A Radiant Sky

29

I opened my eyes.

The tiny, glowing lights, the click of high heels against the gymnasium floor.

The taste of punch and the sound of laughter.

My boyfriend’s dark brown eyes, smiling as they realized I was awake.

It all came rushing back to me.

“We’re back,” I said. “We’re at prom. We made it.”

“I knew we would,” said Asher. He offered me his hand and pulled me to my feet. The hem of my ethereal dress swept across the floor. There was not a trace of the battle on it—the sand, the surf, the blood, all of it, gone. Left back in the other world.

“How did it—”

“I don’t know.” He smiled. “But we’re lucky, Skye. We’re so, so lucky.” He pulled me into his arms, and I pressed my face into his chest. The familiar gray T-shirt. The beat-up army jacket. The scent of cinnamon and pine, the woods, my home, washing over me.

It was over. It was all over.

Somehow, incredibly, and against all odds, I had saved the world.

“Get a room, lovebirds!” Cassie came bounding up to me, her pale pink dress shimmering in the light and a prom princess tiara perched on her head. I grinned. “You did it, Skye! You really did it! Dan, come here! They’re back!”

“Babes,” Dan yelled from across the floor. “Leave them alone. They’re having a moment.”

Cassie pouted. “But I want to be part of it.”

“Come here, Cass,” I said, pulling her into our hug. “Dan, you can be part of it too!” Dan came sprinting over and pounced on us.

“Dad!” A little voice cried. I turned my head, and Earth was running full-speed across the dance floor. I followed her path to where Aaron stood by the door to the gym. Beside him was Aunt Jo, her hand in his, her head resting on his shoulder.

“Hey, Trouble!” he cried, kneeling down so Earth could jump into his arms. “Were you good for Cassie?”

“Duh,” she said. “You were only gone for, like, a minute.”

She caught my eye and winked at me. “Thank you,” I mouthed.

Behind them, James Harrison looked around. Suddenly, his face lit up. Ian was standing by the punch bowl, grinning at his dad.

“Ian!” Cassie cried, waving him over.

“Ian, what are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought—”

“Rogues live on earth, right?” He said with a wink. “Maybe I’ll be the first Rogue in my family to graduate high school, stick around. Besides,” he said. “Can’t I keep the peace from homeroom?” We laughed.

“We made it through the battle, and junior year, guys,” I said. “Can you believe it?”

“It didn’t seem so daunting back in September,” said Ian.

“Senior year is looking pretty good, huh?” I grinned at him.

“Ooh,” Cassie cried, “this is our song. Daniel, shall we show them what we’ve been practicing?”

“I believe,” he said, extending his hand, “we shall.” Cassie put her hand in his, and he twirled her out onto the dance floor. And then, before my very eyes, Cassie ran toward Dan and he lifted her up into the air. She squealed, the light from the disco ball reflecting off her pale pink dress, as she spread her arms wide like she was flying.

“We did it! We did it! We—” Dan’s footing faltered beneath her. “Ah! Put me down! There’s no river to catch us this time!”

I watched them tumble to the ground with the biggest smile on my face. Asher was right. We were so, so lucky.

“Hey, Skye?” Ian put his hand on my back and smiled. “I knew you could do it,” he said. “Even when you didn’t. I always believed.”

I watched him make his way across the gym to where James was waiting for him. And when I turned around, I realized someone was waiting for me. He stood on the edge of the dance floor, in the shadows.

And then he stepped into the light. His eyes were dark and dizzying. His hair was as black as the Colorado sky at night. He grinned and raised an eyebrow as he held out his hand.

“Skye,” Asher said. “Will you dance with me?”

But the screech of an amp feeding back made us turn suddenly to the stage. Cassie stood up there with an acoustic guitar, the rest of the Mysterious Ellipses behind her.

“Girls and boys, for the last dance of the night, I have a surprise for my best friend. This is a song about being brave.”

She began to sing, her voice high and clear as a bell. The band strummed softly, filling the gym with slow, beautiful music.

Asher and I grinned at each other. I took his hand without a word, and everything I’d ever felt for him came rushing up inside me. He pulled me close, and I rested my forehead against his chest as he guided us across the floor.

“This is what I would wish for,” I whispered, “if I could go back to that night we met. I may not have known it then, but I do now.”

We’d already had our last dance before the battle, but now, this felt like our first. We had a whole life ahead of us, one that was messy and beautiful and entirely up to us.

As we turned, I saw Aunt Jo, Aaron, and Earth smiling at me. My family. Maybe now that the store was gone, Aaron and Aunt Jo could build a new life—something from scratch, together. Dan stood by the stage, nodding his head to the music and beaming at Cassie. Ian and James stood in the corner by the punch bowl, talking. Everything seemed right with the world. I knew it might not last, I knew it couldn’t be perfect forever. But right now, this? This was a perfect moment. And I never could have seen it coming, not with all my visions of the future.

Asher twirled me, and the world glowed. I would always have a trace of my powers—I would never really lose them. But I had a chance at a real life, and I was going to take it.

We would make mistakes, we would argue, we would make up. We would lose the people we love and find new ones, and hold our memories close. We would fight for each other, again and again. We would keep living. We were in love.

And we were only human, after all.