it and see where this all takes us.”

My body relaxes as I peel myself off the wall, shuffling towards the head boy. I suppose I’ll have to see where this life takes me because right now, it’s apparently pushing me towards this boy and not the one that came through the busted up door.

“I can show you around the castle since you missed the tour,” he offers as we walk up the basement steps, being a gentleman and letting me go first even though the chivalry feels uncomfortable. “It’s a beautiful place and I’m sure that you’ll love it.”

The rest of our walk is in silence until we emerge into the glassy halls of the Academy. The longer we walk, the more everything looks the same, even as he points out several different ballrooms and dining rooms all complete with fancy names. Once we head towards the girl’s dormitories, an older woman stalks towards us, her pointy heels clicking aggressively.

“Castiel. Miss Anderson. You both know well that boys are not allowed in the girl’s dormitories.”

“My apologies. I was simply showing Miss Anderson around as she got lost before our clarifying meeting.” As he explains, his hand drops into mine. It startles me so badly that I flinch, but he doesn’t let go. “I am quite happy to have found Miss Anderson as we get along splendidly. I am very interested in getting to know her better.”

“Nothing is better than young, heterosexual love.” Her mouth pulls unnaturally wide- more a grimace than a genuine smile. “I knew that all you children need is the correct environment for natural love to flourish.”

“Oh yes. If I had known that I would meet Miss Anderson, I would have never been confused upon first arrival. I have no reason to be attracted to the other young men when I am so attracted to this young woman.”

This time I finally do wrench my hand out of his, appalled that everyone thinks that I’m a girl. The anger makes no sense because everyone is right, I am a girl, but the thought of everyone here viewing me as a girl in whatever messed up world this is has me falling apart.

“I think it’s time for you to go, Castiel.”

“Will you find me later?” he asks, eyes round and maybe more afraid than my own.

1. Promise to meet Castiel again
2. Avoid Castiel