Reis and Evie banged into Jason's house while the pizzas were cooking, obviously used to coming and going as they pleased. Cass felt a pang of jealousy: this was the first time she'd even been in Jason's house. Things like that took time, and she'd been on the island-she tallied up days-only a week? It felt like months, so much had happened.
"Where were you?" Evie asked.
Reis rolled his eyes. "What she means is, 'Hi, Cass. Nice to see you. We missed you last night.' We're still working on her manners."
Evie ignored him. "We need you at every practice if you're going to sing with us. I thought you got that. It's this weekend, which gives us five days to get ready."
"Less," Reis added. He ducked Evie's swing at his arm. "'Cause we're repairing the stage Wednesday, right? And Friday we're going to Friday Harbor for supplies and stuff. I bet we won't have time to practice either of those days."
Cass felt a slow flush spreading upward to the roots of her hair. "Sorry. I wasn't feeling well. I kind of crashed."
"You fell asleep? You mean you slept through practice?"
Crap. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned that bit. "I was sick."
"Lay off, Eves," Jason broke in. "We still have time and, like we said before, she doesn't have to join us on every piece."
Evie stalked to a barstool without answering, but she thawed somewhat as they ate. Cass devoured five pieces despite the fact that she'd eaten only a few hours before. She was ravenous.
"Nice," Reis said when she went back for her sixth piece. He gave her a thumbs-up. "I like a girl who isn't afraid to eat."
The funny thing was that even though Evie had been torqued that Cass missed the previous night, they didn't need her for the last half of the rehearsal because they were working on a piece that didn't have a vocal part. Cass found a seat on an upturned bucket and. Reis's face shone with sweat after ten minutes' hard drumming. Evie stuck out her tongue every time she hit a tricky part and even though she had sheet music propped on her keyboard, Cass didn't think she was using it.
Jason was the one she kept coming back to. When he picked up the violin, it became part of him. He cradled it to his cheek so tenderly, the thought flashed through her mind that she'd like to be in its place.
His eyes opened and she looked away, but not before his gaze had caught hers. She felt that tell-tale heat creep across her face. She wished-for the hundred thousandth time-that she tanned enough to hide all the times she turned fire engine red.
"Evie, I don't like the blend yet. Can you cut it back a little?" Jason said. "Back up to just after the drum solo and we'll try it again."
The setting sun's rays hit the sea glass that dangled in every window, setting the room afire with color. Cass held up a hand to catch a flicker of blue. It held on her palm a minute before fading, only to be replaced by others.
A streak of gold played off Jason's violin. It reflected up to light his face and shone in the fine hairs of his cheekbones.
His eyes opened as she studied him. The violin notes trailed off.
Evie clicked the switch on her keyboard. "Honestly, you two," she growled. "Quit making eyes at each other. It's embarrassing."
Cass felt another flush flame her cheeks.
A lazy smile spread across Jason's face. "That's probably enough for tonight, anyway, don't you think? We've still got tomorrow and Thursday." He spoke to Evie, but his eyes never left Cass.
"I told you already, I can't come tomorrow," Evie said. "Some of us have to work this summer. I'm putting in extra hours with the wonder twins so I can get the next couple of days off."
"Reis?"
Evie rounded on him. "You can't practice tomorrow, either. You promised to help with the kids."
Reis rolled backward on his stool, both hands in the air. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Jason, you can't come between me and the wonder twins. Eves will kill me. You know she will, too."
Jason gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine. We'll get an early start on the stage Wednesday so we'll have time to practice Wednesday night. Does that work for everyone?"
He was answered by nods all around. "Good. Then I'm calling it a night. Get out of here. Not you," he ordered Cass. He winked at her. "I want a word with you."
"So do I," Evie said.
Cass jumped to her feet; she'd been so intent on Jason the past minutes, she hadn't even noticed the other girl's approach.
"C'mon outside," Evie said, and then, to Reis, "not you. This is girl talk."
"Ooooh," Reis said, but he didn't follow.
Cass trailed Evie outside, wondering if she should be worried. Had she missed something? Evie seemed ticked at her, but Cass had been so focused on Jason she wouldn't have noticed anything from Evie short of a full-blown explosion.
But when Evie turned, she'd scrunched her forehead in an expression more worried than angry. "Look," she said. "I know you have a thing for Jason and it's obvious that he has a thing for you, but this concert is really important to him. Just take things slow for a week, okay? Don't screw things up for him."
She didn't have a week to spare, Cass thought. She had no idea when the Piper Foundation would find someone to take over from Jen, but it had to be soon. "What about you and Reis?" she asked. "Aren't you guys together?"
"No! We're friends."
"Really?"
Evie's gaze dropped to the rows of bracelets on her arm. She shoved them up fiercely, as if they were to blame somehow. "I don't want to screw things up, either, all right? When band members get involved with each other, things get complicated."
"So you just put your life on hold because of what might happen?" Cass asked. She thought of all the years she'd spent not knowing anyone her own age, no one at all, and it rose up in her in a tangle of frustration. People weren't around forever. "Reis likes you, and it looks to me like you like him, too. Don't you think things will be just as complicated if you keep pretending nothing's there?"
"I know." She bit her lip. "It's just...he's my friend. My best friend. I don't want to screw with that, either."
Silence fell between them.
Abruptly, Evie turned back to the building. "Reis! Are you coming or what?"
Cass helped Jason close up the boat house after the other two left, unsettled by the conversation. She didn't want to screw things up for Jason.
"Earth to Cass?" Jason stood at the door, waiting for her. "Must've been some thoughts you were having. Did Evie give you trouble? I'll tell her to lay off, if you want. She can be kind of bossy, but she's okay."
"No." Cass gave her head a shake. She wanted to tell him what Evie had said, but she didn't, in case Evie was right.
Jason reached past to push the door control; the light clicked off as the motor whirred and the door rattled shut. Cass blinked, blind in the sudden darkness.
"C'mon," Jason said. "There's something I want to show you."
"Show me?" she laughed. "I can't see a thing."
"Your eyes will adjust. Look, the moon's out." He pulled her farther from the building until she could see the moon hanging over the island, low in the sky. Past the shadow of the boat house, its light outlined the world in silver.
Still holding her hand, Jason led her toward the sound of the ocean. Ahead, the land seemed to drop off into nothingness. "Do you have to be back any specific time?"
"Not exactly. Jen never gave me a curfew, but," she admitted, "that could be because I never needed one before."
"I ended practice a little early, just in case." He gripped her hand more firmly and stepped over the ledge.
Cass jerked back. "Jason!"
He laughed. "Sorry, forgot you can't see. There are steps leading down. It's okay, honest."
With the moon behind them, the cliff's shadow completely engulfed the path. There had to be a path, Cass told herself; Jason was standing on something.
"I didn't realize it would be this dark," Jason said, tone apologetic. "If you want, we can go back for a light."
She felt ahead cautiously and found the first step, solid, exactly where she'd hoped it would be. "It's okay."
As soon as they dropped below the lip of the cliff, the wind dropped to almost nothing, which helped. It also helped that she could trail one hand along the stone that rose at her side while the other held tight to Jason's. The steps cut back and forth across the face in a steep zigzag.
"Gramps keeps saying we should put a railing up, but we never seem to get to it. I don't even notice anymore. I forgot what it's like coming down them the first time." He squeezed her fingers. "And here I'm making you take them in the dark."
"I guess you'll owe me, then."
At the bottom, her foot met only empty air where she expected stone; she stumbled, dropping the extra six inches to a wooden dock that gave with her weight. Jason spun and caught her arm. "You all right?"
"Yeah." Cass's heart skipped faster. He'd brought her here to collect his promised kiss, she thought, and fought the sudden urge to pull away. It was so dark, so far from everyone and everything else, she wasn't completely sure whether the tremor she felt came from anticipation or fear. Or both.
"It's really deep here," Jason whispered. "Legend says pirates used to hide in this cove, back when they were still settling the islands."
He drew her forward again. Maybe he wasn't going to kiss her after all; but her heartbeat didn't slow.
The cliff's shadow reached far into the water, but Cass's eyes had adjusted enough for her to make out the darker rectangle of the dock. Jason crouched at the edge and she heard the familiar whisper of rope sliding past rope, the scrape of something hard against the boards.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"My kayak. I wondered if you'd go out with me."
"Go out with you?"
He must have heard the confusion in her voice, because he stood abruptly, stammering an explanation. "I mean, go out in the kayak with me, not go out go out. Not that I don't want you to go out with me, I mean like that, but-" He broke off and drew a noisy breath. "The last time you were on my kayak, it didn't really to count, and it's really beautiful here, especially when the moon is out. I wanted you to see it."
She gazed past him to the water, which stretched in lines of silver and black until it met the long curve of the opposite side of the cove. When she looked, really looked, it took her breath away. "You're right. It's beautiful."
She felt the dock rise and heard the swish of the kayak sinking deeper in the water as Jason shifted his weight onto it. The boat clunked against wood; he reached to take her hand again. "Careful," he whispered.
He held tight to the dock, steadying the boat as she eased aboard and folded herself into the space in front of him. When he pushed away and took up the paddle, he held it in front of her, his arms on either side of hers.
The paddle blades cut into the water almost silently, drawing them out into the cove. Behind them, a faint glow showed above the trees, marking Jason's house; ahead, the only light came from the nearly-full moon.
It was incredibly quiet and so still, Cass almost wondered if it could be the same ocean where she'd tumbled through waves earlier that day. Jason's arms stilled; he rested the paddle across her legs, his hands on top of it.
"It seems like nothing else exists out here," Cass said softly. "Like it's just you and the ocean and the moon."
His chin rested on the top of her head. "This place is like...like a part of me. I don't know how to explain it. If something's wrong, this place always makes it better."
Cass thought how she couldn't sleep when she didn't feel waves rocking her bunk and nodded, feeling his chin slide across her hair. "The ocean's like that for me. When we flew here, I thought I'd die. I had to spend two whole days on solid land. Crazy, huh?"
"Not crazy," he said. "I think that's what I first liked about you."
She leaned back against him, suddenly alight with happiness.
"Jason!" A man's voice cracked across the waterand echoed back from the opposite shore: Ja-son...son...son."Is that you out there?"