by Carly Marino
The link between us was unmistakable. Static almost.
“Do it with me,” I whispered. I don’t know why I asked him to, but the words just spilled out.
His fingers rolled down my forearms as if coaxing my light to my hands. The softness of his skin touching mine awakened my body. Heat traveled from my shoulders to my fingers, and my eyes met his.
A hint of a smile lifted on his mouth. He moistened his lips, and I swayed toward him.
The room stilled—darkened. I forgot about his destined love, and his fascination with me. I didn’t care. Light crackled between our hands, and I smiled. He did the same.
Green.
Cole entwined his fingers in mine, moving our hands in and out and the sparks pirouetting between us. The colors rose and flickered, and waterfalls of light spilled over our forearms. The arches exploded into a hundred twinkling lights. I laughed. Blue and yellow swirled like a thousand shooting stars. It was beautiful.
He gazed at me, his neck tilting as he leaned in. The glimmering light reflected in his eyes, bringing out the green in them. Tingles fluttered all over me. My heart pounded the closer his lips came to mine. His breath brushed my skin, and I parted my mouth.
Everything about this moment felt right. Regardless of what Nora said, Cole and I had some kind of connection. I cared for him, a lot, and I hoped a tiny part of him felt the same.
Why didn’t he invite me to homecoming instead of Holden? Even just as friends. I wanted to experience my first dance with Cole. He’d opened my eyes to so many things already. I’d give anything to—
Cole retracted, our light vanished, and he stood. “You’re going to homecoming with Holden Lavoie? Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“What?” I sat dumbfounded. What was he— “Dammit! Stay out of my head!” Cole had distracted me, and I must’ve dropped my mask.
“Well? Are you?”
“Yeah, I am. Why do you care?”
“He’s human.”
My mouth fell open. “So am I.” I stormed to the door and whipped it open. “What does it matter, anyway? You’re already—” I growled. “I’m not having this conversation with you. You should go.”
He slammed the door and backed me against it. I drew in a breath, lightheadedness clouding my vision and weakening my knees. Having him this close made it hard to hold onto my anger. Strands of dark hair cascaded over his face, framing his hooded eyes. The intensity in them flooded my body with a warmth I’d never experienced.
Cole’s gaze flicked to my mouth, and I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to drown in his taste. Lose myself in his invigorating lemon aroma. The mere thought sent delicious shivers along my sides.
He brushed loose tendrils of hair behind my ear and cupped my cheek. “I told you, going to homecoming isn’t safe. Dances are like throwing a bunch of fish in a shark tank. Resparés will be everywhere.” His other hand glided down my arm, leaving a trail of electricity in its wake. He toyed with the bracelet on my wrist, his gaze not leaving my face. Was he going to kiss me?
“Shit!” Cole snapped his hand back.
I flinched, my heart sinking. Had I done something wrong? “What? What happened?”
He sucked on the pad of his thumb, and then examined the tip. “What’s on your bracelet? Something just burned me.”
“Burnt you? It’s just a bracelet. There aren’t even expensive charms on it. My aunt buys me one every year for my birthday. We take this trip and—”
Cole’s brows cocked as if to tell me to get to the point. I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, every charm is from a place we visited that year. Well, except for one.”
He lifted my wrist, careful not to touch the chain. “Which one?”
I withdrew my hand from his gentle grasp and spun the chain until I came to the cylinder with the white star carved in the side. I caressed the metal between my fingers. “I found this one with the photo of my parents. I always assumed it was my mother’s. It was on a necklace, but I put it on my bracelet. I wanted to keep it close.”
“Let me see it again.” He brought my wrist close to his face and peered at the dangling charm. “Holy shit, Thea. Do you know what that is?”
I chuckled. “Uh, yeah. A charm?”
He shook his head. “It’s a memcap.”
“A memcap? What the hell is that?” I studied the small star. It seemed normal. I shrugged. “Looks like a tarnished piece of metal to me.”
“Look harder.”
I sighed, humoring him, and examined the star. I gasped at the tornado of white smoke whirling inside. I’d never noticed that before. “What—what is it?”
“It’s a key. A key to a lost memory.”
Chapter Fourteen
When I walked into school Monday morning, kids said hello and waved to me. Warmth crept up my face. Had I stepped into an alternate universe? Well, aside from the one I’d already been thrown into. This was just too creepy. And that was saying a lot considering the week I’d had.
Students stopped their conversations or paused mid-locker-door-slam to give me a crisp nod. A few even said, “way to go.” I smiled politely and scurried from them. The attention was nice, but they couldn’t touch me. Why had the student body changed their opinion of me? Pariah to—I didn’t even know what.
Could Nora, Drake, and Cole have something to do with this? I doubted it.
When I got to my locker, I exhaled, thankful no one patted my back or attempted a high-five for a reason unbeknownst to me. The extra attention was draining. I already wanted to go home.
Wynter slid in next to me, her cobalt sweater bringing out her glacial-blue eyes. She fussed with her mermaid-style side-braid. “Why didn’t you tell me about Matt? The whole school is talking about how you saved his life.”
She gave me a suspicious smile. Uh-oh. “And you’re going to the dance with Holden, and you didn’t tell me. Not cool.”
I shrugged, and we walked the hall. “Well, before last night, I was still sort of debating if I wanted to go with him. But he’s nice enough.”
“He’s adorable and popular. Great snag.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, I think.”
We stopped at my first period. “Wanna ride to the dance together?”
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to Holden. We’ll probably meet you and Ethan there.”
She nodded. “Okay! See you at lunch, girlie!”
I waved before heading into my class. Matt rested his chin on his hands. His spiked hair lacked its usual perfection. He had bruising on his left cheekbone and a scabbed cut on his lip. If I were him, I would’ve stayed home.
Matt’s brown eyes glinted when he caught me staring. Using crutches, he lifted himself and then hobbled toward me. The fine lines around his eyes and forehead had deepened, aging him. He seemed slimmer, almost sickly, and his shiny blond locks had dulled.
My feet rooted to the over-the-weekend-waxed tile. Curious stares burned into me as Matt closed the space between us. Mr. Barbosa drummed on his desk, but despite the annoyance on his face, he waited.
“Hey.” Matt adjusted his crutches under his armpits. “Thanks for saving my life.”
Heat flushed my cheeks and ears. “No worries, anyone would have done what I did.”
“No, Thea, everyone wouldn’t have. Especially for someone who’s talked shit about you. I know this is three years too late, but I’m sorry for saying that we hooked up when we didn’t.” He glanced at the class. “I lied. She had every right to slap me.” His gaze drifted to the side. “You were a pretty okay girl back then, and I’ve felt bad for years. I’m an asshole. I hope you can forgive me.”
I fidgeted with my spiral notebook. He did the same with the foam on his crutch handles.
My fingers twitched to pinch myself. His apology shouldn’t mean anything at this point, but the words meant everything. His lie had deemed me an outcast. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not salty, anymore. Plus, most people are assholes. Glad you’re okay.”
He nod
ded, and I stepped around him to sit in front of Ethan, who arched his brow. I clenched my fingers to keep my hands from shaking. To avoid gawking stares, I watched the sheets of rain hammer the windowpane. Trees bent to the side with the heavy gales of wind.
Mr. Barbosa rattled on, his marker squeaking on the white board.
A note slid over my shoulder and landed on my desk. I opened it.
That was v awkward. Glad that asshole finally owned up to his shit. And Holden is a good guy. Homecoming’ll be fire.
I quickly scribbled a reply to Ethan,
So awkward. But, appreciated. As for Holden, as long as he isn’t a serial killer, it’ll be all right. Haha.
After I’d refolded the piece of paper, I chucked it over my shoulder. He grunted. I snickered, knowing it must’ve hit him in the head.
Wyn had been right. This year would be different. Finding out where I came from had given me confidence. Despite all of my unanswered questions, I knew enough to hold my own. People seemed to notice. I guessed saving Matt was good for him. As for me, as long as that Resparé stayed out of my life, things could only get better.
****
The week zipped by, and Friday study period came too soon. I didn’t want to go. Cole had avoided me since Sunday. I wanted to talk to him about the memcap, but he seemed consumed with other things, which didn’t bother me too much. I had a lot on my mind as well.
The dance was tomorrow night. Holden had said he’d pick me up at seven PM. He’d rocked on his toes and smiled bigger than I’d ever seen someone smile.
This week had given me hope for the remainder of the year. Finally, I could have some normalcy. I couldn’t withhold the extra pep in my steps. Who cared what Cole thought, anyway?
Tatum and two of her friends intercepted me in the hallway. “Thea.”
I didn’t have it in me to deal with her today. I frowned. “What do you want, Tatum?”
She eyed me under curled lashes and pointed her cotton-candy-pink fingernail in my face. “You need a reality check. You’re not little miss popular now just because you called 9-1-1. That doesn’t make you a hero. You’re a loser and to be honest, I’d be surprised if Holden actually ends up taking you to the dance.” She smirked. “He knows if he takes you as his date, it will destroy his rep, and he needs a good one to get a scholarship. Recruiters don’t want to hear that a lovesick psychopath will be following him to their school.” She flipped her bob of reddish hair.
Her minions either followed suit or looked anywhere except at me.
“Why do you hate me so much? You have Matt. What is your problem?”
Tatum hugged her math book to her chest. “We were friends before you went out with Matt. You knew I liked him, and you still hooked up with him. Then you tried to make him look bad. Like you wanted to sabotage anyone else from ever being his girlfriend. But it backfired. You became the freak.”
Tatum, Wynter, and I hung out in middle school, but she’d never told me about Matt. “I swear I had no—”
Someone gripped my forearm. “Hi, luv. Mind if I borrow a little something from you?”
Needle-like pricks bit at my skin. Nora let go. Zaffre light danced in her eyes. “Here’s a free lesson for ya.”
She surveyed the vacant hallway. Everyone except Tatum and her friends had already ducked into their study period. A wicked smile rose on her face. She snatched Tatum’s wrist.
Tatum yelped. “What the hell are you—”
Nora smiled, slowly, like the bloody-toothed demon from a scary movie I’d watched with Wynter last summer.
Blue beams spidered from Nora’s grasp on Tatum. Threads of smoky light snaked around the girls and darted into their eyes. They swayed, dazed. Nora dropped her hand.
Tatum’s face brightened. “Thea, you’re so amazing. I hope you have such a good time at the dance.” Her friends giggled before they chattered to their classes.
I recoiled. Now I knew I’d entered an alternate universe.
Nora laughed. “Now that was fun.”
“What did you do?”
“Turned their jealousy into admiration and elation. Brilliant, if you ask me.”
“Jealousy? Why would she be jealous of me?”
“Lots of reasons, I imagine.” Nora fixed her black halo hat. “She’s a bitch, and I’m sure Matt knows. He’s just stuck with her until graduation.”
I smiled. “Thanks, Nora. I really—”
“Uh-uh.” She waggled her index finger. “We still aren’t best buds, you and I. But if anyone is going to be a bitch to you, it’s me. You’re Inflexaen. We keep after our own.” She waved before leaving.
Something had changed in her. Maybe our heart to heart? I doubted it. I went into my study period.
Cole’s gaze followed me the entire walk to the back of the room. I couldn’t read his expression. I bit my lip and sat across from him.
He grabbed the corner of my desk and pulled me closer. The metal legs screeched across the floor.
“What are you doing?” I smacked his hand.
I fought to move my desk, but he held tighter.
A few of our classmates turned to look at us. I shielded my face. “Knock it off, people are staring.”
He focused on me. “Are you still going to homecoming?”
I scoffed. “Seriously? This again? Why do you care?”
“I told you why. Are you or not?”
“I think you know the answer to that.”
He scowled. “Going to homecoming is a stupid idea. You need to focus on your memcap, not dancing and drinking punch with some moron.”
Was he jealous? No. He couldn’t be jealous. Overprotective, maybe. But not jealous. “You haven’t talked to me all week. The memcap obviously isn’t that important,” I whispered.
“It’s extremely important.”
The teacher’s aide cleared her throat and shot a pointed look at us. Cole glowered in return. She spun and disappeared into the storage closet.
He touched my forearm. Pinches dug to my bone. His fingers sparked with yellow light, and he blasted my desk. It slid into place, the edges burnt and smoking.
I wobbled in my chair, almost falling out. “Are you crazy?”
Students rubbernecked the commotion. I covered the stinky, smoldering plastic with my hand.
“We’re not done with this.” His face tightened and shifted from me.
For the remainder of class, I wished I had the ability to time travel into the future to make this class end faster. The moment the minute hand struck twelve, I hustled around excited students and outside the school doors. The smell of wet pavement lingered from the morning downpour, and the dark ragged clouds still looming overhead suited my mood. I charged to the parking lot. Cole caught up. His long strides matched my gate, and I cursed my short legs.
“What do you want from me?” I unlocked my car and before I could whip the door open, Cole put his hands on either side of me. He arched over me, and his cheek melded onto mine. The gentle scruff along his jawline released the tension in my neck and shoulders. He smelled of soap. I didn’t dare move, terrified he’d leave. His nearness comforted me, made me feel safe. I didn’t care who saw us standing in this intimate position. I wanted everything. Right then. The feel of his lips moving with mine. The softness of his tongue. I breathed in deeper. He did the same.
Why couldn’t we be together?
He sighed into my ear. “I—I don’t know what I want.” He retracted. His abrupt departure left me cold and empty. “But what I do know is I don’t want you exposing yourself, or us, to some stupid human because you want to play normal for a night.”
His words bit at my heart. They dug into the depths of my chest, twisting and carving a hole. I blinked the tears threatening to give me away and swallowed the thickness forming in my throat. I’d never been more thankful Cole couldn’t read emotions like Nora and Drake. Once I gathered myself, I said, “Normal is just fine with me. After the dance, we can figure out the memcap.”
&n
bsp; “We need to do it now. You still have to learn to mask emotions and some basic self-defense moves.”
Nowhere in his list did he say control my ability. “What I need is to control my ability. Now. Not tomorrow, not the next day, right now. I’m not going to do another thing or be your science experiment for another minute until you teach me. I’m done. All I want is to fit in and once I can do that, I can forget everything else. You want this memcap, I’ll gladly hand it over to you after you teach me.”
He growled and shook his head. “You make me crazy, you know that? I’m constantly worried about your damn safety and all you want is to be normal and date some stupid human asshole. I’m sorry, but my answer is no.”
“No? No?” I gritted my teeth. “We have nothing more to talk about. Get away from my car.”
Cole slammed his hand on the roof and pushed off. He massaged his forehead, breathed out, and withdrew something from of his back pocket. He shoved the device in my hand. “Here. I bought this for you.” He spun. “Have fun at the dance.”
I swiped the screen to unlock the brand new iPhone. A picture of him pointing at a handwritten sign said, don’t lose this one.
My ribs squeezed, choking me. I wanted to cry, but I wouldn’t give him my tears. Although sweet, his gesture didn’t change anything. He already had his Yuanfen. The person he longed to spend his life with. And I had my own soulmate out there somewhere, and it wasn’t him.
This phone was just another way for him to keep tabs on me. I’d never be more than his experiment. Up until now, I’d played nice, did what he said, for the most part. The least he could do was give me what I asked for. The one thing I wanted more than anything in the world.
My freedom.
Chapter Fifteen
Wynter dragged me to all the homecoming events, including this stupid football game. She argued that Holden was the quarterback and it’d be rude not to go. She was right. Plus, staying busy left little room to think about Cole and the way he’d treated me yesterday. I mean, the cell phone was sweet but also another way he could keep tabs on me.
