“After all,” they continue, the warmth between us slowly seeping into their words, “I’m the one who painted it.”
“Youpainted it?” I ask in a rushed whisper.
The flash of pride in their two-toned gaze is confirmation enough.
“Why?” I croak.
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“The painting you submitted was only half done. You were hesitant. That’s unlike you. I wanted to show you that you have no reason to feel that way. Your art is stunning, Maeve.”
I blink, nearly blinded by the sincerity shining in their gaze. “Whoareyou?”
I know who I want it to be. I know who Ineedit to be. Please. Please be them.
“Name’s Phantom.”
Disbelief numbs my senses; I don’t even register the rowdy crowd anymore. All I hear is them, all I feel is the heat of their proximity.
I was right all along, and I found them again. I can’t mess this up. I have to get to know them. I have to thank them. I have to—
My legs buckle beneath me, and I fall gracelessly to the cold, hard ground, bruising my kneecaps.
Phantom drops down with me, their hand still on my wrist. “Woah, you okay?”
“Phantom?” My voice is nothing more than a squeak.
“Yes?” they ask, the tense set of their hooded eyes unreadable to me.
“You know me,” I say incredulously.
When their eyes flash wider, a joyful spark igniting a fire in those blue-green depths, I can read the emotion there.
They’re smiling at me.
“Yes, I know you. Your paintings speak to me. Have for a while.”
“I—”
I’m cut off by Phantom breaking eye contact, the absent weight of it instantly making me dizzy. They scan the crowd until they pause, their pupils dilating. I follow their line of sight to find Noah heading straight toward us with a screwed-up expression on his face.
“We’ll meet again soon,” Phantom says before helping me rise to my feet one moment and disappearing into the crowd the next, like a phantom in the night.
How appropriate.
My legs are still unsteady when Noah reaches me. “Maeve? Who was that?”
“Just—just a stranger. I tripped and they helped me up,” I lie easily. Too easily.
“Then why are you shaking?” he asks while briskly rubbing my arms. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
That’s because I have.
Without answering him aloud, I take Noah’s hand and pull him through the crowd. When we reach my family, his face has softened and his smile comes easy again. But my mind can’t stop spinning.
I met Phantom. In the flesh. They actually introduced themself to me.
