Chapter Five--- The Collision
636 Words
My brain short-circuited.
For a full three seconds, I just stood there, staring at Luca's hoodie like it was some kind of
portal to another universe. One where I had coordination. And normal social skills. And the
ability to breathe without forgetting how.
"Hey," Luca said, steadying me with one hand on my arm. "You okay?"
Okay?
Okay??
My thoughts were not okay.
My pulse was not okay.
My entire existence was doing the cha-cha.
But outwardly, I managed a noise that might've been English.
"I---uh---yeah. Door. Walking. Sorry."
Luca's mout twitched, like he was trying not to laugh. "You don't have to apologize for
existing, you know."
"Well," I said weakly, "I probably should."
He raised an eyebrow. "Pretty sure that's not how it works."
My heart was hammering so loudly I was shocked he couldn't hear it. Maybe he could.
Maybe he didn't need to--maybe everything about me right now was basically a neon
sign flashing PANICKED GIRL APPROACHING.
I forced myself to look up.
Mistake.
Because Luca's eyes---warm brown with a tiny fleck of gold in the left one--met mine, and
something squeezed tight in my chest. Something that remembered the way he used to
look at me last year, on nights when he'd linger a little too long before saying goodbye.
Something that remembered almosts.
Luca dropped his hand from my arm slowly, like he wanted to make sure I wasn't going to
tip over without it.
"Been trying to catch you all week," he said. "You keep disapppearing."
My stomach flipped. "I don't disappear."
"You sure? Because every time I show up, you're suddenly sprinting in the opposite
direction."
"That was one time."
"It was three," he corrected gently.
I wanted to crawl under the pavement. "I wasn't sprinting. I was... walking quickly."
"To another building."
"...Maybe."
He laughed then---quiet, warm, real---and I hated how much I loved the sound. It had been
months, but it still felt like a memory I'd been carrying around in my pocket.
"You're still you," he said. "That's good."
"You're still you," I shot back, then immediately wanted to scream because WHAT DID
THAT EVEN MEAN.
But Luca just nodded like he understood exactly what I meant. Like he always did.
Before I could say anything else stupid, Avan's voice shouted from behind me:
"Hey! Luca! Stop stealing my best friend!"
I nearly groaned.
Perfect timing.
As usual.
Avan caught up to us, out of breath, eyes darting between me and Luca like he'd just
walked into the finale of a show he'd only seen half of.
"Ohhhhhhh," he said slowly. "So this is happening."
"It's not happening," I blurted.
"It's definitely happening," he whispered loudly to Luca.
Luca just gave him a patient look. "Nothing's happening. We were talking."
"Talking," Avan repeated. "Right. Sure."
I elbowed him. Hard.
"Ow! Okay, fine!" he yelped. To Luca, he added: "She's violent now. You missed that
evolution."
Luca smiled--not a smirk, not a teasing grin, but something softer. "I'm glad she's still got
backup."
Backup.
The word sat warm in my ribs.
Tbe bell rang, shrill and piercing.
Luca stepped back but didn't break eye contact. "See you after school?"
The hallway noise seemed to hush around us. Or maybe that was just me forgetting how
everything else worked.
"Yeah," I said quietly. "Okay."
"Good." He slung his backpack over one shoulder. "Don't disappear this time."
And then he turned and walked toward his first class, leaving me standing there with a
heart that felt too full and too bright and too loud.
Avan nudged my shoulder once Luca was out of earshot. "So... what was that?"
"I don't know," I whispered.
But the truth was humming through me like a song I suddenly remembered the words to.
I did know.
Whatever it was---
It was starting.
- Writer
