Page 51 of Radiant Shadows

“Exactly, and what is Gatsby’s worldview?” Mrs. Sharp asked.

“He’s naïve,” Adina continued, this time without raising her hand. “He thinks that he can recreate everything as it was back in Louisville, like it will somehow be the key to winning Daisy back. Gatsby is delusional in thinking it’s possible if he wants it enough.”

“Precisely,” Mrs. Sharp said, then flicked her tablet to project an image on the screen behind her.

I was no longer paying attention. Something Adina said caused me to lean forward in my seat. Panic ignited and grew.

I raised my hand but was instantly impatient and asked my question without waiting for Mrs. Sharp to look in my direction.

“Does Gatsby ever win her back?” I ignored the stares around me that quickly snapped away. “By recreating the past, or whatever. Does it work?”

Mrs. Sharp didn’t look irritated for being interrupted mid-sentence. “Has anyone read to the end yet?” she asked the class.

A hand must have shot up in the back, but I didn’t turn and waited for whoever it was to speak.

“I’ve finished.” It sounded like Ashlyn, and I suddenly felt self-conscious. “Is everyone okay with a tiny spoiler to answer Tobias’s question?”

Everyone nodded or hummed their agreement. It wasn’t like she was spoiling the ending to the latest superhero movie or anything.

“Alright, Ashlyn,” Mrs. Sharp said. “Go ahead. After all of Gatsby’s antics in buying a mansion across the bay from Daisy and attempting to recreate the past, believing that he could somehow win her back... Does it work? Does he win her back?”

“No, he doesn’t,” Ashlyn said. “She never intended to leave Tom.”

“Thank y—”

“So what’s the point?” I blurted. “What’s the point of him doing all of that? What’s the point if he doesn’t get her back?”

Mrs. Sharp looked at me, seeming unsure of the answer.

“Sorry,” I muttered, sinking against my chair as I felt the eyes of everyone in class on me again.

She paused for another brief moment before moving on, but I didn’t move on. I couldn’t move on. I was acting so stupid. I was being so careless with my feelings, first with Christmas and then taking Arya on that flight...

I didn’t even know if breaking the curse would work—ifShea could pull it off.

I tuned out the rest of the class and was the first one out the door as soon as it was over. I wasn’t sure why Gatsby had gotten to me so badly. Our situations were worlds different, yet they felt tragically parallel.

Besides the facts that the characters in Fitzgerald’s novel were human and that I wasn’t trying to win an ex-girlfriend back who happened to be married, Gatsby’s situation actually seemed possible.

It wasn’t a happy ending. The real world had precious little of those.

And curses? Centuries-long curses, no less. How could that possibly end well?

I checked my tablet as I strode through the halls. I’d been waiting to hear from Shea far longer than I would have liked. Unfortunately, the only new message was from Arthur.

It was a vague question about how I was doing or something about school, but before thinking, I responded with a quick:Gatsby is stupid, but I’m fine.

I realized too late that it was not the response I should’ve given Arthur because my tablet immediately rang with a video call.

I groaned but quickly found an empty classroom and called him back. There was no sending my father’s calls to video mailwithout repercussion, and school wasn’t an excuse. So, to avoid the consequences, I always called him back within minutes. My teachers—annoyingly—didn’t seem to mind, even if I had to slip out in the middle of an exam.

But when the familiar pose of my father—the beginning of the general’s video mail—popped up, I ended the call and sat for a moment. Arthur was sure to call me back in a few minutes, so there was no point in heading to my next class.

Ping.My instant messenger alerted.

I pulled up the app.

Arya: “Hey, are you alright?”

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