Page 24 of Espíritu

After a slow loop past the churchyard, Yadriel shepherded them back to the gate. “That’s all for today.”

“Boo, short field trip,” Rocky grumbled, but her eyes were bright, satisfied.

“Yadriel’s five-star Yelp review: too strict, no gift shop,” Omar added, pedaling a slow circle on his bike.

Flaca, who’d been quiet, adjusted her bag and gave Yadriel a brisk nod. “Respect,” she said, as if she were stamping her official approval.

“Thanks for letting us in,” Luca added. “It’s … beautiful.”

Julian loved his friends but couldn’t wait for them to leave. “Later, losers! Don’t eat all the leftover pizza before I get home!”

When they finally pushed off on their boards and bikes, Julian exhaled hard. He doubled over, bracing his hands on his knees. “Holy shit, I can’t believe we pulled that off!”

“You mean Yads pulled it off,” Maritza corrected. She slung her arm through Yadriel’s, smirking. “Look at you, tour guide extraordinaire! Didn’t even lose a single tourist!”

Yadriel shrugged, but his grin was satisfied. “It’s not my first time having to cover for the brujx.”

Julian let out a shaky laugh. “Bold move, though! If Lita finds out—”

“I know,” Yadriel cut in, but not defensive. He frowned as he looked up at Julian. “I don’t want to keep your friends out, Jules. But I also can’t just … throw open the gates, you know?” he said. “I thought if they got a little look around, it might be enough to keep their curiosity from boiling over. For now, at least.”

Julian wanted to kiss him, so he did. “That was actually genius,” he told Yadriel, grinning like a doofus again. It wasn’t even about the genius plan. It was about the way Yadriel kept choosing him, over and over.

Yadriel gave him a small smile.

Maritza wrinkled her nose. “Gross, you two are gonna start making heart eyes again.”

Julian snorted. “If you weren’t here, we’d be doing a whole bunch of stuff,” he told her, wiggling his eyebrows.

Maritza groaned. “Urgh!”

“Jules,” Yadriel hissed, his face turning bright red.

Julian cackled—he loved getting Yadriel all worked up.

A breeze rustled the courtyard where Dieguito had darted across earlier, catching Julian’s attention. The little boy spirit peeked from behind a headstone, round eyes wide and cheeks ruddy.

“One sec,” Julian said to Yadriel and Maritza before jogging over to him. “Hey, lil’ man, sorry about that,” Julian said, crouching down to meet him at eye level. “Didn’t mean to ignore you, just had to play it cool with the normies around, y’know?”

Thankfully, Dieguito’s smile broke wide, forgiveness instant, before he scampered off, giggling.

Julian straightened, already feeling better. He turned and scanned the headstones until he spotted a familiar shimmer near the wall. He grinned.

Marisol hovered in her oversize gray hoodie, the sleeves dangling past her translucent hands. Wisps of dark hair slipped from under her hood, catching faint golden light as she flickered. For the first time, Julian noticed the enamel pin stuck to her backpack strap—a tiny stack of manga volumes, the colors glowing faintly with her.

Julian’s face lit up. “No way! You’re into Haikyu!!?”

Marisol’s outline brightened, her jittery form smoothing for a moment. She pressed her hand against the pin like she was showing it off, her sneakers flickering against the gravel. She lifted her hood just enough for him to catch the edges of a shy smile.

“That’s one of Yads’s favorites!” Julian said, grinning. “He’s made me watch the anime, like, a bajillion times! Good taste, dude.” He nodded in approval. “I’ll try to track down the next volume for you!”

If Yadriel didn’t have it, Julian could probably snag it from the school library, if it wasn’t already checked out.

Marisol actually looked excited, then touched the pin again. She shimmered once, like a candle flame guttering in a draft, before drifting back among the stones.

Julian ran to catch up with Yadriel and Maritza. The brief interactions with ghosts did more to lift his spirits than the entire school day had.

The cemetery didn’t feel like just the brujx’s anymore. It felt like his.