“Will,” I say, reaching the camellias. I press my hand against my chest, trying to catch my breath. Deep pinks and oranges stain the sky.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0ABKHevPW
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpok29gAHYW
“What are you doing here?” Madame Pommier stands up from behind the camellia shrubs, an emerald pendant in her hand.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDLBiXV1su
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiru3t4TOd
“What are you doing here?” I say with surprise and a tiny prick of irritation at seeing her in our secret place.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lYS34kp4j
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScIB2Kug6L
“The veil is thinnest here,” she says. “This is where I’m sealing it off.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡew2hJ09tkB
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzxkuZGRPm
My heart catches. “No, wait. Please. Can you stop it for just a little while?”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFaEftwIe2
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She shakes her head. “Once it starts, it can’t be stopped.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRl0nniJ2i
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDF8qFpmVf
“No,” I murmur, clutching the bottom of my sweater. Will.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Ng4dmVrGP
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZJuLdAVN4
“Cami.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DvOQVD0Ku
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQRh8cGdwR
My head snaps up. Roanna stands there, her giant curls wilder than usual. Her specs reflect the sunset, so I can’t see her eyes.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYx0HP1TfA
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In my selfish desire to be with Will, I finally see Roanna’s side.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0WnyNdwil
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“You were right, Ro,” I say, my voice breaking. “I’m sorry.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAJlqPl253
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8yze430fW
Roanna hurries to my side and hugs me.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibP31Y9SxI
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“Cami,” an even softer voices says.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn01PnM8Lox
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFHbk232WC
All three of us look up. It’s Will, but it looks like I’m seeing him through a frosted window. I release Roanna and take three big steps forward so I’m directly in from of him. I hesitantly reach a hand out, almost expecting it to go through him.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDO53xi6fPm
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNvYOdndPw
“Cami! No!” Madame Pommier says sharply. “If you touch him with this closing in progress, we have no idea what it could do. You could be pulled into his time.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OdCYa0YHD
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnNPGdMCYb
“Or he could be pulled into ours,” Roanna says.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUZn9Mn6Kp
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIB0lei7mH4
Her gaze is off to the side. I follow her gaze and see a pretty, young nurse standing there, faint and transparent like Will is. She watches us with wide eyes.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0JJhzobNm
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEsngEL57a
“There will have to be an exchange,” Madame Pommier says. “Equivalent exchange.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqG35JBzt3z
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZxDvUoQvE
“Do it,” Roanna says quietly. “It’ll be okay. I understand now. I belong there.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVr75kq1nJ
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAQkgRIMzd
There’s a finality to her gaze that terrifies me, but the sun is going down quickly, and there’s very little chance to think about it.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUntt9nySJE
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“Can’t you both stay?” I ask. My voice barely comes out.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjSVecfeld
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She shakes her head and walks over to the nurse, holding a hand up. Turning her head to face Will, she says, “Just do it. Touch her.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTiBWv37Ft
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBH4T8DOl2
“Stop it. I can’t allow you to do this,” Madame Pommier says. But she seems unable to move out of the circle she’s made in the dirt.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3ebkW4yLr
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cjcQWSKvD
Will’s hand closes around mine, and the image of him begins to sharpen at the same time as Roanna’s image begins to dim and frost over. She smiles at me. Her hand is locked with the nurse’s.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiWuwbFY7J
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGbyN2AnKx
“Goodbye, Cami.” Even if I can’t see the tears in her eyes, I can hear them in her voice.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJ1fIOQnWx
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2Y9LcAvDx
I want to reach out toward her, but Will anchors me in place. He pulls me closer to his body—which is warmer than it’s ever been before—and watches her. Through him, I can see he recognizes within Roanna the longing to be elsewhere and how it feels to belong somewhere other than where you are.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWNz0EvoL4
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEO1s2MBCAg
“It’s a psychiatric hospital,” I tell her, even though it’s already too late. “You don’t want to go there. You don’t want to be a patient.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfvsEFbaBP
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7bn7tCO0b
“A patient?” Now I hear the smile in her words. “I intend to be a doctor. Cami, there’s one more thing you need to do.”732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDxE0fwty9
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And somehow, I know what it is.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSV0l3qMHSu
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“Cami, don’t,” Madame Pommier says, taking a step toward me.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0RfoonnrJr
732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxtxHhaFgd
The emerald glints in the vanishing light. I thread my arms around Will’s neck and pull his mouth down to mine.732Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWGgoJfJOJ
Penana
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