The Boy Who Died

rc

y sides aching from how

t believe me!" Ben

plutter between giggles. "A

apher, not a set-up for a scene." He laughs with

sorry to

pen my eyes to see Anaya, one of the baristas who I'v

ud?" My face burns.

for the night. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay

fee is ice cold. And she gave us a check for the pastries that used to occupy the crumb-covered plate between us.

eck. "Sorry, I didn't mean

ere going well. I look at him, and my stomach does a double back-handspring. That's Ryan's sheepish smile, mostly reserved for parents and teachers. I was supposed to

et. "If you don't mind. I know it's

wad of bills. Okay, not a suspicious wad of bills. More like a bunch of fives and ones a

ey my requests to

twisted napkin bears witness to my attempt to make a rose out of it like I u

couple extra dollars on the table as a

answer aut

me I've made a mistake

walk yo

ked in still stinging. If he were Ryan, in four hours, I'd surely have spotted something

es. I'm letting Ryan hold me ba

I assume he's not Ryan, he's a stranger. A stranger who just moved here and asked

it is for the knight to walk the pri

ll right, if you're sure you're not

is hand fall without saying anything

e really does drop at

d about me getting c

is head. "I'm used to it being cold all

bite my lip. "I mean, if

s pockets. "Depends how this first yea

ith your life?" I gesture at t

And my mom likes the idea of me teaching." He

myself asking agains

is eyebrows.

of me. "You're a photograp

of the gigs are commercial, like ads and stuff,

ch a specific po

realize my mistake. My hea

ounds-I

k me up?" he

blurt.

ars are right, he's about to pull out a gun and kill me for, I don't know, failing to pull him out of

"I looked

tem makes me a little weak in the knee

Lancival did the

him. "It's a r

h about the time, the darkness, the fact he hasn't let go of my arm. I do study his building when we arrive, but it's the same featureless bl

nice time toni

dy locks. What if I'm right? What if I'm wrong, and he has something else aw

can leave. My own body keeps me here, but the screaming alarm in my head is ever so slightly drowned out by the

xcept in a few dreams I promptly shoved back into my

He kisses my chee

pidly, for several minutes b