Page 28 of Five

“That’s—”

But she stops talking and starts squealing. I’ve flipped her over, careful not to bump her head on the rock as I do it, and now she’s pinned underneath me.

“Who’s the boss?” I ask her playfully.

“Me.” She giggles. “I’m the boss of me. My mom told me.”

And even though I’m not a mind reader, I read her mind. We flash back to her very first day of school at St. Joseph’s, when I met her at the car and took her hand and guided her towards her future. When I explained all our big plans and promised to help her with her French and she told me she knew her address, and then we took over the world.

We took over the world.

“I love you,” I say, looking down into her eyes. We’re perfectly matched. Her blue ones. My brown ones. “I have loved you since time began, Aurora Shrike. And this life is some kind of reward. We did something good once upon a time. Saved people in another life. Or rescued kittens, maybe. Something special like that. We did something good and we earned a bonus. This life is our bonus.”

“Soulmates,” she whispers back.

“Mmmhmm. Soulmates.”

“People don’t get this lucky, Five.” She’s suddenly sober and serious. Her smile falls a little. Falters, as reality catches up to us.

“We’re not people, Rory. We’re made of moonlight, and twinkling stars, and the night.”

“Promise?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I say, smoothing a piece of golden hair off her forehead. “I promise.”

Chapter Nine - Rory

“Hello?” I say into the phone. My voice sounds like I was out drinking last night instead of having sex with Five Aston on a rock.

“Rory?”

Shit. That wakes me up. I swing my legs over the side of the glider, looking around for Five, because when I came back to the porch he was with me and now he’s gone.

“Cliff?” I say, still trying to gather myself into a fully functional adult.

“Yeah.” Cliff sighs on the other end of the connection. “Just checking up on you.”

I have no idea what to say about that. I mean, look. I like Cliff. He’s handsome and rich. He’s got everything in this world and he chose to ask me out. He’s going to law school and he’s got serious plans that have nothing to do with running from the FBI or secret global corporations that plot his demise. So Cliff is awesome.

But he’s no Five.

“I’m… OK,” I say, unsure of how I should sound after the most perfect night of my life.

Not excited though. Definitely not excited when I’m on the phone with my ex-boyfriend.

Please, Aurora. He’s not an ex. You just cheated.

Yup. I did. Which means… this is a breakup call.

“God,” Cliff says. “I miss you already. I know it’s only been one day, but Jesus, Rory. You gotta give a guy time to adjust. Anyway, enough about me. How’s everything at home? Is everyone OK?”

“Yeah,” I say, opening the squeaky screen door and walking out into the grass. “Everyone’s fine. No one’s dead or anything. In fact, it was my little brother’s fault. He sent me a plane ticket and told me to come home and…”

And? What do I say after and? Good job, Princess.

Cliff pauses with me. Waiting for the rest of that sentence.

I decide to rip the Band-Aid off. Sort of.