Wonderfall (or, The Girl with the Rabbit Tattoo)

Chapter 29 | Surprise

"Ha!" The girl laughed lightly. Like she had just been unplugged, the muscles in her neck and shoulders relaxed. "I almost don't want to do it just because of that."

I smiled, feeling like I had just earned at least another few seconds with her. Still, something made me uneasy about what was happening. I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, but I suspected it had to do with Hayley and Calista and the fact that they had been feeding me a steady diet of lies. But there was also this fiercely independent girl in front of me, with her black rabbit tattoo and hair the color of a shadow. Even though I heard her say she wanted it, I still couldn't imagine how life standing still could be better than a life of adventure.

I leaned on the edge of the table as she tucked her hands behind her back to lean against the wall.

"Are you really thinking about staying?"

"Maybe," she said, glancing again at the open door. "I don't know."

"You'd have to give up almost everything if you did."

"I know."

I knew I was sounding like I was trying to convince her not to stay, but the moment had taken on a strange dreamlike quality. Standing in a room with the girl I thought I'd never see again, I really didn't know whether it was real or a dream. But I figured if we really were there in the room together, she must have thought about the consequences.

What I said next, I knew was another warning, but I couldn't help myself—I wanted to see her reaction. "And just so you know how life works in this place ... if Calista is going to let you to stay, she's going to make sure we end up together."

Mia smirked. "Your girlfriend already told me ... now that was a weird conversation," she added, rolling her eyes.

"I bet. And I already told you, Hayley's not my girlfriend."

"I know," she said, blushing for maybe the second time I could remember as she glanced everywhere but at me. "Just making sure. I'd feel pretty stupid giving up my freedom for a boy who wants to be with someone else."

And as the grin crept across her jaw, I felt a warmth flood through me that the girl really was there because of me. But no sooner had I let myself feel good about being wanted than the crushing weight of what it meant—marriage, family, life inside the community and all the obligations that went with it—landed squarely on my head. My knees wobbled, almost buckled, and I had to slide further to sit on the table I had been leaning against.

Locking my back and shoulders, trying to play it cool even though I felt like I might vomit, I nodded. "And you're okay with us..." my words trailed off as I finished my wimpy thought with a flimsy hand gesture toggling between us.

Mia shrugged. "If I stayed with my clan, I would be married anyway. Probably soon, probably to some old man. I figured marrying you has to be better."

I blushed at the insult, feeling both flattered and stupid and wishing I felt neither. "Thanks," I said, a loop of sarcasm in my tone.

"Hey, you stood me up, remember?" Mia said, crossing her arms and arching her brows.

"I remember," I said, knowing I deserved the jab and knowing that if we lived to be a thousand years old together, she would never let me forget she chose me even after I burned her. I shook my head, trying to ground myself because I still felt like the whole thing almost seemed too good to be true, and the pretty girl I'd met in the forest might actually turn on me. As I thought about the fact I might actually get to spend the rest of my life with her, a chill came over me that I immediately recognized. It was the same feeling I had about Hayley, just before I figured out she wasn't what I thought. I shifted in my seat on the table, grasping at the ethers, hoping Mia wasn't just another one of Calista's gendroid head-games.