"You think things will get back to normal for everyone else?"

The cotton candy dissolved on my tongue at about the same time as my excitement did. I've tried to sustain the flame all evening. Emma and I had lagged behind the group to end up sitting on a bench. I think we both wanted a change of scenery, and it seemed that it wasn't quite working.

"Not anytime soon." I ripped more cotton candy off her cone and stuffed the cloud in my mouth.

The families of the dead, they'll mourn for months and years. The community will constantly worry about attacks spiking again, even if they'll become a memory.

"Maybe in ten years, there will be a statue or something for the tourists and the supernatural geeks. They'll keep coming, that's certain."

Emma huffed. Cheers and claps erupted at the ring toss. These kids were good at moving on, though they also had their moments. Tonight, some of us suggested a night at this carnival an hour out of town to make up for losing Halloween.

Emma refused at first, but after I agreed to go with Adam, Jen and Sam, she eventually reconsidered. The games didn't interest me but I needed something—anything—that was just silly, stupid, and unimportant. I needed noise.

"You haven't talked to Luc since?"

The question almost made me twitch. I told her about the woman, how she tried to kill me, but I didn't mention the crap about supposed abilities. I couldn't say it with a straight face.

"Outside of Bio? Nope. We said we'd mind our own business when it's over, and here we are. Such a relief."

Emma's stare went far, and then she frowned over the remnants in her cone.

"It's just that..." She grinned lopsided. "When I was getting to know him... He was so spiteful. He never missed an opportunity to say he'd feed me to the wolves. Lauren always had trouble keeping him at arm's length, he was just that hellbent on making me miserable. She was hard to pin down. So prim and delicate at first glance, she made a room feel like springtime. But she always got her hands dirty, yet still made it seem like a charming thing."

I stilled. This was the first time she really talked about his sister—about what their friendship was like.

"They were total opposites?"

"Night and day. And what you told me... I almost couldn't believe we're talking about the same guy." Emma squeezed her cone with both small hands. She was bundled up for the colder weather. "It just sounds like her. Like a part of her rubbed off in the end... even if it's too late."

"Oh, I don't know about that. It was painful every step of the way," I said, recalling all the times he'd been distrustful or openly hostile. The opposite of a breath of fresh air.

I couldn't believe it.

I was worried sick about him when I woke up, I thought he'd gone above and beyond to keep people safe. Ultimately, he had selfishly done things his own way and all for what? Luc didn't know what he was talking about, he himself admitted it was confusing. After being around him, being healed, it must have had some temporary effects.

It had been a full week since the terror in the mountains. No weird abilities on my radar. No third eye or eleventh finger. In fact, even the bite was fading more with each passing week.

So yeah, I haven't spoken to the guy but I spoke to Mom once I was decent. Her intuition antennas were to be feared at the most unpredictable moments.

We didn't discuss the school scandal anymore. I just wanted to hear her voice, check in. I shivered, and Emma nudged me.

"Better get used to it!"

"Oooh, I hope not," I replied, swaying to the side. Adam broke away from the boys and was striding across the pavement with a fuzzy object in one hand. "I can't wait to graduate and just find my way back. Where do you wanna go after high school?"

She sighed. "I have some applications ready... I'm not sure where I'll land. It seems far, wondering about them now. We're supposed to act like none of it happened. There's just us to remind ourselves it was real."

"You can apply to my school. We can share the dorm and ramen cups. I'll teach you how to surf." I smiled in response to hers, but I was genuinely hoping she'll sleep on it. If this place gave me one thing I never wanted to let go of, it was her. "You'll make me the cutest swimwear for competitions and it's going to be the best publicity as I stand on podiums."

"Athletes can't survive on ramen, Riley!"

"Details-schmetails."

"I don't know how you do it... You were almost murdered and you are ready to study and win trophies. My whole life is here," she said, quieter as Adam was nearing. "And I can't fall back in."

"Hey there! Enjoying the show or are we that boring?" Adam called. He settled at the edge of the bench on my end, and that fuzzy object turned out to be a pink teddy bear wearing a unicorn belly shirt.

"Worse than an cock fight," Emma commented, and I ached to have another minute alone with her. "What do you have there?"

He propped it on his lap. "Oh, this? I won it, thought you'd like it."

"You mean me?"

He nodded. "Here, as a good luck charm. Want to name it?"

I grabbed the plushie, amusingly staring into its beady black eyes. The bear was about the size of a medium pillow, which must have meant he scored big. The butt tail was round and pinchable. However, nothing came to mind yet, maybe later. "Mmmh... I'll think about one for her. Thanks!"

Adam seemed relieved at my reaction, but we didn't get to brainstorm ideas because the others surrounded us in a cloud of chatter. They were arguing about which game to try next. Sam was crying over the last round of the treasure hunt which was about to begin, yet Colt was suggesting we split and meet here at 10 p.m. but he was losing the battle.

We moved among the crowd of visitors and trumpets to find the station, one big party in the middle of the illuminated aisle. Then we met the hosts in charge of the treasure hunt. After instructions, they requested that we form teams of two or three. I was paired with Emma and Adam joined us, which at that point, Emma stepped back.

She winked before she went with Sam and Jen.

My back was turned to him, and he couldn't see the silly widening smile. I managed to hide it when I faced him, clapping my thighs. "Oh well. You think we can beat the other teams?"

His teeth flashed under the lanterns, and my stomach lifted just thinking he enjoyed the idea of it being us two. "They have no shot, Addison. We got this!"

We were all provided with a starter map and a flashlight. How I hated riddles.

"You've never done charade night with the family and it shows," Adam jabbed. He took a thorough look at the lines, underlining it with his index. "With eyes like twin suns so rare, gazing through the night's air, who am I that watches thee, from twilight till the morning be?"

"My head hurts already."

A few curses and mutters resonated around us, which at least made me feel less isolated, but Adam was invested.

"Something nocturnal, I bet. Uhh, there's the map but this riddle is the first clue. The first place to go to."

"They said we can be held back five minutes if we ask the monitor for a clue."

"We are never asking that man for anything," he ruled, causing me to giggle. The paper ruffled in his grip. "Something nocturnal... in this park... Yeah, that narrows it down, huh." He started down the cobblestone path, and I followed suit.

Maybe if we kept our eyes peeled, it'll jump at us. I read the riddle again and again as we passed by booths and lines of people. Eyes like twin suns... all I could think of was mutant eyes. "It could be some sort of statue?"

"It has to be if it's in the park. I don't know if it's a big one or a small one, like an item on the shelves."

"Well, a statue of something nocturnal," I repeated, imagining golden eyes blinking in the night. It didn't feel unfamiliar... as if we'd been close to it before. I halted and gasped. "The lion statue! At the entrance gates! That's why others are going that way!"

"Shit—okay, run, run, run, run!" Adam urged, and we immediately switched gears against the flow.

While we were trying to beat the teams to the lion, it somehow became a race between each other. He wasn't a bad runner so we were neck and neck, but neither of us could go full speed in such a busy place. An empty bench was in his way, and instead of making a detour and losing ground, he leapt over it and even managed to gain distance on me. Unfair. I had a surrounded mascot to circumvent.

Some teams saw us coming and were wise enough to hurry. But Adam reached the eyes of the beast second, right after Theo and Colt, and inside there was a medallion telling us to search for the red flag. Of course, nobody knew where we'd find a red flag in the whole park... except me.

I grabbed Adam's forearm and whispered in his ear. "I just saw it."

It was a moving target. Below the mascot's belt, I'd spotted that and never thought twice. We backtracked calmly so as to not raise suspicions. My hand just happened to slip into his. I didn't look at his face, but he didn't seem to mind when his fingers curled.

The mascot handed us a key and a new location . Lucikly, we were still unseen as we snuck behind the counter of the balloon darts station further out. A treasure chest waited for us, and after Adam popped the lid, we were confronted by a scrapped puzzle. I wasn't interested much but two was faster than one, and I didn't want him to imagine I was boring. Was I?

Whatever that answer was, I couldn't be boring to him. So I put some energy into the puzzle and we were running again from the other teams and from clue to clue. It got to a point where that fussing became fun in and of itself and I wasn't paying attention to the map. Our hands linked again, then Adam started to lead me somewhere through a shadowed alley.

"I want to show you something, now that nobody's going there," he said.

"You're not going to give me a hint? What about the game we're this close to finishing?"

"Come on, it'll ruin the surprise. Just trust me."

Perplexed by the change of priorities, I went along where only a couple of workers walked by but they all returned to the front action. One gave us a knowing smirk as he dumped a trash bag into a bin. Adam must have been here in the past if he was familiar with these corners.

We stopped in front of a low-built shack, its back door locked. I looked at him, an eyebrow raised. That was when he placed a finger over his lips and let go of my hand to retrieve a key from his pocket.

"Okay... what is going on?" I asked, struggling to pick another question from the long line forming.

"It's one of the stations, but it's closed now," he explained, keyeing the door in. "It's all ours if we don't get caught. But if you want to know what it is, then you have to see for yourself. You just need a little bit of bravery."

"Sure, don't cry when we don't get first place, though. Also, how in the world did you get a key?"

"A friend who once worked here but made a double for his own personal use." He winked, and I sighed at the sky. God knows what that meant. I was about to find out.

The door opened on a narrow, super dark hallway. My shoulders were brushing the walls. I was reaching for the flashlight, but he stopped me.

"Light it when I tell you to," he whispered. His hand brushed mine, and we moved together as the door closed behind us. "Just a little more."

Soon, the hall widened until my shoulders were free and we could pace side by side. His next request was to cover my eyes because he needed the beam now, and curiosity was gnawing at me. What could be so damn mysterious and impressive that it deserved all this secrecy?

"In front of you—yep, about ten more steps." Adam was guiding me from behind. He could sense my impatience, because he didn't trust me to cover my eyes. I mean... the boy hadn't guessed wrong. "Aaaand, stop. Perfect. You can look now."

I all but pushed his hands down and blinked avidly. A soft breath escaped my mouth.

Hundreds... maybe thousands of stars blinked upon us. A whole universe of them, and I knew what this was. Our flashlight was turned on at his side.

"A mirror room? I've literally been here a thousand times."

Surprise turned into fear in his gaze, and he said nothing for a while. When I worried if he was choking up, I turned completely.

"I'm kidding! It's stunning, I love it." Suddenly all warm from the matter that he wanted to show me this alone. "I've never visited one. I didn't know the park had one or else I would have dragged someone over..."

"In that case, it was worth it. We've all been under stress, lately, and I get that it was scarier for you than most. I figured you'd appreciate this."

My head snapped up. "What do you mean, scarier for me?"

Adam rubbed one of my arms, but something in my face must have unsettled him and it was brief. "Well, uh, you've never seen what the place looks like when it's going well. Then there were the photos... and you had to find Emma... It's a terrible start. But this place has its good parts. It has good people, too. You don't need to be afraid."

I'd seen its darkest corners, from my point of view. His last sentence rang so hollow in my mind, but I latched onto his eyes—the conviction in them.

"It's hard to come back from what happened," he added. "I want to be there for you if you'll let me."

My throat dried. I had wanted him to ask me, and now it was real and serious, but what I wanted didn't overshadow how different our lives were.

"You know I don't plan on staying here, Adam." Especially not after everything. If by some cruel turn of fate, home wasn't an option, I would make a new home somewhere else. Far. Florida might be good enough.

He grinned down at me. "Who said I was? Listen, I know a lot can happen in a year. I know where you want to go, and I'm still figuring that out for myself. But if we like each other today, we can take it one step at a time."

I pictured what it could grow into if we gave it a fair chance. We both loved the seaside and adventure, and he understood how I missed that life like nobody else around. We could study at the same school or have a long distance thing. He'd show up for competitions and I'd visit on vacation. My parents would like him.

It was a lot to mull over in the span of a few seconds, but the one-step-at-a-time idea was appealing.

"Sounds perfect," I whispered with my chin tipped up.

He noted the gesture.

"It's been so long. I'm so glad I found someone who reminds me of home, you have no idea," he murmured, dropping his forehead over mine.

With light fingers, his hand guided my face to his, and this time I wasn't nervous at all. I was in awe of what I meant to him, how I felt stranded in the same way. His lips were soft and tentative on mine. I've never done this, not even as a dare, so I let him lead before I did anything weird.

But the slow kiss under our stars—the moment he cupped my face—it melted me from head to toe. Filled my chest with an airy yet calm buzz.

Everything will be okay, he seemed to promise.

Just as I reached to kiss back, the light beyond my eyelids vanished.

"Uh oh," he chuckled in the complete darkness.

I sighed then failed to hold in a giggle. "They gave us shitty flashlights. Go figure."

"I'm pretty sure the guy told me these were new batteries."

Whatever, it wasn't like we needed them with our cellphones. Shrugging, I slid my fingers into his, and the lack of vision offered a brand new feel when he leaned into me.

To hell with the treasure hunt.

✩