“I can’t…” Tears burn in my eyes. I can’t meet his gaze or I’ll
lose it. I shake my head, trying to find a breath, let alone the
words to tell him he’s going to die.
Lawrence cups my face in his hands. His expression is so earnest, so caring. “What’s wrong?” he asks. “Is it the kiss? I shouldn’t have done it, should I? It was taking advantage of you.”
“No. It’s not that.”
He pulls me into his arms, and I don’t resist. I can’t. I lay my
face against his shoulder. His body feels firm and warm against
mine. Can’t we just stay here together? Why does he have to
die? Why?
“What is it, then? Tell me, Cassandra. Please.”
“I know something. Something that’s going to happen…
to you.”
He’s quiet. I push through the wall of resistance in my heart.
I have to do this. “I came across a newspaper from your time.
At the library.”
I reach for the words. They’re there, but they refuse to pass
my lips.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Lawrence says softly.
The perfectly horrible, perfectly correct words to say. I am
looking at a ghost, Lawrence.
“Tell me,” he says again.
Drawing in a sharp breath, I press my face to his shoulder.
The horrible words come out in a trembling whisper. “It says…
that you will…die. There. On our beach.”
I’ve done it. I’ve broken the one rule I knew I shouldn’t break.
And yet I don’t feel regret as much as a horrible emptiness.
Lawrence pulls me back a little to look into my eyes. “You
must be mistaken,” he says, but he doesn’t sound very convinced. My oracle-like words seem to have rattled him.
I shake my head. “You have no idea how much I wish I were mistaken. But I cross-referenced with a few other newspapers
to confirm. It happened. It…will happen. In ten days.”
Lawrence stares out at the ocean. “Good God.”
Nothing could hurt me more than the look on his face. Fresh
tears sting my eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Lawrence. I had to tell you. I know it goes
against everything I said before. I know we shouldn’t mess with
time, but we can’t let it happen.”
A dazed, distant look glazes over his eyes. The color drains
from his cheeks. “I don’t…” His voice fades into the wind. He
looks back towards the house, voice trembling. “I have to go.”
“Lawrence, wait!”
But he doesn’t turn back. As he staggers back toward the
beach, I realize I’ll probably never see him again.
Chapter 16
Cassandra
y cell phone rings just after noon. I’m still in bed.
M
Not asleep. I’m lying under the covers with my eyes
closed because they’re sore from crying. It’s been a day and a
half since I last saw Lawrence. Not even two days since I told
him, and yet it feels like two years.
So when the ringtone blasts into the silence of my room, I
spring out of bed, hoping it’s him. Then I remember that it
couldn’t possibly be him and my heart sinks. It’s Jade. I consider letting the call go to voice mail, but at the last second
I answer.
“Hi, Jade.”
“Hey there,” she says. “You haven’t sent me ten texts a day
lately. So, I figure you’re either finally having a good time or
you’ve died in some tragic accident.”
Funny she should mention tragic deaths…
“Please tell me you found yourself some New England hottie
to pass the time.”
“Ha,” I say, bitterly.
“Come on, Cass. You’re telling me you can’t find one acceptable member of the male species out there?”
“I’m not telling you that.”
“So, you found a guy then?”
I flop back on my bed, staring at the ceiling.
Jade interprets my silence. “Oh my gosh,” she gasps. “You
did, didn’t you? You totally got yourself a boyfriend!”
“I wouldn’t call him a boyfriend exactly.”
“Cass! This is fabulous!” She sighs. “Summer love. C’est
magnifique!”
Her joy only twists the knife in my gut.