THE RESIN ARE NO LONGER CONSIDERED LUCENT.
I had to admit, hearing Colby say she loved me wasn’t what I expected to come from her.
I’d almost settled myself in for a lifetime of not hearing it.
She got up from the bed, leaving me there wanting so much more. We wouldn’t bond. I wouldn’t force her hand just because the Synod expected her to. She never was much for rule following anyway.
“Where are we going first? I need to speak to my mother and Ari. I should tell Sway. How long will we be gone?”
I hopped down from the bed. Realizing I was only in boxers, I quickly grabbed a pair of jeans from the chair and threw them on.
“I think Tibet is the best place to start after we finish in New Zealand. Collin knows a good deal about Eivan. But Sevella’s handwritten journals are in Tibet.”
She said nothing, so I turned around, buttoning my pants, to see what was going on. She was mulling something around in that pretty head of hers, I could tell.
“What?”
“We’re going to one of those monasteries?”
“Yes.”
“With the shaved heads and the gongs and the orangey robes?”
“Yes.”
She sighed really loud and dramatically. It made me chuckle. I couldn’t pin down exactly what part she had an aversion to.
“What is it? You can flash back home if you don’t want to stay the night or you don’t want to be there. I can still do this alone.”
Her worrisome pout turned in an instant into one of credible anger. “I’m not backing out. I’m just not really good at being quiet.”
I couldn’t help myself. I broke out into a doubled over, stomach- cramping laugh. She so nailed it. She could never be quiet—church, tests… you name it, Colby was going to talk. She got kicked out of the SATs twice for talking to the person next to her—who she didn’t even know.
“That’s it. I’m leaving if you’re just gonna laugh all day. When are we beginning our journey?”
“Friday,” I answered, trying to compose myself.
“I’ll see you then.”
“Wait.” I grew serious. I couldn’t let her remember this night like that. I closed the gap between us with a few steps. Pressing my forehead to hers, I placed one chaste kiss on her still surprised lips. Then I popped her backside with my hand. “Now let’s see what color your wake is.”
“No color whatsoever.”
She flashed out of my room and I chuckled at the wake she left behind. It shimmered in pale notes of pink.
“Yep,” I said to myself in the mirror. “I still got it.”