He raked a hand through his messy hair. “The swan you left on the bench, the first day of school.”
My heart swelled. I couldn’t believe he kept it. I figured he would chuck it in the first garbage bin he saw. “You kept it?”
“Of course I kept it. It’s beautiful.”
I was without words.
“Actually, I used yours to figure out how to make my own.”
He really couldn’t have been any sweeter, even if he tried. “I guess, we’ll have to postpone our day together,” I said, a little saddened. Although, I knew there'd be many other days for us. Haley, on the other hand, was running out of time. She’d been officially missing six days, and everyone knows that the longer a person is missing, the less likely she or he is to be found.
“We’ll do it another time,” he said
I stopped at the door to Psychic Development. “Well, this is me,” I said. “Bye.”
“Bye.”
Neither of us were moving.
“Tonight, maybe,” I said after a long beat. I didn’t have to say more -- Leo are and I were on the same wavelength, with the whole ‘being able to read each other’s minds’ thing. I knew he wanted to see me again. He couldn’t wait any longer. And neither could I.
He smiled wide. “Sounds good. I’ll find you. Around seven o’clock?”
“Sure.”
Normal kids would say something like ‘I’ll text you,’ or ‘I’ll message you,’ or something along those lines. Normal kids who didn’t have their phones confiscated on a daily basis. In some ways, RAMS felt a lot like prison, a freaky, super posh detention center.
I’ll find you.I liked the sound of that.
He winked just before walking away. I wanted to bottle up that wink and keep it forever. I wanted to keep all his smiles, winks, smirks, and even his sweet pouts, in a little glass jar and keep it on the shelf over my bed.
“Welcome back, Miss Jenkins,” Mr. Todd said in a sing-song, as I walked back to my desk. As I pulled my binder out of my bag, it occurred to me that I might be a bit lovesick… just a little tiny bit. I realized that I was probably in dire need of one of Kylie’s magic potions. But then again, why would I want to get better, when being lovesick felt so damn good.
As soon aswe got out of last period, Kendra grabbed me by the arm. “We’re going to get you a costume.”
I was pleasantly shocked. “Really?!”
“Ace said he’d give us a ride,” she said. “There’s this awesome Halloween store in town.”
Oh, crap. I’d been trying to stay away from Ace.
She was walking a million miles a minute. My little legs struggled to keep up with her long ones, and I found myself out of breath. “He has a car?”
“He has a fabulous car.”
Okay, so I wasn’t the biggest fan of Ace Rogers, but if he was willing to drive us to town and solve my costume dilemma, I was all for it. “Can Alicia come?”
“Probably. I don’t see why not. I think Ace’s car sits five.”
As far as I knew, no one on campus had a car, especially students from abroad. “Must be nice for him.”
“Well, the word is that he’s rich, you know,” she turned to me. “His family owns a pharmaceutical empire back in the UK.”
This didn’t surprise me at all.He had the cool confidence that rich kids have, like he’d been around the world and back. And his mannerisms and speech were so measured and proper. Leo and Ace really couldn’t have been any more different.
I thought about my date with Leo. “When would we be back?”
“Probably an hour or two,” she said. “Why the big interrogation. Do you want to go or not?”
