The male nurse approached the boy and nudged his shoulder. They both looked at me. I could only assume his nurse wanted him to introduce himself.
DidIwant that?
Maybe.
I shifted in my sandals, tugging on the bottom of my shirt. Mother had forgotten I would need a button-down due to the wires. Ransacking my closet this morning before we left turned up only a girl-sized, pink-flowered number. It was snug.
The boy pushed away from the wall. His gaze remained on the floor until the very last moment, when he stopped in front of me and our eyes met.
His mouth made a sound, but the music drowned out his words. I shook my head, uncomprehending. He stepped closer. I caught the scent of laundry detergent and something chocolate. He must have eaten the cake that arrived on the dinner tray. I had, too.
“I’m Tucker!” He was so near, I could have turned my head for a kiss. Not that I would. I’d seen precious few kisses on screen and none in real life.
My head buzzed with anxiety as I said, “I’m Ava.”
“I think we’re already there!” he shouted.
“What?”
“We’re already there!”
I had no idea what he meant. “Where?”
He pointed at the speaker. “Hell.”
I didn’t know why he was bringing this up, but I said, “Sure.”
He tilted his head, then laughed so loudly that the sound cut through the music. A swoop fluttered through my belly like a butterfly leaving the safety of its perch to wing into the sky.
“What’s so funny?”
He leaned in again, and this time I felt the heat of his nearness. “It’s the song. It’s called ‘Highway to Hell.’”
“Oh!” He’d made a joke. “Yes, we’re already there. In hell.”
“Come here often?” His eyes penetrated mine, dark and filled with amusement. I couldn’t tell their color in the crisscross of light, but they made me smile.
“Never. Do you?”
He laughed again. “God, I hope not.”
He tapped his foot, his head nodding to the beat. His proximity made me feel off-center, as if the core of who I was no longer resided in my body but in the narrow slice of air between us. No book I’d read had ever described a feeling like this. Even with my faulty memory, surely I’d recognize it if I’d felt it before.
The music began to wind down, and our nurses approached. My elation washed over with fear. Was it time to go back to my room? Or to lose everything?
The light changed from its gentle confetti to a flashing strobe. My head spun like I’d been turning in circles. I felt sick and reached out for anything to steady me.
The regular lights popped on as the music died out. A warning tone sounded. The dizzying whirl sharpened to a buzz. I sizzled like a lightning rod, head to belly to hands and feet.
My legs crumpled, and the nurse grasped my body to help me slide safely to the ground. The last thing I saw was his face, watching me with concern.
Tucker.
CHAPTER 2
Tucker
“Ava!”
