Afterlife Academy Read Online Free Page A

ghost? I can’t be a ghost. Ghosts don’t even exist.”
    “Well, ghost is a very general
term,” she says. “And I assure you that they do exist.”
    “But I can’t be dead. I can’t
be. I’m sixteen. I have a family who loves me, friends who love me, and girls
who want to be me. And I certainly can’t be back
at school. I’m in Year Eleven. I’m leaving school in a couple of months. I
cannot be dead.”
    “I know it is hard to accept,
but you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t dead, Riley. Don’t worry, you’ll make
new friends here.”
    “But I don’t want new friends. I
want my old friends. I want my family. I want my life back.”
    “Don’t think of this as the end
of life, Riley. Think of it as a new beginning.”
    “I don’t want a new beginning. I
want to go home.”
    “You shouldn’t have got into a
car with that moron then, should you?” Anthony barks.
    “Why don’t you shut up, you
stupid jerk? Don’t you even care that we’re in some kind of ridiculous
nightmare?”
    “Of course I care,” he says.
“But this makes a lot of sense, so why don’t you shut up and listen?”
    “Don’t tell me what to—”
    Eliza bangs her hands on the
desk and it makes a huge crashing sound. We both stop and turn towards her.
    “Please don’t argue, you two.
You are actually extremely fortunate to have come here together. Most people
are on their own when they come in. It will be nice for you both to have some
company.”
    “I’d rather have my blood
drained by leeches,” Anthony says.
    “Ew,” I mutter. “You are such a
freak. Who says stuff like that? Besides, it’s not like I want to be here with
you either, jerk.”
    “Please stop fighting,” she
says. “We have a lot to get through before Induction.”
    “Induction?” I ask worriedly. I
don’t like the sound of that. Not one little bit.
    “Just a welcome to Afterlife
Academy,” she says. “To explain some of the rules. It will take place in the
cafeteria after you get settled in.”
    “What if I don’t want to get
settled in? What if I just want to go home?”
    “This is your home now, Riley.
You can’t go back to where you came from. You just have to keep moving
forward.”
    “This can’t be my home,” I say.
“This is school. Where am I supposed to live? What about my parents?”
    “This is a boarding school. You
will live here until you graduate.”
    “Graduate? Oh great, because
we’re taking our GCSEs in like two months. Does that mean we can leave then?”
    “Graduating from Afterlife
Academy is different than graduating from a living school,” Eliza says. “There
are no GCSEs here. There are no exams at all.”
    “So how do we graduate?” Anthony
asks.
    “You will graduate when I and
the other leaders deem you ready to graduate.”
    “What other leaders?” he asks.
    “The silent partners,” she says.
“Don’t worry, you won’t meet them, but they will watch you from afar.”
    “So they’re like stalkers?” I
ask sarcastically.
    “That’s not funny.” She turns to
stare at me. “The silent partners are very well-respected members of society
and their only interest in students is to ensure you are ready to leave here.”
    “Great,” I say. “When will that
be?”
    “There is no set time, Riley,”
she says. “It can be anything from a few months to a few years.”
    “A few years? You expect me to
stay here for a few years?”
    “I’m afraid you don’t have any
other choice. Everyone who dies while still of school age must come here. There
is also a primary school for younger students. Sometimes we go there to watch
their Christmas concerts.”
    “Do you know how disturbed that
sounds?”
    “I’m sure it must be a climate
change for you, but you’ll get used to it.”
    “No, I won’t. I won’t ever get
used to this. This is insane and you can’t make me stay here.”
    “There’s nowhere else for you to
go.”
    “Riley, shut up,” Anthony says
sharply. “You’re not the