“Hi. You were quiet for a minute there.”
“I didn’t want to disturb your counting.” It wasn’t even nine in the morning, and Killian had already made me blush, which made him chuckle every time. A clicking along with a flash broke our spell, so I turned to the left to find that Gabriella had taken a photo of us. She always had a camera around her neck.
We always sat together for at least half of recess and discussed anything that popped into our minds. Killian would read to me or tell me about his latest favorite stories. For some strange reason he was always either reading about religion or fantasy books. He often brought up darker, stranger subjects.“Are you scared to die, Magdalena?”
“Isn’t everybody?” I shrugged.
“I’m not.”
“What are you scared of?” I asked.
“Pain.”
I paused, studying him, wondering if he was okay. Was someone hurting my dear friend? “Are you scared of being hurt or hurting someone?”
He shook his head. “I would never hurt you. But it will hurt too much to lose you. I’d rather die.”
I shrugged. “Why would you lose me? Leaving you would be like leaving home.”
He smiled. “You’re too beautiful.” After a long pause, he asked, “What do you think happens after we die?”
“We fly to an island with waterfalls made of chocolate, and dogs that talk, and we ride on unicorns with wings or fireflies that light our paths in the night. And we have parties every night where we eat cake and dance.”
The depiction drew a giggle from him. “That would be cool.”
“What would you add?”
“Dragons.”
“There are dragons of all colors, fire and ice-breathing…” I paused, taking in the happiness on his face. There was no doubt it was real. Pride burst through me at giving it to him. I’d taken him from contemplating death to colorful dragons. A freckle stood out on his curved cheek. “How many freckles do you have today? Let me count one… two… three…” He looked up while he pushed his face closer for me to examine. I gasped. “You got two new freckles.”
It was the first time I saw his cheeks turn rosy. I giggled about it because for once, it was not me blushing. “Your laughter always calms me.” He paused. “You’re so beautiful, Magdalena.”
“You’rebeautiful too, Killian.”
He shook his head, the smile leaving his face. “Don’t lie to me. Can’t you see that you’re the only person in this school who speaks to me?”
I always wondered why Killian was so tied to the dark. It upset me to hear him talk like this. Why would he think less of himself? I had an uneasy feeling something bad was happening in his life, but deep inside I knew he wouldn’t tell me, at least not yet. All I could do was brighten it in the little free time we had together. Instead of showing my concerns and how much pain it caused me to hear him talk like this, I did what I always did, I turned the conversation.
“That’s because you like to scare them away.”My accusation worked, and his mischievous mirth confirmed I was right.
“Why aren’tyouscared?”
I shrugged. “The night is full of darkness and mystery, but it’s beautiful. Besides… you just said it. You’d never hurt me.”
“You’re right. I won’t. Sometimes at night, when I lay to sleep, I picture myself saving you. Like in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty when the prince cuts through all the vines to get to his princess.”
“There’s nothing to save me from, Killian. We are both safe.” I made sure to look into his eyes when I said the second sentence to see if it was true for him. He nodded. “Which gives us more time to have fun and eat these delicious sandwiches. Now, do you want the peanut butter or cheese and ham?”
“Ooh, peanut butter.” I knew he’d answer like that. Ever since I’d introduced him to peanut butter, Killian couldn’t resist. The way his eyes opened, and he licked his lips made me smile. It was funny to watch my goth scary dragon looking so silly. In the past, Mom would make my lunches, but since I realized Killian wasn’t eating, I’d taken over the task.
“Killian and Maggie sitting under a tree… K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” I heard the other kids singing from the other meadow. My gaze swept toward them, and they laughed.
It hadn’t taken long before they started teasing me, which had me contemplating putting space between Killian and me to shut them up. I was so embarrassed at the implication that we had ever kissed. The thought drew a grimace from me. Killian and I were just very special friends. “Is it true, Killian?”
“What?”
“Is it true you want to kiss me?”He turned to see who had been chanting, but they’d already stopped and dispersed. I could see that the teasing annoyed him too.
