#2.30

Beyond Redemption

The inevitable happens, as it always do when they mix: Temporarily and purposefully, Melinda forgets her boyfriend and Raven forgets her lovesick brother. Every kiss is naïve and innocent in practice, but not in theory.

Outside, the polar lights fill the sky.

The teens settle into the cheaply made chairs at one of the library’s tables. “How long has this been going on?” Bjorn asks.

“A few weeks,” she responds.

“Since before you knew about how I felt about her?” He knows the answer.

Raven looks down at her hands. “No. After that.” Bjorn inhales and closes his eyes. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, okay? I mean, I hoped but I wasn’t intending to steal her or anything. Fuck, I worded that poorly. She’s not a thing to be stolen. Goddamnit, you know what I mean.”

“I do,” he nods, his eyes still closed.

“I’m sorry.”

He opens his eyes. “Why? If she likes you, she likes you. No way I could control that.” He punctuates his sentence with a smile—forced and overdrawn, but a smile nonetheless.

“Are you serious?”

“Of course. It was just a crush, Raven. Nothing serious. If she’s into you, I never had a chance. There’s no point in dwelling on it.”

"So you’re special,” Melinda smiles. “Though I already knew that.”

“Seems that way,” Raven beams. “But that’s sort of the problem. Remember our promise about you and Bruno?”

“The one you almost broke today?”

“Well, yes—that’s not the point. The point is, my dad is equally likely to kill me for telling you about this as your dad is to kill you about dating me.”

Melinda wrinkles her nose. “We might not have the best fathers.”

“He’s just looking out for me,” Raven snaps. “Simnation hasn’t had the best track record with non-humans. So keeping this a secret is, you know, kind of crucial”

“I didn’t think we had any track record with, um, non-humans. Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so blasé. I won’t tell anyone, promise.”

“Thank you,” Raven exhales.

“I was thinking, by the way,” Melinda kicks at the ground, “about that promise. Maybe it isn’t such a huge deal if Bruno or my dad find out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I broke up with him,” she says. “Right before coming over. It just dawned on me—nothing about him makes me happy, and he was such a wimp about it all.”

“You broke up with him because he has a glass jaw?”

“No,” Melinda laughs, “I broke up with him because he’s—he’s dull. Flat. Just nothing. You’re so bright, and even when you punched him, he didn’t capture any of that light.”

“That’s one way to put it, I guess.”

“Hey, can you fly?”

Raven rolls her eyes. “Barely. It’s a little unfair, actually.”