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Hell yeah, he was.
After showering and changing into my yellow sweater and brand-new brown wide-legged pants, I stepped out of the house and saw Gray waiting at the gate with his butt on a very orange, old-fashioned motorbike.
“Heol,” I muttered to myself, thinking about how I would end up calling this raven-haired boy a human orangeone day—for the love of God.
“Small—” he dared.
“It’s Aera Song.” I raised my voice as I approached him with careful steps. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m chasing after you,” he replied unabashedly. “Let’s skip class together.”
“I can’t believe you lied to my mom. You’re so shameless.” I frowned. “Are you sure you’re asking the right person to accompany you? Go ask a genius, not a failing student.”
Gray cast his gaze toward the hill, his hand gripping on the handlebar tightly. “But you’re the most human person I know,” he reckoned.
I squinted my eyes. “Aren’t we all?”
He faced me. “You’re more human than all the other humans.”
I cringed. “No, I’m not. I’m not … normal.”
“You’re not abnormal either.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. I’m an appalling person,” I admitted. “Because I truly cannot screw around, not doing my homework, not going to school, and not paying attention in class. I must have an IQ of zero. I can’t miss class and make everything worse for my future.” For real, though, I wasn’t smart like him. If I ended up repeating the school year, I would look like an adult lost in a first-grader’s class.
“Well, I think you’re smart,” Gray said, smiling shyly as he played with the hem of his black flannel shirt. I was never good at reading his face, so I had no clue whether or not he meant it or if he just wanted to flatter me with a lie.
“That’s sweet,” I blurted with my bitch-face on, “but no.”
“It’s just that,” he tried again, “I don’t want to spend the day alone. I feel like I’m on the edge …” He looked up and gave me a crooked smile.
I gave in when I recalled the vision of his body dropping off the edge of a cliff. “Gray, I have to tell you something.” I stepped toward him, ready to spill the secret regardless of the cost, when the harsh reality of the universe once again rematerialized. This time it was a large rock, not even a vision, sending me sprawling to the ground.
Gray rushed to my side, heaving me back up, sending pain through my palms and knees. I had scraped them on the way down. The soft flannel of his black shirt fluttered with the movement, drawing my gaze. Wait, is he dying today?His outfit was all too familiar. “Where did you say you were going?” I decided to ask, curiosity urging me to pry as Gray cleaned up the dirt on my pants.
He looked at me, grinning as he straightened his back. “Somewhere really high and beautiful. Why, oh why, small bean? Do you want to come with me now?”
“No, no, no!” I exclaimed, my brain warning me about how Fate itself would punish me if I went ahead and interfered with the plan. After all, hadn’t it just warned me by sending me tumbling to the dirt for even thinking about mentioning it to him?
Gray’s shoulders dropped as he lowered his gaze like a disappointed puppy who didn’t get a treat. “Fine … I just thought you’d like the waterfall as much as I do.”
“Waterfall?” I raised my voice. “Did you mean a fountain? Like at the mall?” I mentally slapped myself and thought,Don’t fall for it, woman. Let him go.
Seeing my reaction, Gray clapped his hands and got excited again. “You didn’t know, did you? There’s a waterfall not far from here. I call it Skyhigh Fallsbecause it has the tallest waterfall ever, and once you are on top of the mountain across from it, you can literally touch the clouds!” he said enthusiastically, swinging his hands up in the air as he demonstrated the length and the movement of the clouds in the sky. “Truth is, I was going to ask Cole to come with me because I had to tell him something important, but then I thought about you, and I was like … Aera has to see this place! That’s why I rented this motorbike.”
Rented, eh?That sounded off.
“So, what do you think? Should we go before the sun sets?”
I shook my head quickly, not allowing myself to think about how beautiful it must be—and how tragic it might soon be.
“No thanks,” I declined with class. “I have things I have no choice but to do. If Cole had a car, I would’ve gone to school and smashed his side view mirrors. But he doesn’t, so I’m going to school to show him I am not, and will never be, diminished by his cheating ass.Which means, I also need to graduate, even if I have to walk to school. Now, if you’ll excuse me …” Slowly and reluctantly, I headed north.
Something very bad was going to happen. I didn’t want it to, but I could feel it in my veins. Gray was going to die, and I would be responsible for it because I refused to interfere with Fate. Cole would most likely sue me for murdering his cousin due to my personal vendetta against him. I had no idea how Aunt Suzy would react, but Mom would most definitely make me watchThe Flashas if it would be relevant to my dilemma.
Kidding aside, what was holding me back from coming with Gray? Was it solely forme? For my self-esteem and my unpredictable future? My class attendance was the only way I’d earn a passing grade. If I skipped one more class, I’d have to work harder to graduate. And if I interfered with Gray’s life, I would end up dead.
But if something bad happened to Gray, would I be able to forgive myself?He’s sweet, nice, friendly, funny, charming, smart, cute—I covered my mouth with my hands.
