Page 59 of The One That Ran Away

The walk to the teashop was filled with anxious trepidation. Shannon rehearsed what she wanted to say to Jess when she saw her sitting in her reserved alcove.“I’m so sorry. Can we please start over again?” “Mind reading my fortune? Please play nice!” “So, turns out my best friend is gay and really mad about it. Sound familiar?” “Look, I owe you an explanation about what happened senior year.”

All of those words went out the window when she stepped into the teashop, and there Jess was, bent over her tarot cards.

Years later, Shannon would sigh to remember that moment.“She was so peaceful, so beautiful. You can’t tell now, but back then she had the softest skin and the kind of curves you wanted to grab where she sat. The way she bit her lip when she considered her fate and what to do about it made all the girls in town shake in their rainboots.”Yet in that moment, with the low lights of the café shining above her and the low murmur of intimate conversations echoing between the closed-in walls, Shannon Parker was pulled by nothing but the bells of destiny sounding in the distance.

She sat in the seat across from Jess. When those blue eyes looked up, they were filled with cautious disbelief. And awe. Awe that such a beautiful woman could be sitting across from her.That’s me. I’m beautiful. She thinks I’m so beautiful that she fell in love with me the moment she saw me.

“What do you…”

“I want you to come back with me to my place,” Shannon said, interrupting her. “Right now. It has to be right now.”

Jess sat up, dropping the tarot card in her hand.

The Lovers.