Metamorph [Book Two]

[chapter 2]

"I REALLY DON'T see how you--who lives maybe two minutes away--are always late compared to me, who has to sneak through the Wall just to get here. You'd think since it takes me about an hour each way, I'd be the one taking my sweet time, but oh no--"

I cut him off with laughter. It bubbled out on its own accord, just like it always did around him, and we smiled at each other. I was trying to memorize the way his face looked here, in the pre-dusk light, just as I knew he was trying to memorize mine. It'd be a week before we saw each other again, and every moment--every second--was worth more than all the cash in my parents' safe deposit or every dime his family's store made.

"I missed you." The words didn't seem to do justice to the painful ache that had been building in my chest for the last week, but anything stronger came with the risk of being ridiculous and clingy. He just smiled his understanding, though, and I knew instinctively that he understood my longing without me having to say the words.

That was another thing about us that made me force down idiotic smiles halfway through math class--our hearts beat in sync, speaking the exact same language. With Zak, there wasn't a translation under our words--we didn't even need the words to know what the other meant.

"So, what are we doing today?" he asked, bouncing on his heels a bit.

"Well, I was thinking we could wander over to this sweet place I found the other day a couple blocks away, but I'm up for anything," I said honestly.

"Lead the way."

We started to make our way down the street, fingers lacing as we skirted around pedestrian traffic and jay walked. Zak wasn't dressed in school uniform, but he looked just old enough to be a university student in the Hive, so we didn't attract too many odd looks, although I doubt I would've noticed much anyways. I could feel his pulse against mine, and even though I knew full well that we'd only been together for three months and that it was all just chemical pathways and hormones, I had to remind myself to breathe when I glanced back and saw him smiling at me. He was looking around with wide eyes as usual, trying to take in all the sights and sounds from my side--the Evo side--of the wall.

"So how did you find this place, exactly?" he asked, knowing better than to ask what it was. It was always a surprise.

"Oh, I was out with Aly and Brian and saw it from the street. I came back to check it out on my own on Tuesday."

"Oh, cool," he said, sounding a little uncertain. "And... um... who are Aly and Brian?"

And just like that, the high crashed to the ground. We'd been dating for three months, and he didn't even know who my best friends were.

Not that that was his fault. I didn't know much about the people in his life, either--when we were together, it was hard to remember anything else.

"They're two of my best friends--Aly's an artist, and Brian wants to be a rock star. But that's not important right now." I paused, breathless with excitement, before a fire escape scaling the side of a recently-refurbished brick building. He looked up at it dubiously.

"This is your amazing thing? I know it'll be hard to top last week, but to be honest, I think this is an all-time low."

I smiled briefly at the reference to last week, when I had taken him to a closed-down bowling alley and we raced in socks down the lanes, but didn't stop moving towards the ladder. "Come on, we're going all the way to the top."

"Are you insane?" he called up. I just kept going, though, so he eventually started to scurry up the cool metal rungs in an attempt to catch up. The long climb was worth it, though, especially when we got to the top and I saw his reaction.