Page 71

“Oh.” Thank god, I didn’t put my foot in it after all. “Well, it makes sense, right?”

“It’d make a lot of things make more sense. Even why I came here in the first place, really. It’s not me. I don’t do second chances. You always end up regretting them. Case in point.”

The contrast between the cool night air and the warmth radiating from Skye makes me lean into her unconsciously, then consciously. It feels as though the whole world is right here in our little bubble. Even though the night stretches out into endless blackness, and it could contain anything, none of it can reach us.

“So. We share an ex,” she says lightly.

“Wait, we do?”

“But I don’t know anything about your other exes. If you even have any?”

Somewhere nearby, a cicada starts chirping. It somehow makes the air feel even colder.

“Jordy’s the only real boyfriend I’ve ever had,” I say. “I’ve had things with people before, but they never really went beyond… things.”

“People?” Skye asks, and I give her a funny look.

“Yeah, like, people. You want names? Chris from biology flirted with me for a while. I had a sort of thing with my cousin’s friend, Isabelle, but it didn’t get serious. And I used to make out with a guy in my study group called Nico, but I think it was more stress relief than anything.”

I study her face, to see if there’s a reaction when I mention Isabelle. It’s one of those weird things about being out. I’m out to everyone I want to be out to, but that doesn’t mean that, magically, everyone I meet ever again can justtell.Coming out didn’t plasterBISEXUALacross my forehead like we’re in a game of Celebrity. And I’m yet to pick up the habit of introducing myself to people as “Maya the bisexual,” even though it’d probably simplify things. So, it’s more of a “wait for it to come up in conversation” sort of deal most of the time.

Luckily, Skye doesn’t seem even a little concerned to hear a girl’s name thrown in there. “How about you?” I ask.

“Well,” she says, kicking off to pick up our swinging speed, “Icanget feelings for people. I just don’t let myself. Jordy’s the only person who almost… but if anything he proved me right. People leave.” My stomach twists at the faltering in her voice. “I dated a girl once, and she fell for someone else. Then there was another girl I really liked, and she led me on for a while before she vanished. After Jordy, there was a guy on thedebate team with me who was kind of cool, but he wanted to commit faster than I did, and apparently it was everything or nothing with him.”

“No names,” I observe.

“Nah. They’re all dead to me now.”

“Ruthless.”

“Necessary. But, I suppose we have something else in common. I’m fairly equal opportunity when it comes to who I briefly care about before they inevitably let me down.”

I wouldn’t let you down,I want to say. I’m nowhere near brave enough, though.

She sucks in a breath, and the shaky sound of it explodes into the silence.

I want her to kiss me, I realize all at once. I want her to kiss me because she’s beautiful, and because the air is crisp and it smells like chocolate. I want her to kiss me because we’re the only two people that exist right now, and that fact is pulling me to her like a magnet.

Her lips have parted. Fallen open, really. She’s scanning me, and for a moment, I think it’s actually going to happen. She’s going to lean forward and change everything.

But then she doesn’t. And the magical feeling evaporates, and it’s like it wasn’t there to begin with.

“It’s late,” she says, hopping off the swing. She holds her hand out to help me up, and walks me back to the mansion.

In the bedroom, I watch her carefully, looking for a sign that I didn’t imagine that magnetized sort of feeling. I get nothing, though.

Pushing the thought to the back of my mind, I climb onto my bed. I stuffed my iPad beneath my pillow to hide it when we left, and I pull it out and open it to my post.

It’s exploded with comments. Dozens and dozens of comments, with dozens and dozens of likes each already.

Someone’s jealous hahahaha

You know it’s slander, coming online to make up lies about people?

This is pathetic. Jordy would never cheat on anyone. If you’re gonna invent stuff, at least make it believable. He’s kind, caring, and smart. Probably all the things you wish you could be.

YOU CAN TRY TO CONVINCE PEOPLE OF THAT BUT WE KNOW THE TRUTH, WE KNOW JORDY!!!!!!!