━━ 𝗔 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗬𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
I feel her before I see her, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in attention. When I shut my locker, she's parting the crowd like the red sea. Imogen Greene is looking right at me, a smirk po...
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IT'S been dark for a while which means Mom is going to be home from the library soon and start dinner so it's ready when Rick gets home.
Which means in the next half hour, I'll hear her footsteps on the stairs and her voice outside my door, asking to come in without waiting for an answer.
She'd find Imogen Greene curled into a ball against my side, her face swollen and blotchy and sticky with drying tears.
We haven't spoken in a while but I don't think we have to. We've said all we needed to, our thoughts weighing heavy above us.
I need to leave.
I need you to stay.
The garage door opens, buzzing below the floor of my bedroom and Imogen sits up without a word, her eyes wide as she moves to the window.
"Do you want to meet up later?" I ask, eager. One corner of her mouth lifts up.
"You should get some sleep," she says softly. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Imogen," I say, because she knows I won't sleep much.
"Goodnight, Harry," she sighs, opening the window, her leg landing on the branch outside.
"Goodnight," I mumble, watching her as she climbs down, disappearing into the darkness.
* * *
She's biting her lip during first period. She's there before me and in her seat and staring at the door when I come in. Her eyes soften a little when they meet mine but her teeth don't release her lip.
Imogen looks as anxious as I feel.
Someone steps around me, knocking into my elbow and breaking my gaze, but when I look back as I'm making my way to my desk, her eyes are following me.
I give her a nervous smile that she does not return.
The lecture on the dystopian novels we're supposed to write papers on over break is starting and I'm pretending to take notes, but really, I'm trying to figure out ways to keep Imogen Greene here.
I pause when that thought enters my mind.
Am I being selfish?
She never actually said that she wanted to stay. Just that she hadn't done it before.
Grace always wants to stay, though and maybe I need to talk to her first.
* * *
We get library passes in study hall, though I can tell that Grace is suspicious of my motives as we turn towards one of the back doors facing the woods.
"I need your help with something-come to the library with me?" I'd asked as soon as I'd gotten to class. She pulled an earbud out as she nodded.
Now though, making sure no one else is around, we slip through the door, kicking a rock against the jamb to stop it from locking us out. It's cold, but not unbearable and I'm glad we took our coats with us.
"Spill it," she says, eyes narrowed but relatively amused as we take seats on the cold, dry pavement a little way away from the door.
"The solstice."
Grace pales, her eyes widening with alarm.
"W-what about it?" she stammers, looking away.
"Imogen told me. About leaving. Or staying."
"So, you know we're not...we're... other?" she asks skeptically, anxious of my answer.
"I know you're not like I am. That doesn't matter to me except for the fact that you all might be gone."
Her shoulders relax, ever so slightly as she scrubs a hand over her face, letting out a weary sigh.
"Does Austin know?" I press. She nods grimly.
"To an extent. I don't know if he really knows what's going on. None of us do."
"But you want to stay." It isn't a question. Grace swallows hard, twisting the cord of her earbud around and around her fingers.
"Life fascinates me," she says, a watery smile gracing her lips. "I never remember much from before or from...between, you know? But there's so much to learn here and so much to see. Why would we keep coming back if we weren't supposed to be here, you know? I've never gotten to fall in love before and it's so exciting."
"Then why not stay?" I ask, my voice cracking. Grace frowns, a bitterness seeping into her tone.
"They can't get back without me. Lexi just gets so bored, so annoyed to be stuck somewhere she feels she's so above. I don't blame her, I love her, she just...she's so powerful, Harry, I can never convince her on my own."
"What about Imogen?"
My heart hammers as Grace shifts her weight, thinking.
"Imogen is just tired. She's got it hard with her...gift. She never gets a break. Lex always tells her, if she goes back, she'll get to just stop. I don't blame her, how can I? The dark can be so heavy and alone sometimes."
I feel tears stinging in my eyes.
Grace touches my hand, her voice gentle.
"But I think it's less lonely with you in it."
* * *
I find Imogen at her house after school. Her dad's car isn't in the driveway and I can here music coming from her room. My fist doesn't even get a chance to connect with the door before it swings open, Imogen's confused smile on the other side.
"What are you doing here?"
"I want to show you the sunset."
She rolls her eyes.
"I've seen the sunset, Harry."
"How have you seen the sunset?"
Imogen stares at me like I'm an idiot, her eyebrows raised like she's ready for a fight. There's light in her eyes though. A light I've come to long for every time I'm with her.
"With my eyes?" she scoffs. "Every day?"
I grin, "okay, yeah but just in passing? Have you sat and watched it from start to finish?"
"I don't really like the sun," she says with distaste.
"We'll see," I say with a smirk. "Grab your coat, it's going to get cold."
I'm half-expecting her to slam the door in my face because she's grumbling under her breath and I'm no doubt being irritating as hell, but she reaches an arm behind the door for her jacket.
