Illusions

“Yeah,” Laurel said, remembering the whole reason for calling in the first place. “Could you… would you mind calling him and telling him I’m safe?”

“Him? Like, David?”

“Yeah. Please?”

She heard Chelsea sigh and mutter something about shooting the messenger. “You want me to tell him anything else?”

“No. Just that I’m safe. I gotta go. Thanks, Chelsea, bye,” she said in a rush before hitting END and tossing the cordless onto her bed. She hurried over to the window seat and unlatched her window.

“May I come in?” Tamani asked, his smile gentle, eyes warm.

“Sure,” Laurel said, returning his smile. “But you’ll have to be quiet; my mom’s downstairs and my dad should be home any minute.”

“I’m good at quiet,” Tamani said, stepping silently over the windowsill in bare feet.

Laurel left the window open, enjoying the lingering scent of rain. She stared down at her carpet. Then Tamani reached over and curled his fingers around hers. He pulled her gently toward him and twined his arms around her waist. “I missed you,” he whispered in her ear.

She pulled her head back and looked up at him. “I didn’t think I’d see you till tomorrow.”

He reached up and covered her hand with his, then lifted it to his lips and slowly kissed each fingertip. “Did you really think I could stay away?”

He let go of her hand and lifted her chin. He kissed her eyelids first, one then the other, and Laurel stood very still, her breath shallow, as he kissed each cheek, then her chin, then her nose. She wanted to grab him, to pull him in and reignite the sparks that had blazed between them this afternoon, but she forced herself to hold still as he lowered his lips to hers, the sweetness of his mouth enveloping hers. So slowly, so gently.

She lifted her hands to the sides of his face when he started to pull away. She couldn’t bear for this sweet kiss to end. His arms tightened around her in response and Laurel pressed her body against him, wishing — for a moment — that she could be part of him.

She turned when a knock sounded on her door. “Yeah?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound as breathless as she felt. The knob turned and before Laurel could say anything, the door opened.

“Your dad’s home,” her mom said. “Come on down and face the music.”

Laurel turned very slightly and looked out from the corner of her eye.

No Tamani.

She nodded and followed her mom out the door, hardly daring to look back.

* * *

“So what’s the damage?” Tamani was sprawled on Laurel’s bed, startling her as she closed her bedroom door.

“Where were you?” Laurel asked in a whisper.

“When in doubt, head under the bed,” Tamani said with a grin.

“But there wasn’t time,” Laurel protested.

“Time enough for me.”

Laurel shook her head. “I thought we were busted.”

“Are you busted?” Tamani asked. Laurel wondered if he’d ever said busted before in his life.

“I’m grounded for a week,” she said, shrugging as she sat beside Tamani. It still felt strange, having him here. It was one thing to lose herself in a kiss, but having a mundane conversation with Tamani felt awkward. It wasn’t like talking to David, who was a fixture in her life — comfortably familiar, like a favorite pair of slippers. Could Tamani replace that, now that he lived close by? Now that she saw him every day?

“Does that mean I should leave you alone this week, so you can feel the full weight of your punishment?” Tamani said, his face serious.

Laurel’s eyes widened, but Tamani’s mouth twitched into a grin and she whacked his arm.

He caught her hand and held it for a moment before tucking his fingers between hers and pulling her down against his chest. “Does that mean it’s okay if I come keep you company?” he asked quietly, before turning to look at her with his pale, intense eyes.

Laurel hesitated. She’d been with David for almost two years, had loved him every day. And even though she’d broken up with him, just having Tamani here felt a little like cheating. She was tired of David’s jealousy, of his mood swings, but did that mean she wasn’t in love with him anymore? Besides, David wasn’t the only one she’d told off today. She had little doubt that Tamani had picked that fight, but here she was, rewarding his efforts. His virtues shined too brightly for her to focus on his flaws. Did that mean she was in love with Tamani?

Was it possible to be in love with two people at the same time?

“You going to sleep?” Tamani whispered.

“Mmm?” Laurel replied, her eyes fluttering open.

Tamani bent his head a little closer to her ear. “Can I stay?” he whispered.

Laurel opened her eyes all the way now. “Here?”

He nodded.

“Like, all night?”

His arms pushed a little farther around her. “Please? Just to sleep.”

She tilted her head up, kissing him quickly to soften her answer. “No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just weird.” She shrugged. “Plus, my parents would hate it.”

“They don’t have to know,” Tamani said with a grin.

“I know,” Laurel said seriously, putting a hand on Tamani’s chest. “But I would know. I don’t like lying to them. Things have been way better since I started telling them the truth. Waaaay better.”

“You didn’t tell them I was up here before, or that I’m planning on being around this week.”

“No, but those are small things. This feels like a big thing.”

“Okay,” Tamani responded, leaning forward to kiss her one more time. He smiled as their foreheads and the tips of their noses touched. “I don’t want to go, but I will if you say so.”

Laurel smiled. “I say so,” she answered, yawning.

The next morning, Laurel couldn’t remember how he’d left, or when. But he was gone, and a single wildflower lay beside her pillow.

Chapter Twenty-Four

LAUREL SAT IN HER CAR, STALLING, FEAR BUILDING up in her stomach. It was almost worse than that first day of school, more than two years ago. Back then she had been paranoid about embarrassing herself in front of a bunch of complete strangers. Now she had to go in and face the fact that she had embarrassed herself in front of a bunch of people she knew.

Among them, David.

She didn’t think she’d ever been afraid to see David. Feelings warred within her — part of her missed him and didn’t want to admit it. Part of her was glad she’d broken up with him and shown him for once that she was serious. And yet another part of her wanted to run to him in tears and beg his forgiveness.

She locked her car, wondering if she could just linger in the parking lot and be late. But after ditching yesterday, she couldn’t risk it. Her parents had agreed that, under the circumstances, Laurel’s punishment belonged at home, not in the school system, so her mom had called in and excused her absences. But Laurel knew she would be expected to follow all the rules at school for a while.

With a sigh, Laurel forced herself to head for her locker.

As she approached the double doors at the front of the school, one swung open, revealing David. Laurel stopped in her tracks and stared. He looked so sad. It wasn’t that he was frowning — in fact he had mustered a reasonably convincing smile. But his eyes were deep-blue pools of sorrow so intense, it took her breath away.

“Hi, Laurel,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

The part of her that wanted to run to him and throw herself into his arms got a boost from that.

And then Tamani was there, holding the other door open. “Hi, Laurel,” he said, his smile brash, cocky.