Page 153 of Wherever You Are
“It is though,” I say. “Your favorite movie isX-Men: First Class.You said it in an interview, which is public knowledge. You can’t use 2011xmen as your password—”
“Shhh!” she hushes me with bugged eyes and waves her hands like she’s swatting flies. “Someone’s going to overhear and get into my work email.”
Besides the eight of us, there’s no one in the kitchen.
“If you want, I’ll help you change it tonight.”
She nods repeatedly.
Connor closes his lightsaber and gestures from me to the laptop. “You taught yourself code?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?” Connor asks like he’s actually interested. But he can’t be. I’mme.
“I like it.” I shrug. “Code makes sense to me. Does there need to be another reason?”
Connor smiles. “There could be, but the reason you gave me is the best one.”
38BACK THEN – October
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
GARRISON ABBEY
Age 19
Icollapse on Willow’s bed, reeling from one weird-ass Halloween.
Willow places her halo headband on her dresser. “I still can’t believe what happened,” she breathes. “It’s almost out of the movies.”
Ryke and Lily disappeared from the group for a little bit, and when they came back, they were covered in white powder. Flour laced withcocaine.Apparently, a group of guys dressed as zombies flour-cocaine bombed them as they were leaving the bathroom.
“A movie we missed,” I tell her.
We didn’t see it happen.
She pauses. “Is it kind of bad that I wish it were filmed? Not just the flour-bomb. But the whole thing, I mean. And not for online or other people.” She strolls to the bed, still wearing angel wings. “It’s just, it’d be kind of nice to relive some of the good moments.”
I nod, agreeing. My lips lift at that last part. “Tonight was good?”
“Yeah…besides the cocaine,” she repeats. “And the emergency room.” We all took Ryke and Lily to the hospital, just to get checked out.
Lily broke out into a rash, and Ryke’s leg is bothering him. So they’re still being admitted overnight for observation.
“So like ninety-percentgood?” I ask.
“Ninety-nine.” She smiles.
I don’t want to bring up the guy she ran into then. The one who was gross towards her and Daisy. If she’s not thinking about it, there’s no point in rehashing something that would drop the “good” percentage.
“Come here,” I say and lean forward, grabbing her wrist.
She slides onto the bed next to me. The house is empty. Everyone’s still at the ER, and I can’t remember who’s babysitting Maximoff and the Cobalt kids, but the important part is that they’re MIA.
Ever since our first kiss at Daisy’s birthday, she’s let me explore her body with my hands. But I’ve never touched her below the waistband of her panties or above the tops of her thighs. I’m careful to take things at her pace.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m dyinga hundred deaths waiting. Every particle inside me wants to rush through. To caress each inch of her flesh, map out her freckles and study her body so I know it expertly.
