“I did.”
“Did you wish the same thing you always do? That you will find your prince?”
“Yes. Then Aiden gave me his penny and told me to wish for something new.”
“For him?”
“I think that's what he wanted me to wish for.”
“But what did you wish for?” I hesitate, so he adds, “We decided a long time ago that it’s legal to share your wish with your very best friend.”
“I wished for my life back.”
“That's a good wish. And it would solve all your problems at once.”
“Not really, but it's the only wish that would allow me to solve them.”
I look up and see Peyton standing on the veranda. Her cover-up is moving in the breeze as she looks out into the ocean. And it makes me feel good to know that I’m not giving up on the fairy tale. And if I can’t have it, I’m going to make sure someone else gets it.
As we enter the turret and climb the stairs to my room, I say, “You know, when I was little I always thought I'd marry you.”
“That's just cuz I have a castle on the beach.”
“And you sing like a good frog.”
I lead him into my closet, grab my suitcase, unzip the top part of it, and pull out Tink.
Damian starts laughing. “You carry around a wand? Seriously?”
“Don't laugh. Ivery gave me this Tinkerbell wand when I left home and told me I could make a wish on it. She was selfless and I’m selflessly using my wish for you—which makes it doubly powerful.”
I grab his pinky with mine, wave the wand at him, and wish, “I wish Damian and Peyton will live happily ever after.”
Damian grins at me, then runs his hand through his hair. “I can't believe I’m excited that you just made a wish for me on a plastic wand. Jesus, I’m in deep. It’s just so amazingly weird, though, how we’re both here, don’t you think?” He stops in his tracks, pulls out his phone, and types something down.
I know that means he just thought of a song lyric he doesn't want to forget.
“I better go find Aiden and talk to him,” I tell Damian.
We go downstairs and see Aiden pacing the beach, his footsteps kicking up sand.
“Keatyn, if you love him, don't let your circumstances get in the way.”
“I don't want to hurt him.”
“You can't have love without risking heartache, and he seems like he's more than willing to take the risk.” I nod, but don’t move, so he pushes me toward the beach. “It’s time to go see if you and Aiden have enough dirt to survive that phone call.”
I must not look convinced, because he adds, “And if you still want him to get on the plane without you tomorrow, I’ll personally see to it.”
From the beginning.
11pm
“Hey,” I say, for lack of a better line.
“You've been crying,” he says, sitting down next to me.
I nod. “I have lot of conflicting emotions.”
“Did you tell me the truth about when you saw him at your sister’s birthday party?”
“Yes.”
He runs his hand through his hair and shakes his head. I realize now that I won’t have to tell him goodbye tomorrow. That he’s going to walk away gladly.
Hell, he’ll probably thank me.
“I was just stalking him on Facebook. He doesn’t seem to have a personal page, but he does have a fan type page that he made in August. The first three pictures he uploaded were of you. The two of you.” Aiden lowers his head a little, his eyes shiny. “You looked happy with him.”
“I was happy with him. Most of the time.”
“Tell me about him. About the two of you. When we fought that day, you defended him.”
I feel his pinky grab ahold of mine. It’s a simple gesture, but one that speaks volumes.
He’s not running away this time.
“Of course I defended him. You were way off base thinking our relationship was about sex. Do you really want to hear all of this?”
“Yeah, I do. From the beginning. From when you met.”
“My mom traveled for her job, so I was tutored. I never went to a real school.”
“But wait, I thought you met Damian at school.”
“Not a regular school. We shared the same tutor and depending on where his dad was and where my mom was, sometimes we ended up in class together. Anyway, I was around adults a lot. My mom always said that I was mature and worldly. But I was very naive about some things. Like relating to kids my age. I watched a lot of movies. Read a lot of books. And I had this fantasy school experience in my head.”
Aiden squeezes my pinky and laughs. “Let me guess, you planned it out down to the shoes.”