sells. Printed on paper, with covers, nothing digital.’
‘I haven’t read much, I guess,’ Zee said. ‘Empaths are discouraged from reading novels and poetry. In training they taught us that thoughts and feelings in books can
interfere with our perceptions.’
She felt a little sad to realise something so important to him was an unknown world to her, and for a moment she felt a little jealous of the books he was so passionate about.
‘I’d like to read more, though. I’m pretty good at divesting, and now that I have more experience, the risk wouldn’t be as great.’
‘Good thing I got you this, then.’ He held out a small, book-shaped square tied in paper with a sea-coloured silk ribbon. ‘For you,’ he said. ‘To remember
today.’
She didn’t want to open it. Not right away. She wanted to have the little package with the blue ribbon to look forward to, so the day wouldn’t be over.
They looked at each other for a long moment. The silence lengthened and neither of them seemed to know what to say.
David seemed to read her thoughts and smiled. ‘It’s for you to open at home. Right now, I’m starving. Let’s get some fish and chips.’
They bought food at a stall on the pier and ate as slowly as possible, finding one excuse after another to stay just a little longer. The last thing they did was stroll along the beach. It
wasn’t really dark, with so many lights from the pier and the shops, and it certainly wasn’t private. But it felt both dark and private when he put his arms around her and kissed
her.
It was the first real kiss of Zee’s life and it felt like a current of mercury gliding through her body, smooth and silver and full of a sweet, heavy weight all its own. After all the
years of feeling immune, of being convinced this drawing, drowning feeling would never happen to her, she realised it
was
happening, had happened, and would never
un
happen. Without a
moment’s hesitation she kissed him back, hoping she was kissing him the same way he’d kissed her, making him feel the delicious slow sliding of magic though his bones, but not knowing,
because it was something she’d never done before.
‘I wish,’ he said after a while, ‘I wish things were different, Zee.’
‘So do I,’ she said. His kiss and the bright lights cartwheeling around her left her feeling intoxicated. ‘I wish I had a place we could go back to. We can’t have
visitors at Fordham Square.’
‘Zee . . .’
‘But you have an apartment,’ she whispered. ‘My time off lasts until tomorrow night. I don’t have to go back to the residence hall. If I call Rani, she’ll cover for
me. Rani is great at things like that.’
David was gently disentangling himself from her. ‘I can’t, Zee.
We
can’t.’
‘Why not?’ A look of pain crossed his face. Suddenly, all her doubts and insecurities flew back into her head. ‘Is it me? Did I do something wrong?’
He was probably used to more sophisticated girls. Cooler girls who did not wear their heart on their sleeve. She thought of the suggestion she’d just made and began to feel horribly
embarrassed. What had she been thinking? Had that one comment ruined everything between them? She felt a tear spill down her cheek. He must have seen it in the moonlight because he checked it with
his thumb and kissed the top of her head.
‘It’s not you, Zee. It’s nothing to do with you.’
‘Then tell me what’s wrong.’
‘I can’t,’ he whispered. ‘It’s too complicated and too dangerous. Things you shouldn’t know about Omura.’
Every fibre of her being wanted to keep probing, keep asking, until he told her the truth, but she kept silent. For now, she’d just have to trust him. She tried to let her feelings of
trust flow out to him, but his mood was dark and distant. It didn’t help that on the vactrain going home she again saw the girl with the black waterfall hair, or that once more she was sure
she saw a glance of recognition pass
‘I haven’t read much, I guess,’ Zee said. ‘Empaths are discouraged from reading novels and poetry. In training they taught us that thoughts and feelings in books can
interfere with our perceptions.’
She felt a little sad to realise something so important to him was an unknown world to her, and for a moment she felt a little jealous of the books he was so passionate about.
‘I’d like to read more, though. I’m pretty good at divesting, and now that I have more experience, the risk wouldn’t be as great.’
‘Good thing I got you this, then.’ He held out a small, book-shaped square tied in paper with a sea-coloured silk ribbon. ‘For you,’ he said. ‘To remember
today.’
She didn’t want to open it. Not right away. She wanted to have the little package with the blue ribbon to look forward to, so the day wouldn’t be over.
They looked at each other for a long moment. The silence lengthened and neither of them seemed to know what to say.
David seemed to read her thoughts and smiled. ‘It’s for you to open at home. Right now, I’m starving. Let’s get some fish and chips.’
They bought food at a stall on the pier and ate as slowly as possible, finding one excuse after another to stay just a little longer. The last thing they did was stroll along the beach. It
wasn’t really dark, with so many lights from the pier and the shops, and it certainly wasn’t private. But it felt both dark and private when he put his arms around her and kissed
her.
It was the first real kiss of Zee’s life and it felt like a current of mercury gliding through her body, smooth and silver and full of a sweet, heavy weight all its own. After all the
years of feeling immune, of being convinced this drawing, drowning feeling would never happen to her, she realised it
was
happening, had happened, and would never
un
happen. Without a
moment’s hesitation she kissed him back, hoping she was kissing him the same way he’d kissed her, making him feel the delicious slow sliding of magic though his bones, but not knowing,
because it was something she’d never done before.
‘I wish,’ he said after a while, ‘I wish things were different, Zee.’
‘So do I,’ she said. His kiss and the bright lights cartwheeling around her left her feeling intoxicated. ‘I wish I had a place we could go back to. We can’t have
visitors at Fordham Square.’
‘Zee . . .’
‘But you have an apartment,’ she whispered. ‘My time off lasts until tomorrow night. I don’t have to go back to the residence hall. If I call Rani, she’ll cover for
me. Rani is great at things like that.’
David was gently disentangling himself from her. ‘I can’t, Zee.
We
can’t.’
‘Why not?’ A look of pain crossed his face. Suddenly, all her doubts and insecurities flew back into her head. ‘Is it me? Did I do something wrong?’
He was probably used to more sophisticated girls. Cooler girls who did not wear their heart on their sleeve. She thought of the suggestion she’d just made and began to feel horribly
embarrassed. What had she been thinking? Had that one comment ruined everything between them? She felt a tear spill down her cheek. He must have seen it in the moonlight because he checked it with
his thumb and kissed the top of her head.
‘It’s not you, Zee. It’s nothing to do with you.’
‘Then tell me what’s wrong.’
‘I can’t,’ he whispered. ‘It’s too complicated and too dangerous. Things you shouldn’t know about Omura.’
Every fibre of her being wanted to keep probing, keep asking, until he told her the truth, but she kept silent. For now, she’d just have to trust him. She tried to let her feelings of
trust flow out to him, but his mood was dark and distant. It didn’t help that on the vactrain going home she again saw the girl with the black waterfall hair, or that once more she was sure
she saw a glance of recognition pass
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