Free It's a Love Thing by Cindy C Bennett

clumsy, and it was the greatest moment of my
life, despite our bumping noses.
    "How did you know that kissing you was
on my bucket list?" she said softly when I pulled away.
    "I hoped, I guess." And I kissed her
again. This kiss was much better. I held her close, and buried my
hands in her soft auburn hair.
    She sighed. "How am I going to survive
without you, Pete?" Her soft hand caressed my cheek. "Did you know
I should have been done with my assignment a month ago?" I shook my
head. "I told them you were a slow learner so they'd let me keep
coming." She blushed. "Are you mad?"
    "Nothing that another kiss wouldn't
fix," I teased.
    This kiss was even better than the
last one. Practice does make perfect.
    "So I'm guessing that the assignment
will end soon?"
    "Tomorrow will be my last day, and I
had to beg for that."
    Even though I'd felt the end rapidly
approaching, I still had a hard time with the news.
    "Let's not think about it, Pete. Let's
enjoy this last little bit." She stretched up and kissed me again.
When it ended, way too soon in my opinion, we rode the bikes back
to the house and put them away.
    "My parents are home. Do you want to
go somewhere else?"
    "No. Meeting the family of one of my
assignments is on my list. I never get to meet them. I see them all
the time, but they never speak to me or me to them, of course.
"
    "We'll need to come up with a cover
story. I don't think 'Hey mom and dad. Meet my faery’ will go over
very well."
    She giggled. "How about telling them
I'm here visiting a friend for the summer and this is my last day
before I go home? I don't really want to lie to them."
    I nodded, swallowing the lump in my
throat. I didn't want to think about midnight.
    We walked in the house and
both my parents stopped dead and turned to stare at us. Smooth, parents, real smooth.
    "Mom, dad, I'd like you to meet my
friend Tink. Tink these are my parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Pancerella."
    My mother rushed poor Tink and
practically tackled her in a hug. "Hello, Tink, and please, call us
Peter and Connie. It's so nice to meet you. Won't you come in?" Not
waiting for an answer, my mom escorted her to the living room
couch. They sat and mom began with the questions. Tink was on her
game. She answered each one as vaguely as possible without lying.
Quite impressive to watch, really.
    "So you are going home tomorrow,
then?" I think mom was as sad as I was. "Well, in this day and age,
what's a little distance between friends? You can Facebook each
other, and maybe we'll upgrade our computer so we can have Skype.
Wouldn't that be nice, Pete?"
    "That would be awesome,
mom." I wonder if faeries use
Skype?
    Mom talked Tink's ear off during
dinner too. She spilled all the family secrets, actually they were
my secrets, much to my chagrin.
    "Pete wet the bed till he was six, he
has a small bladder."
    ". . . He snorted milk all over the
poor waitress. She started crying."
    ". . . We found Pete in the neighbor's
pool, completely naked."
    ". . . She punched Pete square in the
nose and broke it, but to be fair, she was a big
four-year-old."
    ". . . And then Pete threw-up on his
teacher."
    " . . . Pete's swim trunks dropped to
his ankles right there on the beach in the middle of July. Remember
that, Pete?"
    "Yes, mom. It happened last summer, of
course I remember it. Can we stop with the true confessions
now?"
    "Sorry, dear. I didn't mean to
embarrass you." Thankfully my grandmother called and needed mom's
help with her medicine bottles. She left as dad began
cleaning.
    Tink jumped and started clearing off
the table. "No. This is your last night here. Go enjoy each other,"
dad said, scooting us out of the kitchen.
    I took Tink by the hand and we walked
outside onto the patio. The night was clear and balmy. We looked at
the hundreds of stars twinkling in the heavens.
    "Just think, all this started with a
wish," Tink said softly.
    Her words sparked a brilliant idea in
my head. "Which one is the wishing star?"
    "I can't tell you."
    "Tink,