Everyone keeps saying he deserves a second chance. Little do they know, the darkness still has ahold of him.
"Why? You gonna miss me?"
"Yes."
The word is out of my mouth before I can stop it. Heat makes its way up my neck but doesn't reach my face as I shove it back down, my fingers tingling in my pockets. She looks at me like she didn't expect me to actually answer. To play it off, I let a slow smile take over my face.
"Or no."
She narrows her eyes, as if trying to decipher me, but lets it go, taking a deep breath.
"Okay," she says, turning toward her village and tapping her fingers against her thighs in anticipation. She's nervous about touching the water, about someone finding out, about meeting a strange boy two days in a row to learn secrets she's not supposed to know-and that's if she wants to believe they're true. I know she's thinking these things. I know her.
"Hey," I say, very, very close to her ear. She stiffens at the sound of my voice, the smells of salt water and the beach rolling off her in the wind. "If you act suspicious you'll draw attention to yourself. Relax."
And then I do something I didn't mean to do. Something I've only done a few times, each one taking the both of us off-guard.