Prologue
Emilia
“WE SHOULD PLAY HIDE and seek,” I whisper.
Gavin only laughs.
“You’re only saying that because it’s the only game you know how to play.”
“What? That’s not true,” I cross my arms over my chest. “I know lots of games.”
“Really?” He raises an eyebrow and looks at me as though he doesn’t believe a word I’m saying. “Name one, then.”
“Tag,” I say boldly, but this just makes him laugh even more.
“Tag? Really?” He shakes his head. “That’s a child’s game.”
I look at my friend. We’re both in middle school now, so we’re hardly children. In fact, there are a lot of things about me that are decidedly not childish. Gavin hasn’t seemed to notice that I’m turning into a woman, but I’ve definitely noticed that he’s turning into a man. I’ve seen the way his hair has darkened over his lip, how he’s gotten taller. He hasn’t seemed to notice anything about me, though. That bothers me a little bit.
“Then what?” I ask.
“Something else,” he says, yawning. He’s bored. He always gets so bored at these events, and I can’t really blame him because they make me feel bored, too. Sitting in an empty wing of the house while our dads have their monthly meetings is dull. If our mothers were around, they could entertain us, but they’re off doing something else, so it’s just me and Gavin.
“Like what?”
“Like a game that doesn’t make us seem like fucking infants, Emilia,” he says.
I cringe at the words, and he instantly reaches for me.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I wasn’t trying to freak you out.”
“It’s fine,” I say, but it’s not. I know he’s right. I’m not a kid anymore and neither is he. We shouldn’t be playing stupid games that toddlers would enjoy. We should be doing something else.
Anything else.
I stand up and walk over to one of the many bookshelves that line the walls of this room. It?
??s one of the most ornate rooms in my house. Gavin has been here a million times, just as I’ve been to his home, and the amazement over these buildings has long since worn out. Neither one of us cares that our fathers are rich. We don’t care about their money. We don’t care about anything except the fact that they constantly ignore us in lieu of holding business meetings.
Running my hand over the length of one of the shelves, I look at the different titles. Surely there’s something in here with ideas about games.
There must be something.
Then my hand touches the edge of something cool and I notice a little glass bottle on one of the shelves.
Perfect.
I grasp it and turn around. Then I hold it out to Gavin like a trophy.
“A bottle?”
“We could play.”
“What?”
“Spin the bottle,” I say. “You know,” I blush.
“I know what it is,” he looks at me. “Are you sure you’re up for that?” He raises an eyebrow, like he doesn’t think I’ll go through with it. Well, I’ll show him.
“I’m an expert at this game,” I lie easily. I take a seat in the center of the floor. Gavin sits across from me.
“It might not land on either one of us,” he says.
“So, you’ll just have to kiss what it lands on,” I shrug.
“I’m not kissing your dad’s chairs or bookshelves.”