His eyes are dark green.At least I think they are.He stops inches from me, and I’m still staring up at him, frozen, because there’s something about his demeanor that is familiar.In that moment, my breath stalls, and goosebumps sprinkle up all over my skin.
It can’t be.
When he holds out his hand to help me up, I don’t take it, because all I can hear is the warning sound of my insides ringing like a five-alarm fire.I get up slowly, rubbing my hands together, trying to dislodge the dirt.My dark clothes are covered, too, and I frantically try to brush it off.The way my insides are vibrating, I can’t look at the man.
“Itisyou,” the stranger says.His words get my attention and I look at him.That’s when I realize, he’s not a stranger.
I know this man.Or, at least, I knew the teenager he once was.The one who kissed me and left an indelible imprint on my heart and soul.
“It’s me.Zach.Zach Knight,” he says, easily, confirming all my worst suspicions.
So it is.
Zach Knight.
The teenager who stole my heart, then crushed it.
How is this happening?
“What were you doing on the floor?”he asks, again.
“I-I …” My mouth has dried up, and my speech is incoherent.
“I can’t believe it’s you,” he says.“I can’t believe it’s really you, Maya.”
He pronounces it perfectly.Mah-ya.The way I taught him.
“What were you doing crawling about on the floor?”he asks yet again.
“Looking for something,” I mumble vaguely, confusion swirling around my body leaving me rudderless and a mess.
Why is he so happy to see me?He’s grinning from ear to ear, as he steps forward and puts his hands on my arms, like it’s the most normal thing for him to do.He looks down at me, shaking his head, like he’s just unearthed some buried secret treasure.
“What happened?You vanished without a word.”
I open my mouth.We can’t have this conversation here, now, after all this time.
His words overwhelm me, but this entire evening has completely overwhelmed me.So much has gone wrong, and yet, this moment now is so unexpectedly crazy, it makes the entire evening feel surreal.
I try to tamp down the excitement ripping through me, tangled with shock because he’s grown now, yet as I stare at him, I see flashes of the teen I used to know.It’s still there, the green eyes, though the hair is a little darker than what it used to be.He’s even taller and more handsome than I remember.
And he’s looking at me like he’s so happy to see me.
My heart drops in my chest, and I swallow with difficulty, trying to make sense of this vision before me, as images suddenly flash through my mind.The first time I saw him I was standing outside the library, a place I wasn’t supposed to be in.
I hadn’t stepped in it.The door was open and I stood poised just outside, looking at the array of bookshelves, filled top to bottom.Zach appeared out of nowhere.
“Why don’t you go in?”he asked, casually.Like it was the most normal thing to do.
For him, maybe.
Not for me.
I was about to tell him I couldn’t, but I didn’t like that we couldn’t, and if the son of the man who owned this place said I could, then that was good enough for me.I walked into the huge room.High ceilings, and the biggest, tallest bookshelves I’d ever seen.A couple of leather couches.Soft lamps.
I started looking around, my fingers feeling over the spines of books, the scent of musty old books and paper lingering in the air.He watched me, a smile lingering on his lips.“You seem so excited.”
“It’s ...beautiful.”
