do,” Julian groused, kicking his feet up onto the bed.
“Don’t put your shoes on my bed!” Yadriel snapped.
“They’re ghost shoes, they can’t get your bed dirty!” Julian pointed out.
If Yadriel could’ve shoved Julian’s legs, he would’ve. But he had to settle on a death glare instead.
“So, what’s the plan, patrón?” Julian asked, unbothered.
Yadriel stood and went to the closet. “The plan is for me to go to school,” he said, digging around for a clean shirt. “And for you to stay here.”
“Wait, wait, wait—what?” Julian demanded, waving his hands. “Are you serious? Why are you going to school? We need to go find my friends!”
“I’ll look for them at school,” Yadriel said.
Julian gave him a withering look. “They’re not gonna be at school!”
Yadriel ignored him and tried to straighten up the mess. He grabbed his jeans off the floor and gave them a shake. There was some cemetery dust on them, but other than that, they were clean enough.
“Hey, are you listening to me?” Julian stood up. “I will lose it if you try to keep me here all day!” He held up a finger. “You wanna be haunted? ’Cause, swear to God, you ditch me here I’ll haunt you for the rest of forever!”
“You are being so dramatic right now,” Yadriel told him, shaking his head.
Julian groaned and smacked his palm against his forehead. “Look at me! Begging to go to school!” He collapsed onto the bed, his arm thrown over his face.
“You know,” Yadriel said, kicking some shoes into the closet, “if you’d just let me release you, we could end this here and now.”
Julian snorted.
“I know you want to check on your friends, but we also can’t let you turn maligno, okay?” Yadriel warned, peering down at Julian, who pointedly ignored him. Yadriel frowned. “You won’t be you anymore, you’ll turn into a—a monster.”
Julian peeked up at him from under his arm. “Bold of you to assume I’m not one already.”
Yadriel stared at him, trying to gauge if he was being serious or not.
Julian met his gaze, unblinking.
Knock, knock.
Both their heads snapped to the door.
Yadriel’s eyes went wide. That had to be Lita. She knew. She could sense he had a spirit in his room. He was totally screwed. If Lita found Julian, she’d tell his dad, and Yadriel would get in deep trouble for disobeying him and going behind his back and—Oh God, would they kick him out for disrespecting the ways of the brujx?
Yadriel panicked. “Hold on!” he called, grabbing the sleeping bag and tossing it over Julian, but it fell right through him, landing in a heap on the chair.
Julian arched an eyebrow and pointed at himself. “Ghost, remember?” he whispered.
“Shh!” Yadriel hissed, flapping his hands at Julian uselessly. “Hide in the—”
The bedroom door swung open.
Maritza leaned against the doorjamb.
Yadriel let out a breath and clutched his chest. “Jesus, Maritza!”
“Good morning!” she greeted cheerily. Her eyes swept back and forth between the two of them—Julian lying on the bed, Yadriel clutching his jeans. Her dusty-rose-painted lips curled into a smirk. “How was the sleepover?”
Yadriel dragged her into the room and slammed the door closed behind her. “You’re going to get us caught!”
“Chill, Yads!” She laughed, crossing the room to sit on the dresser.
Julian was on his feet. “Going to school is a waste of time!” he repeated, as if Yadriel had forgotten.
“No, it’s not,” Yadriel said as he snatched a clean pair of underwear and a fresh binder from the dresser. “I’ve got a math test—”
Julian scoffed.
“And unlike you and your friends, I actually care about my grades.” Yadriel closed the drawer with a snap and spun to face Julian.
“Then you gotta take me with you!”
“No way, we are not taking you to school with us.”
“You can’t just ditch me here!” Julian whined.
Yadriel clenched his jaw, his patience wearing thin. “Look—” he said, rounding on Maritza for some backup. There was a highly amused look on her face. “We’ll take a vote!”
“That’s not fair!” Julian scowled.
Yadriel ignored him. “Maritza.”
She arched an eyebrow in response.
“Do you think that Julian should stay here while we go to school?” he asked, sounding perfectly logical and even-tempered.
“Of course she’s gonna side with you!” Julian objected, gesturing wildly. “No voting!”
“Actually.” Maritza thoughtfully twisted a pink curl around her finger. “I think he should come with us.”
Julian blinked, arms still aloft. A satisfied smile broke across his face. “Well, you heard the bruja!” He sat down in the desk chair and locked his hands behind his head. “I’m going!”
It was