Free Waking by Alyxandra Harvey-Fitzhenry Page B

happening.
    They looked at each other. As the pause lengthened, Beauty grew flustered. She tried to think of a question to ask to get him talking. She wasn’t going to be that shy girl who didn’t have anything to say and didn’t care. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind and hoped it wasn’t totally lame. “I didn’t know you had a tattoo.”
    He glanced down at the black design that poked out from under his left sleeve. “Yeah, my brother took me before school started. Mom was not pleased.”
    â€œCan I see it?” She tilted her head and wanted to cheer herself for her boldness. She wanted to ask Luna if all of her clothes were magic or if it was maybe just the hair dye. Poe lifted up his sleeve and showed the tribal armband on his sleekly muscled arm. Beauty wasn’t quite ready to reach over and touch it, but she really wanted to.
    â€œCool,” she said instead. “Did it hurt?”
    â€œHurt like hell,” he admitted. “I know it’s not macho for me to admit this, but it was the sound of the needle that really creeped me out. It was worse than being at the dentist.”
    She smiled. “Well, it looks good.” Her words seemed to hang in the air. She blushed and tried to find something else to say to cover up the echo. Poe let his sleeve drop and looked at her.
    â€œI like your ring,” he said, taking her hand and brushing his thumb over it. His palm was warm against hers. Her stomach did a somersault but in a good way.
    â€œDo you know we’ve been going to the same school practically since birth and I don’t really know you?” he asked, still holding her hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
    â€œNot much to know, really,” she said. “You’ve heard the rumors.”
    He looked her right in the eye and nodded. She liked that he didn’t squirm or pretend not to know what she meant.
    â€œPeople talk too much,” he said.
    â€œI’d have to agree.”
    â€œWant to talk about it?”
    â€œNot really,” she said honestly. Something had bloomed today, some little bit of healing, but she wasn’t ready to explain it. She was glad Luna knew and it was enough for now.
    He nodded. “Okay. Do you have a boyfriend?”
    â€œNo.” She didn’t want to ask if he had a girlfriend, afraid to ruin the moment, but she did. “You?”
    He shook his head. “No boyfriend.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I meant girlfriend.”
    â€œOh.” His eyes twinkled. “Nope. What’s your favorite movie?”
    She blinked at the rapid change of topic. “I don’t know, The Last of the Mohicans , maybe.”
    â€œMine’s The Thing . Okay, your turn.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “My turn for what?”
    â€œYour turn in the question game. Ask me something.”
    She tapped the fingers of her free hand on the floor as she considered. She settled for something easy to start with. “Favorite band?”
    Favorite band?”
    He nodded. “Good choice, good choice. I’d have to say The Tea Party and Radiohead. You?”
    â€œThe Grapes of Wrath.”
    â€œFavorite writer?”
    â€œJane Austen.”
    He lifted one eyebrow. “I’ll have to remember that.”
    â€œWhat about you?”
    â€œNot Edgar Allan Poe, much to everyone’s surprise.”
    She chuckled. “I’ll remember that too.”
    â€œFavorite song?”
    She thought about all of the nights she’d spent on her porch listening to him practice old songs. “The Doors, ‘Waiting for the Sun.’”
    He leaned closer to her.
    â€œOne last question,” he said.
    â€œOkay.” She tried not to show her disappointment. She could easily sit here all night with him. “What?”
    â€œCan I kiss you?”
    She just stared at him for a moment. She resisted the urge to shake her head to make sure