“...Okay,” she said finally.
They stepped on to the dance floor just as a new song began—The Marías. One of the tracks from the album he’d once given her.
She glanced up, startled. Coincidence. It had to be. Even if it did feel like a sign. A thread.
It took them a moment, but they found a rhythm. Moving in step, almost in sync. Almost like they’d done this before.
“You smell like jasmine,” Kian muttered.
Riya tripped over her own feet. “What?”
Kian held her steady. “Nothing. Sorry. That was weird.”
But it isn’t weird, she wanted to say. Not to her. But maybe saying that would be weird, too. Was that what love was? Two weirdos, finding each other, and making even weirder moments together?
They drifted for a while, the music carrying them. And for a moment, she could almost pretend she was fine. That she wasn’t mourning him while dancing in his arms.
Then he spoke again: “I had a pretty big crush on you. Since middle school, actually.”
Riya’s heart stumbled.
“A crush?” she asked lightly. “But not anymore?”
Kian’s gaze searched her. “I think I still do.”
Riya swallowed, throat squeezing. “Is this your way of teasing me?”
“No,” he said. “It’s just—it’s strange. Lately, I’ve been having these dreams. Really vivid, almost like—”
“Like memories?” Riya breathed.
Kian nodded slowly. “Yeah. Exactly. And the weirdest part is, they’re all about you.”
Her breath caught.
But Kian’s smile stayed, quiet and certain.
“Sometimes, it’s a song, like this one—or I’ll walk through the hallway at school, and something just... tugs,” he went on. “Like I’m... forgetting something important. Or someone.” He looked away. “I know it doesn’t make any sense.”
The curse was broken. Riya knew it was. And she’d known there would be a cost.
But somehow—
It felt like some part of him was still holding on.
“What are these dreams like?” she asked.
“Oh, I barely remember,” he admitted. “I think in one of them you threw a dodgeball at my head? Maybe I deserved it. I don’t know.”
Riya suppressed a laugh. “Maybe.”
“The point is,” said Kian, “I know it sounds corny as hell, but when I saw you here, it was like—everything inside me said,Gotalkto her.While you still have a chance.”
“Well, wearegraduating soon.”
“Where are you going?” he asked sheepishly. “After graduation, I mean.”
Riya smiled. “Penn State.”
