How, exactly, did one break the news that they’d accidentally cursed someone?
She opened her mouth—only to pause when Kian moved aside, revealing a slim black-and-white cat with striking yellow eyes.
“Who is that?”
“Oh, Cat?” Kian grinned. “She’s chill. I hang out back here a lot, and I feed her after school. We’re best buds.”
Riya blinked. Kian, supposed fistfight enthusiast, fed a stray cat after school?
“I’d take her home, but my dad’s allergic,” he explained.
Riya reached out, and the cat approached, purring.
“...Her fur’s so soft.”
“Hell yeah. Only the best organic stuff for Cat,” he said, puffing his chest.
“Is her name really just ‘Cat’?”
“I’m not good with names,” he admitted. “When my dad got me a pet goldfish in sixth grade, I named him Goldy. Open to ideas, though.”
Riya thought for a moment. “What about Oppy?”
“Oppy?”
“Short for ‘Opportunity.’ The longest-running rover on Mars.” She’d almost teared up when she’d read about how NASA had played Billie Holiday’sI’ll Be Seeing Youas their farewell to Opportunity, before they’d lost contact.
“You really do love space, huh.”
Riya narrowed her eyes. “I do, but—how did you know?”
“I, uh, may have picked up on a few things. Your AP Astronomy book. That conversation with Mr. Krug about some new fancy telescope—the Roman... something?”
Riya went still. “The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope?”
“Yeah! You got this little light in your eye when you were talking about it. And your water bottle only has one tiny sticker and it’s the NASA logo.”
“How observant.”
Kian grinned. “With you, yeah.”
Of course, given the circumstances, she half expected him to pay annoyingly close attention to her. But this felt different. More deliberate. Like he’d been collecting crumbs she hadn’t meant to drop. Could magic really make him notice this much?
Oppy let out a small meow, curling up in a patch of sun. For a moment, it would have been easy to sink into the peace of it. But she noticed how Kian’s gaze on Oppy was unfocused, the swollen skin beneath his eyelids bruised purple with fatigue.
Riya sat up straight, forcing herself to stay focused.
“Back to what I was saying,” she said. “I need to tell you something, but it doesn’t leave this field. If this secret got out, it could be... bad.”
Kian sat cross-legged, his expression solemn. “Whatever it is, you have my word. I’ll take it to the grave. Torture won’t crack me. They could break my guitar. Lock me in a room with scorpions and snakes. Rip off my—”
“No need, no need. Just, remember how I said you might be... confused about your feelings?”
“Yeah. I remember.”
Riya exhaled.Just say it.
“Well, there’s areasonwhy you woke up one day with feelings for me.”
