“The whole King thing?”
“You know, the part about coming all over his face? Twice?”
My cheeks heat and I wish I could hide in a hole. “Here I thought you’d forgotten about that.”
“Hell no.” She chuckles, nudging me. “I was waiting for you to fess up.”
“I’m just…” I hang my head against the wall. “I don’t know. He’s so intense and I feel like if I give in to him, I’ll never find a way out. Not to mention that he’s distracting me. Cambridge is just around the corner and there’s no way in hell I’m letting anything take it away from me, especially not some boy drama, but…”
“But?”
“But I feel a sick type of relief whenever he comes to find me, corners me, and takes away the decision. Isn’t that crazy?”
“All the best things usually are.” She grins.
I jab her shoulders playfully. “You’re not helping.”
“Ellie, you’re my best friend and I love you, but you’re too… safe.” Kim’s voice shifts to the grownup tone she uses with her little brother. “You’ve been living your life so much by the rules, it’s like you’re a thirty year-old woman wrapped in an eighteen year-old body.”
I should be offended, but I’m not.
“That’s not true,” I tell her.
“Not true?” She gives me an ‘Are you shitting me’ look. “You didn’t touch the ice cream even though your aunt isn’t here. I’m sure a bite or two won’t kill you, but you don’t even want to consider going against your aunt’s wishes.”
“Those types of food rot the body.”
“Do you hear yourself? You sound just like your aunt — and that’s not a compliment.”
“Kim!”
“I mean, look at your interests.”
“What about them?”
“You picked up yoga because of your aunt. You like football because of your uncle. Hell, you’re going to Cambridge because they’re alumni. ”
I cross my arms. “Aunt and Uncle saved me from the alternative of foster homes. They gave me a safe, healthy upbringing. If it weren’t for the heart surgery they paid for, I would’ve died. There’s nothing wrong with wanting them to be happy.”
“Sure. You’re totally right.” Kim leans against the wall. “But have you thought that maybe you’re living your aunt and uncle’s lives, not yours? Maybe that’s why you’re so inexplicably drawn to King.”
“What? How?”
“You’ve always lived by the rules. He doesn’t. He’s free in ways you aren’t. Maybe that’s why you’re attracted to him.”
Kim’s words strike so deeply, I visibly flinch.
“You know, in the summer camp, this Buddha priest chap told us an interesting tidbit,” she continues.
“What?”
“Souls are attracted to each other.”
After saying goodbye, I stand rooted at the entrance, her last words playing like an echo in my head.
Souls are attracted to each other.
Aiden’s soul is black, so what does that make mine?