Calisa laughed. She didn’t mean to, but the image was hilarious—a fourth grader skulking after Ethan as he chatted up various girls who caught his eye. Ethan couldn’t help being charming. That was one of the things that had drawn Calisa to him. He was at ease everywhere he went, with zero effort. Everything always came easily to him, to the point where he never had to work for anything or doubt that he’d get what he wanted.It’s his self-confidence. He knows what he wants, assumes he deserves it, and goes for it.
This time, he wanted her back.
“Why?” Calisa asked again.
“What do you mean? Because I love you. And I realize I was an idiot not to treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”
“Why do you love me?”
“Because…you make me feel like no one else. Youseeme.”
She wondered if he saw her. She thought of how Jack listened to her, truly listened, both to her babble and her ideas. Had Ethan ever done that? She wondered if he knew what kindof cake she liked, what books she’d read, what her favorite season was.
He continued. “You complete me.”
Calisa snorted. “You saw that in a movie.” Or more accurately, Crystal had seen it. She’d been on a rom-com binge last winter, some good and some that had not aged well.
“That doesn’t make it less true.” He was dripping with sincerity, and she didn’t trust a word of it.
“You’re just a boy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him?” she quoted.
“Yes, exactly!”
“I’ve bewitched you, body and soul?”
“Um, what?” he said.
She guessed Crystal hadn’t shared all her favorite lines with him. Just the ones spoken by a narcissist. “What is it that you love about me?” she pressed.
“I love that when you look at me—”
“That’s still about you. What do you like aboutme? Is it my sense of humor? Is it my smile? Is it the way I think? Do you think I’m smart?”
“Of course! You’re all those things. Smart, funny, beautiful.”
She had wanted him to say these words, to admire her the way she’d admired him, but now that he was saying them, she felt…fine. She wasn’t swooning or melting.
Maybe it’s because I don’t believe him.
A flicker caught the corner of her eye, and she glanced at the fireplace. The firebird danced over the logs, and suddenlythe very last thing that Calisa wanted to be doing wasdebating the depth versus shallowness of Ethan’s feelings. She just…didn’t care anymore.
Huh. That’s a surprise.
She thought of Melidor and how she’d suddenly known she was ready to plant her seedlings. Somehow, between weeding and scrubbing and worrying about Auntie Zee and venturing through portals into other realms, Calisa had moved on, and she knew it with as much certainty as the dryad.
“I have to go,” she said, interrupting Ethan. “Sorry. Bye.” She hung up and then stared at the phone for a few seconds.
It began to ring again.
She didn’t answer.
—
“One more trip to the Night Market,” Calisa said after pancakes. “It’s possible that Rin will have news for us. He said he’d ask around. If he doesn’t…I’ll call my moms.” They’d overreact definitely, and they’d insist that Calisa come home, but if Rin had no information, she didn’t think she had much choice.
Jack nodded, but she got the feeling that he was just humoring her. He didn’t believe Rin would have any news. “Let me just restock.” He always brought a backpack full of snacks when they went on their otherworldly search missions—that was another thing she liked about him. Never undervalue a boy with snacks.
After he’d stuffed a few plastic containers into his pack, they headed up to the guest room that had the portal to the Night Market. Inside, the firebird was already waiting. It hadraced ahead through the chimneys, and it crackled happily as it danced over the logs. She wondered briefly what it thought of what they were doing—it always watched their comings and goings, following them from room to room. She liked to think the firebird was rooting for them.
