“Will,” I say, reaching the camellias. I press my hand against my chest, trying to catch my breath. Deep pinks and oranges stain the sky.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3eoxbI3vTX
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRxUazIE5B
“What are you doing here?” Madame Pommier stands up from behind the camellia shrubs, an emerald pendant in her hand.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ18rOgKh3i
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnraQ0pmh7R
“What are you doing here?” I say with surprise and a tiny prick of irritation at seeing her in our secret place.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqbjPD50dV
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUjo0fU3Ac
“The veil is thinnest here,” she says. “This is where I’m sealing it off.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXjaqRDSl0
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOE6mVeSqbc
My heart catches. “No, wait. Please. Can you stop it for just a little while?”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpIyf9K479
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTHSjbqbm0
She shakes her head. “Once it starts, it can’t be stopped.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQXQe7pif1
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYaXayltkO
“No,” I murmur, clutching the bottom of my sweater. Will.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKMM5vLcOn
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZ7imleR20
“Cami.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ649jgJS37s
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRbYUX7WIKa
My head snaps up. Roanna stands there, her giant curls wilder than usual. Her specs reflect the sunset, so I can’t see her eyes.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsjrdzonZl
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8n8OlwnKAF
In my selfish desire to be with Will, I finally see Roanna’s side.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeq8WfHUXOX
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQI3WQwgSg
“You were right, Ro,” I say, my voice breaking. “I’m sorry.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMb3y26Q6Yb
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91H5NeHnk5
Roanna hurries to my side and hugs me.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDDTpzjCw7
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqgAWlhvbhU
“Cami,” an even softer voices says.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNe8bo01pI5
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwy4oNnhdPq
All three of us look up. It’s Will, but it looks like I’m seeing him through a frosted window. I release Roanna and take three big steps forward so I’m directly in from of him. I hesitantly reach a hand out, almost expecting it to go through him.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡckUYFdNktl
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4T7g6EXpo3
“Cami! No!” Madame Pommier says sharply. “If you touch him with this closing in progress, we have no idea what it could do. You could be pulled into his time.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXknQ8CmqW
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorMv7zd0mU
“Or he could be pulled into ours,” Roanna says.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7AiLslNG5b
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVBREY6FJ1
Her gaze is off to the side. I follow her gaze and see a pretty, young nurse standing there, faint and transparent like Will is. She watches us with wide eyes.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVunUSve0hw
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FYLxPpnVX
“There will have to be an exchange,” Madame Pommier says. “Equivalent exchange.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpspFsUiYb
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8nvGEA5rO
“Do it,” Roanna says quietly. “It’ll be okay. I understand now. I belong there.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zkT6a78tO
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTE7T1tHp7z
There’s a finality to her gaze that terrifies me, but the sun is going down quickly, and there’s very little chance to think about it.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlkWvlgWwm
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkRezsozX4
“Can’t you both stay?” I ask. My voice barely comes out.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEs5iqOPVy9
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKk9EldPuT
She shakes her head and walks over to the nurse, holding a hand up. Turning her head to face Will, she says, “Just do it. Touch her.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrzxHQZ0af
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9ILptihgT
“Stop it. I can’t allow you to do this,” Madame Pommier says. But she seems unable to move out of the circle she’s made in the dirt.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXP8KOVVe4
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2un2pBhUT5
Will’s hand closes around mine, and the image of him begins to sharpen at the same time as Roanna’s image begins to dim and frost over. She smiles at me. Her hand is locked with the nurse’s.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdN6230DE5Z
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5yPFe2XRt
“Goodbye, Cami.” Even if I can’t see the tears in her eyes, I can hear them in her voice.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWV2vgEQNq
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFtJqPl4qn
I want to reach out toward her, but Will anchors me in place. He pulls me closer to his body—which is warmer than it’s ever been before—and watches her. Through him, I can see he recognizes within Roanna the longing to be elsewhere and how it feels to belong somewhere other than where you are.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDf5lXcHfqw
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGaCBOaMo6
“It’s a psychiatric hospital,” I tell her, even though it’s already too late. “You don’t want to go there. You don’t want to be a patient.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQN5tgvtif
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAP8VP2ULu
“A patient?” Now I hear the smile in her words. “I intend to be a doctor. Cami, there’s one more thing you need to do.”647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8uD5VyaLq
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfj1cPyRVmg
And somehow, I know what it is.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJt04HE80aI
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1pDIkQbimW
“Cami, don’t,” Madame Pommier says, taking a step toward me.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdZZEphMLU
647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnq5jDSaT8W
The emerald glints in the vanishing light. I thread my arms around Will’s neck and pull his mouth down to mine.647Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSBN5S4W2N
Penana
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