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Prevailing over the asshole.
He sets the helmet on my head, and the breeze transmits the smell of his aftershave toward me.
When footsteps move toward me, my body stills. Ace leans over me, his body heat dancing with mine. I suck in a deep breath—citrus with an overdose of oakmoss reveals a rugged trail of mystery and captivation. I don’t dare move.
“He’s obsessed with horoscopes,”
“For me to hate you, I’d need to feel something—and frankly, I feel nothing for you.”
will learn everything there is to know about you. Your flaws, everything that makes you tick—all your sensitive little buttons. How does that sound?”
“Are you always such an asshole when you first meet someone?”
“Only when it works them up so much.”
“Afraid you’re falling in love with me already?” he jokes, lightening the mood. I scoff. “In your dreams, Blackwell.” He grins. It’s such a rare but heartwarming sight. “Goodnight, Calla.”
I relish my own company—most of the time, I prefer
Ace and I communicate through sticky notes for the remainder of the week.
“What were you going to do?” I ask, furrowing my eyebrows. “Soften the blow, so I could make a joke about you falling for me.” He grins. I roll my eyes. “That’s unfortunate.”
Instead of arresting her, my dad dropped her home in his patrol car with the lights on simply because she requested it.
“Is there a reason?” “I’ve never met someone who’s been able to keep my attention for long enough. I don’t think it’s fair to stick around purely for the sake of it.” Ace shoves his hands in his pockets.
“Do you want me to lie and tell you that the reason I’ve never had a girlfriend is because I’m a conceited asshole?” A suppress a smile. “That certainly would be more believable.”
“It shows that despite their best efforts to forget each other, and despite each other's flaws and failures, they’re still willing to give it another chance. People can’t be modified by ignorance or renunciation,” I explain, mindlessly moving my hands around.
“Yes, they may eventually break up, but they don’t care. It's about their time together. You’ve never had a girlfriend, and it shows.”
I know for a fact we’re not so different, since both of us want power of the most fundamental element. Time.”
sometimes the worst things that we do lead us to the best things that happen to us,”
“If you only read what everyone else does, you can only think what everyone else is thinking,”
My mind occasionally wanders to him… “Occasionally” is the wrong word for the circumstances. “He’s deeply embedded into my thoughts” would be a better way of putting it.
Perhaps they drink for the same reason as I am right now—to anesthetize the pain.
He gazes at me like I’m the stars when all I’ve ever felt before was the darkness that encircles them. He makes me feel insanely sane for the first time in my life. “It already has, Ace.”
“Make me forget,” I say, my voice breaking. “Make me forget about everything. It’s killing me inside.”
“Tell me to stop,” Ace says, leaning into me. Don’t stop. “Stop,” I breathe,
“Mean it, Calla,”
gasp at the subtle contact, craving more. “No, I can’t.”
“Why does your mouth have to do that thing again, where it ruins everything?”
“Stay the fuck away from me.” It takes
I finally drift off, but I wish I didn’t, because my dreams are filled with everything I’m endeavoring to escape. Everything that’s him.
“Not everything is defined by fate, and fate is almost always cruel and unfair.”
“It will be just Zach and me,” she adds. “I’m going,” Ace interrupts. “But you just said you’re—” Zach begins. Ace glares at him. “I’m going to the carnival.”
“What are you doing, Ace?” I hiss with my back against the coolness of the metal. “Are you trying to piss me off? Make me jealous?” he asks. “What?” I ask, perplexed. Make him jealous? “What are you talking about?” “You and Nate?” he growls, hurling goosebumps up my arms. “We’re just friends.” It’s not any of Ace’s business. His jaw clenches. “You know, like you and me,” I say, adding fuel to the fire. His eyebrows furrow together, and his eyes darken before he closes them—slowing his breathing.
“Are we just friends?”
“If we’re just friends, then why do you act like this when I touch you?”
Before I have the chance, he takes my hand, placing it on his chest. “Calla, if we are just fucking friends, then why do I feel like this every time I’m around you?”
“I don’t understand…” “Fuck,” he curses. “I can’t stay away from you. I’ve tried, but I fucking can’t. Give me a chance to prove myself.” “What, like a friend?” I scoff.
“No, Calla. Like you and me. I’m done playing these games.” “I don’t believe you,” I utter, the words coming out in a whisper. “Then let me change your mind.”
I’ve always been fascinated with the world above us, with the galaxies and stars. I can watch them for hours.
glance up to Ace, and he’s already watching me,
“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice dry. “Making sure that idiot—” he nods toward Nate, who’s glaring at us through the window “—knows you’re off-limits,” Ace says, smiling.
The road is long but narrow and stretches for miles. If I put my window down all the way, it’ll feel like I’m flying.
“How do you always say the right things?” I sigh, my own lips twisting up at the corners. Ace shrugs. “Maybe it’s because I’ve done all the wrong things.”
“Living in the past only fucks up the present,”
“I can’t fucking lose you.” His voice fills with an emotion that I haven’t heard before from him. Vulnerability? “I’m not going anywhere, Ace,”
“I love hearing you.”
“Don’t let it get to your head, Ace.” “Too late, love.”
“Would you like it if I told you that us being here was written in the stars?” he asks. “Hmm, yes. I would like to believe in something.” “You and me, we’re written in the stars, love.”
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I want you to know that. Do you understand?”
“I think you’re the best thing that I could’ve found,” I say. I gnaw on my bottom lip, dropping my gaze.
