Page 151 of Wonderstruck

Thebeauty of discovering my dreams all over again was that time didn’t scare me anymore. I had so much of it to chase this dream. So if I’d blown it. Well, there was always next year.

No, for the rest of the skate, my mind was on Cora.

Just like I had been ever since the night she came bursting through the door to the townhouse.

Luckily, I nailed the last spin. It wasn’t perfect, but it was mine. But considering that I was the last skater of the day and everyone, apart from me and another skater, had fallen, I had a pretty good idea about what the outcome of the day would be.

But it was okay. Maybe this year had already been stuffed with enough of my dreams to see me through.

The crowd clapped as I froze in the ending pose. My name was called as I skated off. And as the ice flew behind me, the fire in my lungs and frost on my cheeks burned.

Aspen met me at the boards with a grin that felt like sunshine. “You did it,” she whispered, pulling me into a quick, fierce hug. “You did it exactly how you needed to.”

“I’m not winning,” I murmured into her shoulder, heart still racing.

“I don’t care,” she said. “You didn’t run. You didn’t disappear. Youshowed up.That’s so much better.”

I nodded, throat tight.

“And besides, it just means we get to spend another year together.” She let her laugh echo around us. “Next year this sport is yours. I can feel it.”

Mylaugh burned as it came out of my throat, my hands on my hips to try and ease my breath. “Another year? I’m claiming you for the rest of my life. I can’t do this without you.”

Her smile beamed brighter than the lights above us. “Right back at you, Ror.”

By the time I made it to the others, Daisy was already tearing up. “You looked like you wereflying,Rory.”

“Oh, you didn’t see? I was flying, and then falling, on my ass,” I admitted, my breaths finally coming back to me.

“Yeah, but you did it with grace,” Jesse said, smiling softly.

Finn didn’t say anything at first. He didn’t even hand me the pink roses nestled in his grip. No, he passed them to Jess, stepped forward and pulled me into his chest like he knew I was holding back a whole ocean. His hand found the back of my neck, grounding me.

“I’m so fucking proud of you,” he said, voice low in my ear. “Like, the kind of proud that hurts.”

I closed my eyes, holding on to the warmth of his jacket, the safety of being known like this.

“Thanks for never letting me give up,” I whispered.

“You never needed me to do that,” he said. “You just needed someone to remind you you’re allowed to want things.”

My eyes stung, but I’d sit through the sting for the rest of time if I meant I got experience a love like this.

They were all around me—my people. Laughing, crying, joking about how I “probably invented a new spin” when I slipped slightly in the footwork. Jesse handed me my flowers. Daisystole my water bottle. Goldie and Tristan wouldn’t stop laughing with each other. Finn didn’t let go of my hand once.

It was joy. Real, messy joy.

And wasn’t that exactly what I was searching for?

But even in all that noise, I felt the silence of the one person who wasn’t there.

Cora.

She would’ve been in the front row. She would’ve filmed the whole thing and screamed too loudly at the wrong moments and brought some ridiculous handmade sign with glitter that rubbed off on all our clothes.She would’ve told me she was proud.

But she hadn’t left the house in weeks.

And something in my chest ached at the thought of her sitting in the dark, not painting, watching life happen without her.

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