FALL (DIMENSION Series #1)

CHAPTER 23

The moment was surreal. It was magical and strange. I was next to the boy I'd admired for weeks. That I was pretty sure I was in love with now. And we'd spoken of some impossible things and hinted at some others.

      The green river sparkled with the sun. And Derek's green-and-gold eyes seemed to contain pieces of the river and the sun. They were mesmerizing. I tried to take in everything about the moment. I knew how fleeting it was going to be.

      I wanted this conversation with him to continue. I wanted it to continue forever. I lived for his voice, his sentences, the way he stared at me—as if he could see into the depths of my soul.

      "You knew some things about my fall," I said to him., still holding his gaze. "How?" I bit my lower lip and continued. "How did you know?"

     It was important to try to get to the bottom of things. I had to force myself to stay focused, because I really wanted to do something else. I wanted to lean back against the tree as I continued staring at him and feeling the scattered slivers of sun across sun across my arms and my face. I wanted to be swept up in this moment of complete happiness, without having to piece together the strangeness that was encircling us. I just wanted to surrender to this bliss that was washing over me like a wave.

      "I can't really explain it," he said and he looked away from me and into the river. "It's a very strange thing. A kind of condition, maybe?"

      "Like a sixth sense?" I blurted out.

      He shrugged and looked uncomfortable.

      "Like something that makes me strange," he replied and sighed. "That makes me different and creates a barrier between me and others."

      Again, I had the feeling that he was saddled with something. Some kind of burden.

      "But you're so popular," I said. I was surprised that he felt distant from others. He was so cool and always had other kids milling around him. I had a mental image of Veronica McCall and all the other beautiful girls vying for his attention.

      "Things are not always as they appear," he said and sighed. And his eyes darkened as if a shadow had moved across them.

      "Are you going to get all philosophical on me now?" I sked. I was teasing him, but I also wanted to find out what he really meant.

      He smiled briefly, his eyes getting lighter again.

      "Hanging out with people doesn't mean much," he said, shrugging. "It doesn't mean they actually know me." He was peering deeper into my eyes, as if he was imploring me to understand.

      "Some seem to know you," I stammered. "Isabelle Bree for example."

      I felt myself flushing as soon as the sentence was out. I didn't want him to know that I'd been observing him and Isabelle Bree. I didn't want him to know that I watched him all the time. And I didn't want to come across needy and insecure as I felt I might be, at this very moment.

      He nodded.

      "Isabelle is different," he said. "She's like me." And he looked resigned, like they were bound together in something. I had a mental image of Isabelle Bree and her pixie looks. Her short dark hair and large green eyes. Her cool clothes and her swagger. And the laughter that often spilled from her and seemed to triggered fits of laughter in others as well.