I love it.
Jace grins, holding his arm out expectantly.
“Rip it off of me,” he quips, and I have to blink a few times to understand that he means the tattoo wrap andnothis clothes.
Slowly and with the ease of a ballerina on stage, I undo the wrapping and my body reacts before I can at the sight before me. A stopwatch, old and vintage in the exact same art style as the key, sits at tilt with its chain drifting away. I tilt my head, leaning in closer, taking in the complex detailing and shading of the stopwatch, down the little heart in the center of it.
“A key…and a stopwatch,” I whisper aloud, trying to paint the full picture, but I can’t. Curiosity rings through my mind as my eyes flicker from the key on my ankle to the stopwatch on his inner bicep.
And then it hits me.
“Everything’s got a moral, if only you could find it.”
Alice in Wonderland. His favorite tale, one of curiosity and growth. A thought transports me back to my nine-year-old self, the day that started it all between us.
The day that I met Jace Heart.
Twelve years ago
I huff dramatically crossing my arms over my chest. This isn’t fair! I should be able to go with Mommy and Daddy on their work tour. Why do I have to stay with Uncle Clef all summer?
“Now I know you’re not pouting, Sola girl,” Uncle Clef admonishes, his expression playful as I frown, shaking my head furiously. The long and thick twists in my hair swing, hitting my face with the large, round, purple and white balls that Nanny Roshelle put in my hair before I was brought here.
“No…I’m not pouting,” I say sighing as he pats my head lovingly before grabbing my bags from the trunk of his car.
“Good, now run inside. Your cousin and her friends should be inside with Ryan.”
At the mention of my cousin Cleo and her new brother Ryan, my ears perk up. I haven’t seen Cleo since last year when Uncle Clef said that I could sleep over at his house for a playdate.
I march up the front porch of my uncle's house, still upset because my mommy and daddy left without me.
I mean, I just don't get it. It’s summertime and I don’t have any school or dance classes…Why can’t I go with Mommy and Daddy?
My shoulders slump as my eyes fall to my feet. Rounding up the stairs to Cleo’s bedroom, I stop when a voice calls out to me, “Everything’s got a moral, if only you could find it.”
I stop in my tracks at the unfamiliar sound and turn to find a boy. I’ve never seen him before. I would’ve remembered if I had because I have great memory. I know I do, my dance teacher says it all the time. So that’s how I know that this boy in particular, is not someone I’ve met before.
He has hair the color of gold, vibrant like the sun, and rosy red cheeks like they were painted with a cherry, but what catches my attention are his eyes. Light green and vibrant all the same, his eyes are interesting. They remind me of a fairy meadow, light and dazzling.
“Who—” I try to say, but the eager golden skinned boy cuts me off.
“You’re sad, why are you sad? I heard you talk about your mommy, are you okay?” he asks, taking a step closer to me on the stairs.
I tilt my head as he grins at me. The grin is bright and I giggle as I notice the two missing front teeth in his mouth, but then his words come back to me.
Defensively, I turn away from the boy.
“I’m not sad. I don’t get sad, that’s not how big girls handle their problems,” I huff, folding my arms over my chest.
The boy’s grin widens as he rolls his eyes like we’re joking with one another, I raise an eyebrow at him.
Who is this kid, anyways?
“Well obviously, silly, why would parents name you ‘Sad’? That’s an odd name…”
“They didn’t.” I furrow my brows, leaning closer to him as he raises his brows.
“So then what do I call you, Sad?” he asks as if he were genuinely confused, tilting his head like the puppies I’d seen on TV.
