Page 100 of Wonderstruck

“Thank you,” I muttered, before taking thesheet and bolting out of the arena. I ran until I saw the exit doors, not thinking twice before pushing them open and running out into the fall air. My smile ached as I lifted my hands and held up the paper to the sky.

And for a moment I let myself pretend thatthey could see it. I let myself imagine Mom and Dad celebrating somewhere in the clouds.

It was what had me smiling instead of breaking down. Making this a moment to remember everything I had to live for, and noteverything I’d lost.

chapter twenty six

godbless the french language

I’m pretty sure everyone in Flo’s right now must think I’m insane.

Not regular, manageable insane. No, I'm way past that. I'm whispering into my phone like it's baby bird I've just saved.

And I couldn’t care less.

Let them stare. I’m too busy replaying Rory’s last skate on this livestream and grinning like a fool.

She just finished her routine—her last skate ofthe day—and I didn’t know it was possible to feel this proud of another human being. She was… God she wasn’t just skating—she was rewritinggravity, bending the world to her rhythm. And I? I was just a boy happy enough to sit and watch.

I didn’t have words for what she made me feel.How she inspired me. How much I wanted to be there right now—no, screw that—how much I wanted to run out onto that rink, pick her up, and spin her around until she laughed so hard she couldn’t breathe. Let the whole arena know how incredible she was.

And as that thought hit me, the wordminefloated into my head.

I blinked. Hard.

She wasn’t mine. Not officially.Not yet. But if she wanted to call me hers, I’d say yes so fast I’d probably cause a shift in the space-time continuum.

A few months ago I would’ve made a joke,shoved the thought so far down it would need a search party, and then found the nearest exit. But now? Now it just sits there, easy and undeniable, like it’s always belonged to me.

Maybe it has. Maybe I was just too afraid to seeit.

I have to tell her.

I’d wanted to tell her right before her accident.I’d wanted to tell her after she kissed me. And the fact I haven’t yet is suffocating me.

I didn't know if there was a perfect moment forthis kind of thing—after the kiss would’ve been right. But I was so enamoured by her, her touch, the glide of her tongue over mine that I froze.

But no more freezing.

No morepushing.

Because the truth was, the scariest thing wasn't theidea of telling her. It was the thought of never telling her. Of losing her because I was too scared to admit that I’m not scared anymore.

I powered down my phone the second Rorystepped off the ice, the screen going dark in my palm. I leaned back against the booth, craning my neckover the top, scanning the bakery for the Knights rep. Five seconds in I realised how pointless that was. I had no idea what they looked like. For all I knew, they were already here, sitting two tables away, watching me. Sussing me out.

I sighed and checked the clock.Five minuteslate.

With nothing else to do except count thedeclining time between my heartbeats the longer I sat here, I picked up my coffee cup, spinning it between my hands. The lid was blank. And that felt weird to me now. Seeing Rory do it all the time, having her do it every time I brought her coffee for studying made me feel bad that this one was blank.

My fingers twitched before I even thought aboutit, flipping the pen out of my pocket and pressing it to the plastic.

I settled on drawing a hockey game, but I onlymade it to half a stick man before my mind inevitably drifted back to Rory.

Rory.It really was a pretty name. So was Aurora.Obviously. But Rory was her. It was short. Soft. Kinda elegant, actually. Like something out of a poem. Or a novel. Maybe a classic?Prettier than Marguerite, from La Dame auxCamélias. I should really finish that lit paper. Or at least get Rory to proofread it before I do.

What was I… Oh yeah. Classics. Little Womenis a classic. Little Women had a Laurie. Close enough. Rory, Laurie—wait, didn’t she hate that book? When we took a detour through that section of the library after a study session? Said Jo should’ve ended up with Laurie? I think that was right.

It’s just so sad. The whole ‘right person wrongtime’ thing breaks my heart.

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