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PART ONE
“The will to win and the power of war are given by the dark side—or, as dawn throws back the night…they are given by the light!”
- Tales of the Jedi: Knights of the Old Republic (Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon #1)
1
LUNA HALE
If I could stayon the shingled roof for another lightyear, I would. I’d never unplant my butt from this very spot. I’d just wait here until my dad changes his mind and gives Donnelly permission to date me.
I think I have a better chance of rotting away on the roof.
Donnelly has disappeared into the dark of my parents’ backyard. After fighting to see the last outline of his body, he’s just…gone. Instead of glancing up at the twinkling stars, I gaze down at the sketch he just drew for me.
Black pen bleeds into the ripped paper: him and me kissing among whirling planets and stars, all fancifully drawn in one continuous line. Like we’re forever connected to the galaxy of our dreams. I clutch the sketch protectively. It’s the embodiment of us. Of what we could be.
Of what Ihopewe will be.
I hate that it still feels so out of reach. Like thishappily ever afterversion of us lives in another timeline. But I know what Donnelly would say. I can practically feel the warmth of him beside me, murmuring the loving words against the pit of my ear.
“Believe with me.”
I whisper in the night, “I want to.”Oh, how I want to.The cynical pieces of me struggle to cling on to that light. Reality is darker. Sadder. Bleaker.
I try to take a breath. The savory smell of meatloaf wafts through my open window. Joining a family dinner is the last thing I feel like doing. An ache has blossomed in my chest, and I don’t know how to temper the pain other than to transplant it with anger.
We didn’t need my dad’s permission to date. Not really.
Donnelly and I are both adults. We’re not stuck in some medieval romance where he has to beg the king to wed the princess. It’s not like that at all. Though, here on this planet, I am considered an American princess. Fame and media are usually the bigger considerations when dating anyone.
How much privacy will they lose?
How much media attention will I gain dating so-and-so?
Will the public hate them or love them?
We haven’t even breached that stage of deliberation. We’re trapped in the beginning.
I do understand that Donnelly wants this to be easier for both of us, and that means having my dad on our side. It’s a rational plan. Agoodplan.
Especially if my dad’s hatred of Donnelly somehow becomes a headline:Loren Hale Disapproves of Daughter’s New Boyfriend!I could see the press eating up the rivalry like it’s a seven-course meal.
I just hate this shitty outcome where my dad told Donnelly to live in purgatory until his family is no longer a threat. Tears prick my eyes. Because I know, deep down, that Donnelly’s family mightalwaysbe a threat. And what then?
We’ll never be together.
“Luna?!” my sister calls out. “Mom told me to come get you for dinner!”
With the sketch in my fingers, I hug my knees to my chest and blink repeatedly to keep the waterworks at bay. My throat swells too much to talk.
“Luna?!” Kinney’s voice grows louder. I imagine she’s walking deeper into my room. “Are you on the roof? You’re not trying to get beamed up again, are you?” There’s a sharpness to her voice like she thinks the idea is completely absurd.
Some of my very first trips to my roof were in pursuit of being taken away by extraterrestrial life. By you, unearthly reader. Not only to see a new planet. New galaxy. But I felt like the only way to escape my problems was to leavethisplanet. The idea of being kidnapped and swept away somewhere better had this dark allure.
I guess it doesn’t seem as cool now.
Donnelly probably wouldn’t be beamed up with me, and I don’t really want to live on a planet where he’s not there.
