And April had on her black leather jacket, a Nico T-shirt with a hole near the hem, torn gray jeans, and a pair of white high-top sneakers.
Still, once she came through the door, she couldn’t possibly leave. She refused. A bunch of snobs in a bar were not going to dictate to her where she belonged, goddammit. So she smiled beatifically at all the eyes on her, then walked toward the bar as calmly as she could and ordered a Manhattan. She still felt everyone’s gaze on her, but she ignored them, even though her heart was threatening to beat right out of her chest.
“You’re a long way from home,” a voice said.
April glanced to her right as a woman slid into the space next to her.
Agorgeouswoman.
Long dark hair, smooth pale skin, a beauty mark on the left side of her full lips. Eyes so dark, April knew if she fell inside them, she’d probably never find her way out. She wore one ofthose little black dresses, skintight, the V-shaped neckline plunging to below her sternum.
“I think I’m right where I need to be,” April said, tipping her glass at the woman before taking a slurping sip.
The woman lifted a perfect eyebrow, but then smiled widely, showing off her very white, very straight teeth.
“Refreshing,” she said, lifting her own glass toward April, a deep red wine. “A rebel.”
“No,” April said, slipping the dark cherry between her teeth and chomping down. “Just don’t give a shit.”
The woman laughed, then introduced herself as Elena Watson. April replied in kind, and soon, she was lost. Because Elena was funny. And interesting. A bit stuck-up, sure, but she was easy to talk to, sharing details about growing up in Virginia, coming out when she was twelve by writing a letter to her parents and mailing a copy to both of their places of business.
“My penmanship was impeccable,” she’d said, laughing.
“And how did they take it?” April asked.
“Oh, I’m very convincing,” Elena said, winking.
April found herself revealing things about her own parents too, how Drs. Preston and Jacqueline Evans, general practitioners with enough earth in their star charts to pull a mountain from the sea, had rarely understood anything their only daughter did or said or dreamed about. April was a water sign, a triple Scorpio at that, and she’d fallen in love with magic and the stars at a young age precisely because her parents…well, hadn’t quite fallen in love with her.
She remembered suspecting this fact as young as five, when her mother told her they’d have aquiet night at homefor April’s birthday, instead of the Rainbow Brite party April had asked for. A party was too messy. Too wild. Too…April. A formative memory, and one of her first. But that was also the birthday that hergrandmother Harriet sent her a picture book about the zodiac, then read it to her that night over the phone and every night for weeks until April had the entire thing memorized.
Her parents disapproved, of course, but April found something in the stars she’d never experienced with her parents—a sense of purpose.
A destiny.
Preston and Jacqueline had tried to have a baby for years before they got pregnant with April. They’d had miscarriages and failed rounds of IVF, until they finally stopped trying. Gave up hope.
And then, two months later, the strip turned pink on a pregnancy test.
April had always loved this story, or at least theideaof it—but whenever her parents told it, there was no awe in their voices, just clinical facts, followed by a glance in April’s direction that could only be described as nonchalant. April’s existence might be a miracle, but she could never shake the feeling that her parents, after so much failure and heartbreak and waiting, were a bit underwhelmed with the kid they finally got.
“That must’ve been hard,” Elena finally said, her fingertips brushing the top of April’s hand.
April could only nod, because it was true, and because hearing this stranger confirm it was so validating, she felt close to tears. She couldn’t believe she was sharing these sorts of details with Elena. April hadn’t felt this entranced by a person in years.
No, that wasn’t right. She’dneverfelt this entranced by another person. Ever.
Of course, April had dated people. Mostly boys, until she realized she was attracted to all genders and came out as pansexual her junior year of high school, mainly with the help of Leigh Reynolds, a friend (with benefits) she often hooked up with even to thisday whenever they rolled back into town. In college she dated girls and people of other genders. She’d even dated a few of them for a long time, calling some of them partners or boyfriends or girlfriends. Never anything life-changing though.
She’d never felt thatthing.
But she felt it with Elena.
“I’m a Taurus,” Elena had said after April shared about her parents, leaning close and whispering with that husky voice of hers. “Is that compatible with a Scorpio?”
April had grinned. “Actually, yes. Perfectly compatible.”
“Well, thank god for that,” Elena said. Then they left together, walking the streets of Boston slowly, the chilly October air perfect for just such a stroll. And when Elena took her hand at a crosswalk, then didn’t let go as they reached the next block, April’s heart did something funny in her chest.
