Always/Never

Chapter 20 / In Tandem at the Sunflower Field

Shades of yellow spanned as far as I could see, from the ground to the sky. Petals faced the sun, almost the same colour, as if the field reflected the glow back at itself. Everything dripped with gold.

Towering sunflowers rivalled the car's height. I cracked the window open an inch, so I could breathe in the fresh air and the scent of the dew-kissed grass.

The parking lot spilled over onto the highway shoulder, but I couldn't see anyone among the sunflowers. It was as though Michaela and Rory were lost in a corn maze. Behind the car, the hand-painted sign drew an arrow pointing toward it, despite the fact that it would be hard to miss the turn.

Something about the sign looked familiar. I understood what Accha meant now about an odd, nonsensical feeling of malaise. Instinctively, I knew I hadn't been here, but the memory was, or had been, or was about to be, replaced by the realization that I had.

Accha turned the radio off, along with the engine. We didn't need the heat, nor the air conditioning. Content, I stared at the citrine-colour of the clouds backed by a celestial light. Watched the sun creep lower and lower to the ground. It would be a few hours yet before it set, but I didn't doubt for a second that I wanted to see that.

Emerging from the rows of flowers, I spotted Michaela. Taller than me by a few inches, she moved alongside the stems, pointing at them and laughing soundlessly, distantly.

"Wow," I managed to breathe.

Accha nodded, folding her hands in my lap. Her shoulders relaxed their tension a little, now that she wasn't caught up in driving, and she turned to take in the sights. A car door slammed next to her, and a family dispersed in every direction. To the field, to the bakery next door, towards the gift shop. On the opposite end, the highway continued in a straight line, never-ending.

So serene. In fact, I didn't know it was so close to campus to begin with. Over the short drive, I had the time to tell her about her phone and not much else.

The air tasted like something dreamlike.

I was about to nudge Accha, ask her why she'd never brought me, but she liked to wander and find places discovered for the first time. Besides, everyone came here.

Which made sense now.

Lost in the fields, Michaela was no longer visible. I had no clue what I was looking to see. There was no reason for this to be anything other than a regular date, but we were so close to the inevitable event that spiralled into this, and I needed to make sure.

Part of me thought that change wasn't so bad. Certainly, if it meant that two percent of me might become an inventor.

My stomach squeezed. I never wanted to be a technopath.

I wasn't even sure I knew what to do with my ability at first. My image of the future was so specific, it could have been cut out right out of Rogue Inventions.

No part of me would ever become a defender like June, though.

That was probably the only thing I agreed with.

The sky dyed a deeper orange, melting into pink. I snuck a glance at Accha and found her as transfixed as me.

"I did want to come," I said. Why it sounded like a whisper, I didn't know. Out of some necessity to be honest with her, I didn't want to upkeep the charade. She deserved the truth.

"I know." She smiled, her brown eyes catching the sunlight until they were luminous. "It's so nice here. I see why."

I pulled in a breath. "Accha..."