Maisie needed a few minutes alone to consider her options for getting Melody away from Feya. Hopefully, that plan would be in full force when she returned to the Dig Site.

        She went to where Melody so-called “died” and peered over the gate to the still water beneath. Why was it so difficult for Maisie to believe her? Feya wanted her to, but Maisie couldn’t. Death meant death. There was no coming back after it. Regardless, Feya was always the optimist.

        “Oh, Milo,” Maisie muttered, “I need you.” Why were only Service Animals allowed at Coronado and All-Star Sports? Maisie couldn’t face the world without Milo and Luna. Daisy was Feya’s, but her tagging along for Summit irked Maisie. If she and Feya were going to face the world, they needed to do so without their animals or a so-called ghost. That sounded fair, but Maisie wasn’t selfish, she hoped.

        “What are you thinking about out here?” a voice questioned behind her.

        Maisie nearly fell into the gate. She whirled around and saw Melody. “Melody.” Maisie clenched her teeth.

        Melody joined her. “It’s cute how much you love Feya, but something tells me you’ve never been in a relationship before.”

        “Um, well…” Maisie’s face reddened. “I read a lot of Tessa Bailey.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, where’s Feya?”

        “She’s looking after our stuff at the pool.” Melody patted the railing. “She’s worried about you. Wanted to make sure you were okay. However, she said you ran when you saw her at the hot tub. Therefore, I’m here in Feya’s place.”

        “I don’t need you, Melody,” Maisie grumbled.

        Melody shrugged. “Fair enough, but I know you miss your cats and brother, and you’re using Feya as a punching bag for your grief. That’s not okay, May.” She paused. “I was a punching bag my whole life, and the consequences were dire. Do you want that for Feya?”

        Okay, what was she pulling? How dare Melody use Feya as an excuse to get Maisie to believe in spirits! Then again, what if she was right? Was Maisie bullying her fairy?

        “You need to talk to Feya,” Melody continued. “Hear her side of the story. Maisie, please listen to me. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to Feya—especially after seeing how much you two love each other. I never knew what love was until I saw you. For that, thank you.”

        Something about those words aroused Maisie. “Melody,” she tried, “what happened? Are you really a spirit?”

        She smiled sadly. “How about I tell you, and you can decide yourself?”

        Maisie was ready but also not prepared.

***

Ten years earlier

        Melody splashed water onto her tear-stained face in Veracruz’s bathroom. It only turned a darker shade of red. She checked her phone and tossed it into the wall, breaking the screen.

        “It’s not fair,” Melody sobbed, sinking to her knees beside her phone. “I’m her daughter.” She scooped up her phone and scrolled down the line of endless calls to her mom—none she ever answered. “Just because I’m queer doesn’t mean I’m not a person,” Melody told herself, standing. “Maybe the music festival will help.” Inhaling, she exited the bathroom.

        Melody wrapped her arms around her body and carefully went to the yard in front of Gran Destino Tower.

        Not even two minutes in, people gave her weird looks and whispered, “Is that the weirdo who hangs out in Veracruz a lot?” to each other.

        A few more tears dripped down Melody’s cheeks. She attempted to call her mom again, to no avail.

        Finally, Melody chucked her phone onto the floor and sprinted away from the festival. The music faded, and she soon found herself on the bridge between Lago Dorado and Coronado’s Cabanas.

        Melody wiped her nose and stared at the lake’s Cabanas side gate. Under the starry night, she climbed it and clutched the railing on the other side. A few minutes passed, and Melody jumped off the gate into the lake. She locked her knees and sank below the surface into the dark abyss.

***

        “Wait! You killed yourself?” Maisie’s jaw dropped.

        “I couldn’t take the abuse anymore, my mom, everything.” Melody rested her arms on the rail. “When I woke up, I was dead, but I went home to check on my family. They threw out all my things, May, and Mom was pregnant again three months later. By then, I decided to leave and stay here in Veracruz.”

        “Oh, Melody, that’s awful.” Maisie grasped her forearm. Why did she feel like she had it easier than she and Feya? “Those bitches need to be charged for murder.”

        “It’s in the past, Maisie.” Melody freed her arm and slid down the gate. “I’d rather forget it and the CP.”

        “But they had no right to treat you like that.”

        “Let it go, May, and just go to Feya.”

        “But—!”

        “You don’t believe in spirits, so it doesn’t matter.” Melody lowered her head and closed her eyes.

        Maisie still wasn’t sure if she believed, but she did learn that other people had experienced way worse than she and her brother. “Could you at least tell me where you lived?” she asked Melody.

        Melody sighed. “Clermont. I never want to return there.”

        “I don’t blame you.” Maisie stood tall and nodded. “Okay, Melody, I’ll talk to Feya.” She had a plan in mind but needed Feya’s help to pull it off if she would speak to her. Maisie now knew her purpose at Summit and would try everything she could to help Melody, regardless of whether she was a spirit.

        And it started with the Dig Site.