“If you need any tips, we’ll be inside,” Reece called.
They went in the house, tittering. The floodlight turned off.
The sudden darkness was startling. But the touch of Jackie’s lips on hers wasn’t. She knew they were going to kiss.
“Is this okay?” he asked.
“If it wasn’t, you’d know,” she said.
“I’d have a fat lip.”
“Worse.”
He still had her arms pinned.
“I want to try this.” She rolled on top of him, pinned his arms, and kissed him.
“Which did you like better?” he asked.
“This.”
“I think I do, too. But I need more to be sure.”
She obliged.
“I’m sorry I said you were mean,” she said.
“I knew you were only frustrated.”
He sat up and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s weird how easy this is,” he said.
“I know. But maybe not that weird.”
He held her out in his arms and looked at her. The lights in the house projected enough glow that she could see his shadowed features and a little shine in his eyes. He was smiling.
“You aren’t surprised at all?” he asked.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you since I was seven, I think.”
“I think I have, too.”
She kissed him again. He was right. Being with him was so easy. As easy as breaching the fence magic had been.
He pulled off his gloves and combed snow out of her hair with his fingers. “I finally get to touch your hair.”
“You like my hair?”
“I love your hair. It’s always reminded me of shiny black raven feathers—because of your name, obviously.”
Chris had seen through to her raven side, too. Maybe the closeness of spirit made it happen. But she hadn’t felt a hundredth the soul bond to Chris as she did with Jackie.
“Want to go inside?” he asked.
“I could stay out here all night.”
He smiled, stroking his hands on her hair. “I bet you could. That’s how I always see you: out here. Even at school. You’re like a piece of the forest that comes inside for a little while.”
“I feel like that at school a lot of the time.” She kissed his lips lightly. “I went there for you, you know. And for Reece and Huck.”
“I know. We all knew. You paid too heavy a price. That’s why we’ve been so pissed off about it all these years. And really guilty.”
“Why guilty?”
“Huck said it best. He said we lured you to school, and it was like a trap. The door closed, and we could only see you there, like visiting you in a cage. You lost all your freedom because of us.”
“Let’s not talk about that. I’m here now.”
“Does she know?”
“No. She’s asleep.”
“When are you going back?”
“I don’t want to talk about that either. I want you to kiss me.”
He touched his lips to hers and said, “I will. As much as I can until you go.”
They stayed outside for only a few more minutes. They were soaked and getting cold. As they entered the back door, Jackie said, “Reece’s jokes about this will be endless.”
“I don’t care.”
“Neither do I.”
Ms. Danner came to the door as they slid off their boots and coats. “I figured you’d be as wet as Huck and Reece were. I put dry clothes in the half bath for you, Raven.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m sorry we’re creating so much laundry. I could put a load in the washer for you.”
“That’s sweet of you, but you go have fun. When do you have to be home?”
“No set time.”
Ms. Danner frowned. “Does your mother know you’re here?”
Raven shook her head.
“She must be frantic by now!”
“She’s asleep. And if she wakes up, I left a note saying I was on a walk.”
“At night in a snowstorm?”
“That’s what she and I always do.”
“What is?”
“Go outside.”
She looked at Jackie. “This worries me. Drive her home soon, okay?”
He nodded. But when his mother wasn’t looking, his mischievous glance at Raven said soon wasn’t what he had in mind.
Raven and Jackie met in the living room after they changed. Huck and Reece were watching a movie. The living room was pretty with no lights but candles and the colored bulbs on the Christmas tree.
“Get lost in the storm?” Huck asked.
“Yep,” Jackie said.
“I hope you had your moral compass with you, young man,” Reece said in a teacher voice.
Jackie pulled Raven next to him on the L-shaped couch. “Where’s Mom?” he asked Huck.
“Reading in her room.”
Jackie unfolded a soft blanket and spread it over Raven and him. He moved close, nestling her in his arms.
“Whoa, what’s this?” Reece said. “Do you two move fast or what?”
“Not really,” Huck said. “They’ve already slept together.”
Reece pretended to choke on a piece of popcorn. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“I was told I couldn’t,” Huck said, looking at Jackie.
“And yet, you just did,” Jackie said.
“When was this?” Reece asked.
“A while back,” Jackie said.
Reece looked at Raven. “Aren’t you going to defend your honor?”
“I don’t have to. I was seven years old.”
“I know for a fact that Cinderella always left long before midnight that summer,” he said.
“She snuck into Jackie’s bed in the middle of the night,” Huck said.
“You little minx!” Reece said to Raven.
They all laughed.
“But really, did you?” he asked Raven.
“I really did. My mother was angry with me, and I ran away.”
“And you crawled into bed with him?”
“She did,” Jackie said, hugging her tighter. “She was freezing cold and wet.”
“That was because I fell asleep in Hooper’s field.”
“You never told me that,” he said.
“I was too busy shivering,” she said.
“This is some story,” Reece said. “Can I have rights to it when I become a famous author?”
“We’ll think about it,” Jackie said.
“Are you still writing?” Raven asked Reece.
“I write when I’m not dead tired from working, and driving back and forth, and doing laundry, and making sure my mom eats more than whiskey every day. Which means, no, I’m basically not writing.”
“That sucks,” Jackie said.
“I know, and I suffer well, don’t I?” Reece said.
“Admirably,” Huck said. “Are we watching this movie or what?”
“Rewind it to where we were when the love pups came in,” Reece said.
She and Jackie didn’t stay long.
