One Wish Away (12 page)

“Who are the Turtens?”

My head juts out as I lean closer to Darren. “They're my neighbors, Darren. The ones who live, or lived, in that house Mrs. Weber's currently in.”

Darren's lips and eyebrows pinch together and he slowly shakes his head. “No. I've been talking to Mrs. Weber for at least five years. I see them practically every time I come over.”

My breathing accelerates as his hand reaches toward me, concern and confusion set deep in his eyes. I bury my head in my hands and try to stop the panic rising.

“Okay.” I exhale and push my arms out in front of me. I didn't imagine Darren would be so close and I hit him in the chest.

“Ouch,” he says without conviction and shows me a small smile. He comes to stand next to me and we both scoot down the wall until we're sitting. He takes my hand in his, and waits.

“You know Mrs. Weber,” I start which causes him to nod. “But supposedly she's my neighbor and I've never met her. But she knows me.”

My breathing is getting heavy again, but the small circles Darren's tracing with his fingers on my hand calm me down and leave room for…

“The Cricket Project.”

“Why would the Cricket Project give you a new neighbor?” Darren asks as he winds his fingers between mine.

“It wouldn't. It didn't.” I smack my forehead with the hand Darren's not holding which causes him to laugh and grab for it.

“Don't do that. Nothing worth hurting yourself over.”

“We eliminated AIDS today.”

“What's AIDS?”

Right. Of course.

Oh. My. God.

This all makes sense. But that doesn't mean it's not still really unnerving now that I'm facing it.

“It's a disease. A virus. Or I should say that's what it
was
. In this reality, it never existed.”

“You're kidding.” Darren lets go of my hand that I slapped myself with. “So only a handful of people know this disease existed.”

“Well, technically, it never existed. Now. In this reality.” I sigh and let my head fall to the wall behind me. “This is all so complicated.”

“And for you that's saying something. You usually like complicated.”

My lips twitch and I rest my head on his shoulder. Why is being with him so effortless? “For whatever reason, our wish made sure Turtens never lived here.”

“So because this… this disease which I can't remember the name of…doesn't exist anymore, Mrs. Weber took the place of Mrs…”

“Turten,” I finish. “Yes. I just have no idea why. Where did they go? Where do they live now? I hope they live somewhere.”

Darren squeezes my hand. “I'm sure they're alive, Lyra. You saved people. You didn't kill them.”

“Yeah…” I wonder why we didn't see this in the scenarios we ran in our lab? What else has changed that we didn't predict?

Darren wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me further into him. Even though my muscles tense at the affection, I like it here. Warm and safe. But then every muscle in my body freezes.

The Turtens just disappeared. What if a wish takes him away from me?

My breathing accelerates at the thought of losing him.

Darren must sense my distress. “Lyra, it's just new neighbors. I'm sure everything is fine with the Turtens. Maybe they're somewhere even cooler than here.” I hear the smile in his voice.

I let out a shaky breath. Maybe I shouldn't be in the SEAD building every time a wish is granted. The thought of our realities being different, that Darren could be somewhere in this world and I would never be able to find him, is my new worst-case scenario.

I pull myself loose from Darren's arms and pace back and forth in the small space. He looks at me funny as I curl my fingers through my hair.

I can't think about it now. I can't. There's nothing I can do about it anyway.

The telescope always lulls me into a sense of calm so I put my eye to it and search the quiet skies.

“Lyra?” I almost yelp. His voice is practically in my ear.

“Darren, I almost jammed my eye.”

His dark pupils meet mine over the telescope and he looks…worried.

“What's wrong?”

He lifts my hand off the telescope and brushes some stray hairs out of my face. An electric current trickles from his skin to mine.

“Be careful, okay?”

I try and look everywhere but at him. “It's a telescope. We've used it hundreds of times. I want to see if I can spot the star we used before the big-time astronomers do.”

“That's not what I mean.” He shakes his head and lets it drop. “That's sort of what I mean.” His eyes move to mine and I'm totally sucked in. “You're brilliant, Lyra. But you're also stubborn, and the stuff you're working on is big. You're always pushing for more, reaching for the boundaries. Just make sure you think about what's
really
important. It's not always science.”

“It's going to be fine.” My voice catches. He's on a different wavelength than I am. I worry about losing him to the next wish and he's worried about… what?

“Fine.” He rolls his eyes. “I think that's my least favorite word.”

His eyes search mine as he moves around the telescope so there's nothing between us. I have to look away, look down at his shirt as he puts an arm around my back and pulls me closer. This feeling is wonderful and terrifying. I want more, yet I feel like I'll never be able to get enough.

He pulls me in for a hug. I'm trembling and he's whispering in my ear. And I'm scared. Scared to be more with him. And scared to lose him.

Darren lifts my chin and I can't pull away, can't look anywhere else. “You deserve better than fine. In everything.” His minty breath floods my face and my eyes close. “I'm so scared to lose you.”

“What?” It comes out more as a gush of air than a word.

He's worried about losing me too.

If he weren't holding me so tight I'd crumble to the ground.

He almost pushes himself away from me, hands up in defense. “I'm sorry. But I'm getting the feeling you might feel the same way.” He yanks the hat off his head and runs a hand through his hair. “And I'm so scared I'm going to ruin everything between us. But I…I just needed to say it.”

His searching eyes meet mine. Even though I'm terrified of losing him to something I can't control, the thought of not living in the moment, of being paralyzed by the fear of his absence, is worse. For all I know, a wish will never take him away from me.

And the realization he
does
like me as much as I like him has my heart skipping in my chest.

I reach for his hands, clutching his hat, and pry the knit cap out of his grip. With a soft toss I throw it into the corner of the tree house and then fold my hands in his.

My mouth finally opens and I actually see his ears perk up.

“I like you, Darren.”

His white teeth gleam and he stands a few inches taller. One of his hands leaves mine and he touches my cheek, his fingers drift to the back of my neck. I'm fairly certain he's never done anything like this, but he manages to make it feel easy. Comfortable.

And even though I know these feelings defy logic it seems absolute that I'm meant to be here. In his arms.

I'm holding one arm at my side and the other clutching his. I'm sure there's uncertainty in my eyes, but deep down I don't feel any.

Stop thinking, Lyra.

My free hand reaches up and I brush the black hair out of his eyes. My fingers find the back of his neck as well, and then I'm moving even closer to him, guided by the light pressure on my back.

Our noses are practically touching and we're breathing the same air. There's a current moving between our lips and electricity running through my body. My other hand finds the side of his face and I'm closing what little distance there is left.

Darren smiles and says, “I'm going to—”

I capture his lips. They're soft and gentle as they move with mine. His hands shake as they rise to my face, and carefully rest on the sides of my cheeks. He smells like metal and mint. Like safety.

It's so much better than fine.

It's perfect.

Darren pulls away slightly, and I feel his smile on my lips. I feel his cheeks rise and a soft sigh in his throat.

“Have I told you how much I like your lack of patience?” he whispers into the freckles on my face.

I pull back slightly. It's as if he's glowing and I feel like I am too.

“No.” I shake my head, hair falling into my eyes. When Darren brushes it away I kiss him again.

“Man.” He looks out at the stars as we both catch our breath. “I really wish I had brought this up earlier.”

“Things have been rather crazy lately.”

Darren pulls me into a hug and kisses my forehead. I'm about to kiss him for a
third
time when a low rumble causes me to jump back.

“Sorry.” He smiles sheepishly and runs a hand through his hair.

“You're hungry.” I grab for his hand as he protests. “At least let me make you my best dish: cereal with milk.”

Darren resists, planting his feel firmly into the wood. “We don't have to go to your house, Lyra. We can head to my house or something.”

His house? Why would we eat at his house? He barely has enough to feed his family, let alone me too. Maybe the kisses have gone to his head and he's nervous about seeing my dad now that the relationship between us is… different.

“Stop worrying, Darren.” I pull hard enough to finally get him moving. “I'm hungry too. Let's grab something to eat.”

*

Darren flips on the TV, his eyes flicking around the kitchen as if the boogie monster will pop out of our cabinets. What is up with him? Perhaps he's having second thoughts about the kiss?

I reach for the bowls and squeal as my hand bumps pots and pans. No way. Dad rearranged the kitchen? I zoom to the bottom of our pantry where the cereal is kept and sure enough, cans of soup are there instead. What the hell? He never cooks. Never even spends time in the kitchen.

Perhaps Aunt Stephanie did this. Though, she hasn't been here in a few weeks.

I shake it off and hunt for the cereal, practically having to jump to get it off the top shelf. Darren doesn't seem fazed by my impromptu scavenger hunt so I just search quietly. I'll figure this all out later.

Papers on the counter shuffle, and I turn to find Darren looking through the newspaper, finally convinced there are no prying eyes. Crazy to think what was printed in there yesterday could be different than what is in there today, even though it's for the same date.

I shake my head at the complexity of it all and vow to remain calm about whether a wish can take Darren away. I can't control it and I can't live like that.

I place the bowl in front of Darren, then reach back and bring the box of cereal over.

“One bowl is fine, Lyra.”

“Not if there's milk left over. Can't let the milk go to waste so we have to add more cereal.”

Darren shakes his head and gives me a smile that makes my stomach do cartwheels. Man I want to kiss him again. But he's starving. And it would be really strange to try and kiss him while he's eating cereal. I just need to calm down and give it a whole ten minutes before I suggest we go back to the tree house and continue where we left off. Crap, I'm practically bouncing on my feet and this way too wide smile won't turn off.

Shut up, Lyra. Stop acting so giddy. It was just your first kiss.

But what an amazing first kiss.

Darren flips the page on the newspaper. “So what's the next big wish?” He spoons dinner into his mouth, spilling a little milk on the editorial column.

“Don't know yet.” My voice calms out breathy so I clear it and continue. “My guess is they'll analyze the effects of this one for a while. Then the government will talk and decide on wish number three.” I lean against the counter, looking at the refrigerator. Why does Dad have the bar specials for Louie's posted on our fridge?

“What do you think they should wish for next?”

Again, I shake my head, try and focus on Darren. “I honestly don't know. Eliminating a disease was a good one.”

“Mmhmm.”

I let the cereal and milk on my spoon fall back into my bowl, pick it up and let it fall again. “World hunger would be a good one too.”

A news anchor's voice from the TV in the living room reaches my ears. “After the break. A second star missing? Is the universe coming to an end?”

I spin to find Darren's eyebrows scrunched together, telling me he heard the same thing. I pour more cereal into my bowl and do the same for Darren without asking. Then I move into the living room and take a seat on the couch.

Darren sits next to me, our eyes transfixed on the TV, waiting for the news anchor to come back.

“It appears Chinese astronomers have noticed another missing star.” The anchor looks down at his notes and reads, “AG Carinae of the constellation Carina. This is the second star that has vanished. So what do the astronomers say?”

A montage of clips shows astronomers expressing their confusion. Promising they will get to the bottom of it. Then the newscast cuts to an interview with my aunt.

“As we have said before, SEAD is working very closely with astronomers from around the world to figure out what is happening to these stars. There has to be a logical explanation, and we will figure out what that is.”

“Are they just going to keep saying that?” Darren asks. “Even though it isn't true?”

I shrug. “They're working on coming up with an explanation that the public will believe. It's not like they can use the real one.”

“Why not?”

I think about what Secretary Morgan told me as I was waiting to witness my first wish.

“Because if the world knew, people would freak out. And who would decide what wishes to grant?”