Nightfall ✓

Chapter 22

I reached the "newcomers" sector and scanned the books, and I stopped dead. One title caught my eye: Frozen Hearts. Could it be...? I went closer. With shaking hands, I picked it up. At the bottom of the book, there was the author's name: Liam Samuels. My whole body had gone cold. The book fell to the ground. I looked at Sana, sitting in a corner, listening to music. She caught my eye and came over. "What?" she asked, picking it up from the floor. Her eyes widened. 

My ears were ringing. Actually, just the right one was. The left one had long become deaf. I was so aware of this weird tingling feeling in my legs. Was it the air-conditioning? My armpits were wet with sweat. My mouth was dry. My breath came out in short bursts. My heart was pounding.

I saw her reading the back cover. Then she opened the first page and read that. Then she looked at me. "Hazel," she said. "Read this."

There was a dedication on that page, written in fancy cursive. It said:

To the girl who has a
Fire inside her.
To the girl who took my heart away
And still has it: Hazel Jones.
Where are you? I need you here,
In that little place we call Home.

A tear rolled down my cheek. How was this possible? "He's alive," I croaked. I clutched the book to my chest. "He's alive."

"Yes, so...that's a good thing, isn't it? Stop crying. Come." She took hold of my arm and took me to the counter, where she paid for the book. Then she took me to some restaurant. My vision was blurred by tears. I was too disoriented to take notice of where we were going and what we were doing. She sat me down on a table. I vaguely heard her ordering something.

Liam was alive. And I had spent one year thinking that he was dead, spent one year grieving over him. And he still loved me, just like I did. And he wanted me back now.

Sana poked me. "Hazel?"

"What!" I snapped. She frowned. "Why are you angry?"

"Where was he," I said through gritted teeth, "for one goddamned year? He could've called me!"

"Hazel, your phone melted in the blast, remember? You have to buy a new one."

"He could've called my parents!" 

"But you're not living with your parents," she said gently. "And they don't know you're living with me. They think you're in New York."

"He...he could've..." I stopped and broke down completely. Around 50 people turned to look at me. Sana dragged me to the washroom and let me sink to the floor and cry peacefully. She sat next to me. "The amazing thing is that he loves you, even after one year. Wow. That happens in fairytales, you know?" She took the book and read the dedication again. "He says, 'I need you here, in that little place we call Home.' Do you know what that means?"

"He's talking about our New York apartment." I coughed. My throat hurt.

"Do you have enough money to buy a ticket?"

"I don't know."

"It doesn't matter. I'll give you some."

"I won't take any money from you."

"Shut up. You will. It will break his heart if you don't go. He's been waiting for you for god-knows-how long."

The thought of his heart breaking made me cry even more. Sana put an arm around me. "Listen, Hazel. You don't know his side of the story, right? Maybe he was looking for you. How was he supposed to reach you, anyway? Your phone is dead. You don't have a Facebook account. You said he doesn't have Skype. Even if he does, you haven't opened Skype in ages, so even if he messaged you, how would you know? And suppose he called your parents. They would've told him that you were in New York, because that's what you told them." She took a breath. "You know, I remember I called you once and told you that Karan was cheating on me, do you remember? You told me to ask his side of the story. You said, change your perspective and the story changes. Now you need to look at it from his point of view. Stop being angry. I want you to buy a ticket, go to New York, and find him, and—" she adjusted her position so that she could look me straight in the eyes,  "— this time I want you to have sex with him."

I blushed and shoved her. "Shut up."

She laughed. "I'm serious. Now, you're going to wash your face, and since you've embarrassed me quite a lot, I'm not going to go outside and eat, so we will eat our burgers here, in the washroom, and then we'll go home and pack your stuff."

"But I don't understand. Where was he? I searched everywhere."

"You don't have to understand. Just go!"

I thought about it. Was it even possible that he still loved me? Of course it was. I still loved him, even after one year. And he dedicated his book to me. The book he'd worked so hard on, the book he'd put his soul into, his meraki— he dedicated that to me. I smiled through my tears. Someone had told me once: When two hearts are meant for each other, no distance is too far, no time is too long, and no other love can break them apart.

I stood up.

"Well, what have you decided?" Sana asked. 

I offered her my hand and helped her up. "I will go."

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