Page 39 of A Ballad of Betrayal and Beauty

Standing in the open doorway, I wonder briefly if he’ll try to kiss me. I want to kiss him. It’s been two years of dreaming of his lips against mine, and now that I’ve agreed to give this a chance, I don’t know if I can wait anymore.

“You wanted to know my name,” I say, feeling exposed and nervous. “It’s?—”

But Joel shakes his head. He reaches forward with one hand to push back a stray curl from my face, and my body comes alive from his touch. “It’s okay,” he whispers. “I have our whole date to figure it out.”

CHAPTER10

A Kiss to Build a Dream On

KEY

Twelve Years Ago

The heat is malicious today. Every pedal of my bike feels like torture as the sun radiates down on the back of my neck. I can’t wait to get to the pool. At least I’ll have some relief there. I think the heat even got to my parents because I was shocked they agreed to let me go. But I’m thirteen now, hardly a little kid in need of constant supervision. Even if they think the pool is the devil’s playground.

Sweat trickles down my face and back, but finally I hear the noise from the public pool. I’m only a block away, and I feel cooler already, as if the water nearby hangs in the air. There’s the sound of children screaming, splashing, and laughter as I round the corner and spot the massive fenced pool deck.

It’s super busy, but I’m hardly surprised. On a day like today? There isn’t anything better to do. The bike racks are practically full, but I find one last empty slot, grabbing my towel and swim trunks and heading around the pool house to the change rooms.

The soles of my feet burn as I tiptoe across the concrete five minutes later. I look around, wondering if any of my friends from school are here or if they went to the other one across town. Standing by the pool, I curl my toes around the edge, breathing in the sour smell of chlorine.

Making sure no one is in the way, I don’t hesitate any longer and cannonball into the deep end. The water isn’t overly warm, but every muscle relaxes as I sink below the surface, feeling that sweet relief I’ve been craving all day. My butt hits the bottom of the pool, but I wait before kicking back up to the top. How long can I stay here until I need to take a breath?

Something prickles up my spine and I open my eyes to find the blurry figures of swimmers around me, and . . .there. Sitting at the bottom of the pool across from me, a watery halo of hair the color of fire.

Air escapes my mouth, bubbles floating away from me, and I’m suddenly desperate to breathe. At the top, I wipe the water out of my eyes as I tread, searching for her, but she’s not there. Am I so desperate to see her again that I’m hallucinating, or is it that I finally have heat stroke?

I spin around when someone taps on my shoulder, and blue eyes the color of the pool look back at me. “Hey, Key.”

She’s here. I haven’t seen her in over a year, but she’s actually here. A wave hits me in the face and I swallow too much water, my eyes squinting shut as I cough and splutter.

She giggles and I shake my head, finally spitting out the last of the pool water. “Dusty? What—what are you doing here?”

She grins. “Same as you, dummy. It’s hot as hell today.”

I blink. Did she just swear?

“I—right. Yeah. It’s hot as—yeah.”

She smirks, knowing as well as I do that no one cusses around here, not even the adults.

“You . . . haven’t been coming to church.”

Her face scrunches. “I know. I wanted to, but after Mama left, Daddy had to find an actual job and we moved out of town.”

“Oh.”

She tilts her head, the wet strands of her hair falling over one side of her face. “It didn’t work out though.”

“No?”

“No, so we’re back while he tries to find something else. Daddy was real mad he got fired, but they didn’t take too kindly to him drinking at work.”

“Will you be coming back to church, then?” I ask, then blush when I hear how hopeful my voice sounds.

“Why? You miss me?”

I’ve missed her more than she’ll ever know. “I just mean, it would be nice to talk to someone about music again.”

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