Father turned the mask Vivienne gave me over in his hands, examining it. I stood in front of his desk, resisting the urge to rock back and forth nervously, clad in Vivienne’s borrowed clothes. My lie that I’d been knocked out for the entire afternoon had worked, but not before Father forced me into an extensive medical examination to document the state of my injuries for himself. It was just as I suspected and hoped: No patrol duty for at least another month. I expected him to be more angry about that, given that I’d only just finished recovering from my last major injury, but he’d seen the footage from my helmet up until the point that it broke during my rampage; there was no tangible way what had happened was my fault.

  Honestly, it seemed like Father just didn’t really care about the patrols anymore. It wasn’t just that he hadn’t gotten angry; he’d barely reacted at all. He just sighed and said, “Good work with the monster. I’m glad you made it out.”

  Was it genuine care for me, or something else? I couldn’t tell. As always, the inner workings of Father’s mind were an enigma. I would just have to settle for what I could see on the surface; a perfectly blank poker face. Typical.

  Father grunted, putting the mask back down on his desk. “I suppose you don’t really have any other option right now, given your armour is a pile of scrap metal. I’ll allow it. Take it to R&D to get the camera and microphone fitted, and then you can be on your way. Try to take it easy until you’ve healed; you’ve taken too much time off already.”

  Father seemed almost bored as he said it. I knew it; he didn’t give a crap about the patrols. Then… what the hell was the point of… of everything?

  I didn’t voice that thought, instead just grabbing the mask off of his desk and making for the exit. “Thank you.”

  “Actually… hold on a second.”

  I froze, my hand on the door handle. I could already tell this would be trouble. “Yes, Father?”

  “What can you tell me about the fire power you exhibited during the monster attack?”

  I frowned, turning back around. “What fire power?”

  Father spun his computer monitor around, displaying a video that I recognised as from my helmet camera. In it, I was powering through the body of the monster, shadows and flame emanating from my hands as I ripped things apart. But… I had no memory of that. It must’ve been from when I went berserk, as Vivienne called it.

  A sliver of pain shot through my head, and with it, a memory. I remembered a woman grabbing my arms with fire in her hands and rage in her eyes. But before I could properly capture it, the memory flitted away, and I was left clutching my head with nothing to show for it.

  “Well?” Father insisted.

  “I- I’m sorry, I don’t remember any of that. Everything after I got knocked out is just… blank.”

  Could that really have been me in the video? I supposed it must’ve been. But… fire was so different from any power I’d ever exhibited before. I anxiously ran my tongue over my newly-sharpened canines. What the hell was going on with my body??

  “Do you think you can replicate it?”

  “I can try,” I answered, completely unsure if that was true.

  He nodded. “Good.”

  I pulled my sleeves up so that I wouldn’t accidentally incinerate Vivienne’s clothes, and focused. Shadows around the room all danced, wisping up out of the walls and floors and becoming physical, but that wasn’t what I wanted, so I furrowed my brow and pushed further. Fire was hot, right? I tried to imagine some sort of burning heat inside of me, and forced it to the surface. The shadows whipped around, but no fire appeared.

  I dropped my hand, sighing and panting from the exertion. “Sorry, Father. I… I can’t.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “This warrants further testing. Meet me in training room one.”

  Oh boy. This was gonna suck, wasn’t it?

  —

  “Ah! Father, please! Stop!”

  “Get angry, Jordyn! You want me to stop, you make me! Aren’t you furious that I’m doing this to you?”

  No, I wasn’t. I was just scared and hurting and somehow surprised because for some reason it was still always a shock when Father hurt me. Why couldn’t he just be like the normal dads that I saw in movies? Hugging me and patting me on the back and telling me he was proud? Instead, it was electrocution and thumbtacks all over the floor and I was crying and he still wouldn’t stop.

  I tried to curl up to lower my surface area on the floor, but another white-hot zap from the back of my neck made my entire body jerk, and I landed on another field of sharp spikes. I screamed, feeling each and every one pierce my skin and sink in deep from my body weight, the pain exacerbated by my broken ribs. I wanted to go home. I wanted Vivienne. Why did I ever come back here?

  “PLEASE!” I sobbed. “I CAN’T DO IT!”

  From what I could gather, he was trying to make me angry, because, for whatever reason, he thought that was the trigger to unleashing my fire powers. Why did he even care about them? It was so obvious he didn’t care about my patrols, and even if he did, I was doing just fine with only my shadows! This was so pointless.

  I heard Father sigh somewhere behind me, and took that to mean that this torment was finally over. I was too scared to open my eyes and see the devastation of thumbtacks stuck in my body; feeling all several-dozen of them with every minute movement was hellish enough. Vivienne’s clothes had probably been ruined. The thought just made the tears squeeze out harder. Would she be mad?

  “I don’t know what I was expecting, honestly,” Father muttered, something that would’ve sounded like remorse in his tone, if I believed he was capable of that. “You’ve never been the type to get angry.”

  I forced myself to my feet, knowing that the punishment for continuing to wallow would be worse than the pain of standing. Shadows amassed under all the thumbtacks in my skin and I whimpered as they were all pushed out, clattering to the floor and leaving bloody trails on the white tiles.

  “Go home and rest, Jordyn. We’ll retry this once you’ve healed a bit. Maybe take a…” He glanced up and down my shaking form. “A different approach. In the meantime-” He pulled another one of those odd little boxes out of his pocket. “-plant this at the Godling’s prison. This is the last one.”

  I nodded, sniffling back the last of my tears, and limped over on bloody feet. The last one. That sounded like a promise, but of what, I didn’t know.

  But, that was par for the course, wasn’t it?

  Father handed it over and, quite unexpectedly, put his hand on my shoulder and gently squeezed. My whole body flooded with warmth, just the way it always did when he gave me a rare soft touch, but I still froze in fear.

  “I know I’m hard on you, Jordyn, but it’s only because I want to see you reach your full potential. You’ve done good with this job. We’ll be moving onto the next phase once you heal. I’ll be sure to keep you updated.”

  I looked up, meeting his eyes. Father smiled, and the ice keeping me in place cracked. I leaned forward, hugging him around his middle, breathing in that old scent I barely remembered from my early rehabilitation days.

  “Thanks, dad.”

  He didn’t hug me back, instead just patting me lightly on the shoulder. That was okay. It was enough. Enough to tell that, despite everything, despite the horrible way he treated me most of the time, he really did still care about me. Maybe I didn’t want to keep living under his shadow, but… I didn’t want to lose him completely, either.

  No matter what the truth about me was, he would always be my father.

  —

  Andreas watched as his weapon limped out of the front door of the precinct, face hidden by that mask the other hero had given her, bloody clothes hidden in a duffel bag and replaced by facility standards. Today, she would be planting the last bomb at the door of the Godling’s prison. Andreas would be able to make his move at his leisure. He’d waited his whole life for his wish; another month to ensure Jordyn was in fighting form in case something went wrong wasn’t an issue.

  The more he considered it, the more it seemed like a waste to dispose of her once her purpose had been fulfilled. Strong, loyal soldiers like her were hard to come by, especially now after that anomaly with the fire. Yes, he was currently losing sway over her to the friendship of the Union heroes, but that would hardly matter once all was said and done. Jordyn would remain at his side once he stood above all, because she would have no other option. Perhaps, if the final phase of the plan went well, he would even show mercy to her friends. They would make for good bargaining chips to keep her in line, and companionship was good for morale. It wasn’t like he was planning to go scorched earth, after all. Things would just be a little… different.

  —

  I gasped awake, clutching my chest as if that would stop my heart from bursting out of me in a violent spray of blood and bone. That was the fifth dream in a row – every single sleep since I’d come home from reporting to Father – where I’d been face to face with the woman who looked exactly like me, the one with the fire. Every time I woke from one, I retained just a little bit more. I remembered part of our conversation this time, but I still didn’t know who she was.

  Was she me? Well, not me me, but… the old me? The one from before the accident? Father said I’d been injured by a monster, and the woman said that she’d been killed by one. Maybe she was the person I used to be, somehow separated from me and trapped in that place. Maybe… I, or… we really did die in that accident. Her soul was taken from our body by the Godling, and I came in from… somewhere to take her place once her body had been revived. Or maybe that was thinking too deeply about it. After all, for all I knew that dream was just a weird side-effect of being almost-killed. It could mean nothing.

  Still, I didn’t want to throw away the idea that I’d been given a huge clue about who I used to be. My past was important. I wanted to know the woman I was.

  But, that was a question for when I was more awake and had some food in my belly. Besides, there were… other things on my mind recently. It was hard to focus on existential questions of the self when my entire being was filled with yearning for a beautiful girl. My past would always be there, but Vivienne only visited on certain days; days like today.

  I got out of bed and tucked in the teddy bear Brianna had given me to cuddle at night, before putting on my mask and strolling out of my dorm, humming to myself. I’d spoken to Vivienne once since the night we fell asleep in each other’s arms; the night where I almost kissed her. I handed over the borrowed clothes with a profuse apology for the bloodstains after returning to the Union. Instead of getting mad at me for ruining them, she just asked how it happened. When I told her, her face scrunched up and she gently hugged me, and said, “don’t go back to him again.” It was hard to say no.

  She was gonna be here later, and this time, I didn’t want to miss my chance to kiss her. But, what did I really know about kissing? I didn’t want to mess anything up. What I needed was advice from an expert. So, my next stop after breakfast was Brianna’s dorm.

  I quickly scarfed down a bowl of Fruit Loops (which were delicious, by the way. I didn’t know how I ever survived without them at the facility), showered, and made my way over to Brianna’s.

  It took about a minute for her to come to the door after I knocked. She looked bleary, like she’d just woken up.

  “Yes?”

  “Hey, Brea.”

  She frowned. “Jordyn? What time is it?”

  “Uhh, a little past 9am?”

  She blinked. “Huh. Must’ve slept through my alarm. What’s up? You wanna come in?”

  “Sure.”

  She moved out of the way and I immediately beelined for her bed, flopping down on it. My nerves had been steadily rising since I woke up, and they weren’t gonna stop any time soon. I needed a distraction, or just someone to talk to.

  Brianna joined me on the bed. “So, what’s got you coming to me first thing in the morning?”

  “I wanna kiss Vivienne,” I blurted, forcing it out before I could change my mind.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Brianna hummed. “Good choice, she’s good at it. Are we talking casually or romantically?”

  I didn’t really know how to put it into words, but what I felt for Vivienne was different from what I felt for Brianna. With her, it was a calm, pleasant safety. I knew I could always count on her to be my friend and hang out with me. But with Vivienne, it was like my whole body was on fire when I was near her. It wasn’t just physical attraction or the familiarity of friendship; it had become something new. Or, maybe it was always like this, and I only just noticed it recently. Either way, I knew I didn’t just want sex from her. I wanted what I saw in those movies and shows Steve had shown me.

  “R-romance,” I answered.

  Brianna sucked in a breath, thinking for a moment. “Well, I’m really not the expert on that stuff. But, I guess just talk to her? Like I mentioned, she’s a romantic. If you tell her honestly how you feel, she’ll eat that shit up. Top it off with a kiss and you’ll be golden.”

  “But what if… she doesn’t feel the same? I don’t want to kiss her if she doesn’t want it back.”

  “Y’know, I don’t think you really need to worry about that. She talks about you a lot. Besides, I know for a fact she’s a sucker for the surprise kiss. Even if she says no, the worst that could come of it would be you two still just being friends. It’s not like she’d run away from you for simple romantic desire. Seriously, you’ve got nothing to worry about, Jean Shorts.”

  “You really think so?”

  “Yup. Just don’t get so caught up with each other that you forget about little old me.”

  I laughed, rolling over and wrapping Brianna in a hug. “I could never forget about you.”

  Brianna chuckled, returning the embrace. “I’m definitely gonna miss the sex, though.” She sighed wistfully, though I could tell it was mostly for show.

  I poked my head up, looking at her. “Why wouldn’t we be able to have sex anymore?”

  “It is generally considered rude to have sex with other people when you’re in a relationship.”

  I frowned. “Well… Vivienne already has sex with you. I have sex with you. If Vivienne and I are together, couldn’t we still both have sex with you?”

  “Huh,” Brianna said. “Good point. You’d probably have to talk with her about it, but she has always been pretty loose about monogamy, from what I remember from her earlier relationships. She once dated a person who had three other partners.”

  “Wow,” I replied. “That must’ve been complicated.”

  Brianna barked a laugh. “Yeah! I still remember the stories she would tell me. Her partner was dating all of them, but they weren’t all dating each other, and boy was there some drama between the members who didn’t like each other.”

  I laughed along, and Brianna continued telling me stories about Vivienne’s varied love life. Apparently, she and Brianna had joined the Union together at 16, meeting and befriending the at-the-time 18 year old Madeline and Rosalyn. From the sounds of it, the two of them had been friends since highschool. It made me a little envious, to be honest. I wished I could’ve experienced a childhood like that, or at least remembered the one that I had. Did I make friends in highschool too? Was I a good, diligent student like Vivienne and Brianna, or did I slack off and fool around like the people in her stories? Either way, I just wished I knew.

  “I hope I remember someday,” I said after a period of comfortable silence.

  “Remember what?” Brianna asked, as if it wasn’t obvious.

  “Everything. I wish I had stories I could tell you, too. From… from when I was young.”

  Brianna went quiet. She didn’t say anything for the longest time, and when I sat up to get a look, her face was twisted with sadness. She reached out and took my hand.

  “Y-yeah,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “That… that would be nice.”

  Why did it always feel like I was the only one in the dark?

  —

  Vivienne teleported into Madeline’s living room and was immediately accosted by the raging sound of distorted guitar tones and Maddie’s heart-and-soul singing.

  “I GOT YOUR PICTURE, I’M COMING WITH YA, DEAR MARIA COUNT ME IN!”

  She grinned at the sight of her friend strumming away at her guitar, belting her heart out. Viv hadn’t seen Maddie this energetic and bright since… Well, she didn’t know exactly, but it had been years.

  Maddie noticed Viv’s presence, and her face lit up. She finished up the last bit of the song, letting her final chord trail off into the white noise of the amp, before moving over to turn it off.

  “Viv, hey! Didn’t know you were coming around today.”

  She put her guitar down on the couch and approached, wrapping Vivienne in a hug that she gratefully returned.

  “Yeah, I just wanted to come and see how you were,” Viv said. “Speaking of which, you look good! What’s got you so cheery?”

  Maddie shrugged, walking over to the kitchen and getting herself a glass of water. “I don’t know, I’ve just been feeling good lately. I’ve got more energy, I’m motivated to do stuff, I’m drinking less. I dunno what it was. It’s not like I’ve stopped thinking about Rosie as much. It just… feels like I’m finally getting out of this slump, y’know? Lord knows it’s been a long time coming.”

  Viv laughed, filled with elation at finally seeing a spark of the person she befriended all those years ago. “Well, whatever it is, I hope it stays that way.”

  Maddie smiled, humming to herself. After a moment, she spoke again. “Do you play any instruments? I’m thinking about starting a band. Not like anything serious, probably just covers and stuff. For fun, y’know?”

  Vivienne shook her head. “No, I’ve never gotten the hang of any. I think Brea plays piano, though.”

  Maddie tilted her head. “Eh, maybe I could work that in. I’m thinking more along the lines of classic pop-punk stuff, though. Do you think Jordyn plays anything? Oh- wait, no, right. Somehow I forgot for a moment that she’s only been alive for a year and a half.”

  Vivienne’s stomach flipped at the mention of Jordyn’s name. In truth, Viv’s coming here hadn’t been entirely for Maddie’s sake. She needed some advice.

  “Uh, could I… ask you something?”

  Maddie raised an eyebrow, coming back around into the living room and taking a seat on the couch, moving her guitar out of the way. “Sure, what’s up?”

  Vivienne sat down next to her, nervously rubbing her legs. “Okay, so… basically, I, uh… I think I might have a thing for Jordyn and I don’t know how it happened or what I should do about it.” She blurted it all out in one quick breath, partially hoping it was too fast for Maddie to parse.

  Maddie grinned, so clearly Vivienne was out of luck. “I’m gonna be honest, Viv, but that is the least shocking thing I think I’ve ever heard.”

  Vivienne blinked. “What?! No, this is, like, at least the fifth most shocking thing, surely! It just came out of nowhere and now I don’t know what to do!”

  “Did it really come out of nowhere? Or have you actually been thirsting after her for a while and only just realised it?”

  “I-” Vivienne cut herself off, because Maddie actually made a good point there. From pretty much the first day they met, Vivienne had been drawn to Jordyn. It was mostly because of her greek-statue muscles at first, but she couldn’t lie and pretend that the rest of the feelings had only appeared recently. “But… I don’t…”

  “You’re drawn to neediness, Viv,” Maddie explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Why do you think you’ve stuck by me all this time?”

  Viv frowned. “B-because it was the right thing to do, and you’re my friend?”

  Maddie wagged a finger. “Because you can’t help but help people. It’s your favourite thing in the world. So when Jordyn came waddling along like the ugly duckling, alone and abused and out of her depth, you took her under your wing with no hesitation. It’s not shocking that more… romantic feelings might have bloomed from that. Especially after seeing the way she performed at the attack last week. The only thing you’re drawn to more than neediness is selflessness. It’s why you’ve always been my friend but never had a thing for me; cuz I’m a selfish bitch.”

  Vivienne couldn’t help but laugh at the sudden tone shift. “Oh come on, you’re not that bad.”

  “Hey, I don’t remember ever helping your drunk ass out of a puddle of vomit and getting you into bed before cleaning it all up, but I can’t count the amount of times you’ve done stuff like that for me. Compared to you, I suck.”

  “Well, that’s just because I’ve never drank myself into a stupor, snowball.”

  Maddie shrugged. “Eh. My point stands. You like that Jordyn threw herself into danger to save those people on the top floor. You like that she was capable enough to kill the monster while everyone else was at a safe distance. But you also like that she desperately needs companionship, because you love being the one to provide it to her. Like I said; least shocking thing in the world.”

  Viv sighed, conceding the point. “Well, what am I supposed to do about it? It’s not like a relationship could work between us right now. She barely knows anything about… well, anything! It would feel… predatory. And, I don’t want her to fall into one with me just because she thinks she owes me for helping her, either.”

  “You think being in a relationship would be predatory, but you think it’s fine that she’s been fucking around with Brianna since she joined the Union?”

  “Well, that- that’s different.”

  Maddie laughed. “How is it different?! Just because there’s no strings attached? The way I see it, regardless of Jordyn’s chronological age, physically and mentally, she is a grown adult. I have seen her exhibit the intellect of a grown adult. She’s just naive about stuff because she’s never had a chance to learn it. But, how’s she gonna learn if no one teaches her?”

  “I… I see your point,” Vivienne acknowledged. “It’s still just… I’m nervous about it. I don’t want to accidentally hurt her. Her situation’s… sensitive, y’know?”

  “You’re not a predator, Vivienne,” Maddie said. “You just have a crush. And besides, if it ever got to a point where it was dangerous for one of you, all of your friends would tell you. Do you really think Brianna wouldn’t be the first person to get up your ass if you started being a creep?”

  Vivienne laughed sullenly, looking down at the floor. “Yeah, true. It’s just…” She rubbed her face. “Ugh. I don’t know.”

  Maddie put an arm around her shoulders and Viv leaned into it. “All I can say is, If you like her; if you wanna be with her, then don’t waste your chance. No one’s promised tomorrow.”

  Something about that struck a chord in Vivienne. Maddie was right. And, well… She’d know, wouldn’t she? If she and Rosie hadn’t gotten married when they were eighteen, they might’ve waited too long. And instead of three married years of bliss before Rosie’s death, they might have gotten nothing. No one was promised tomorrow. Vivienne wasn’t going to waste her chance.

  She stood up. “You’re absolutely right.”

  “I usually am,” Maddie replied.

  “I’m gonna… I’m gonna ask her out. Tonight.”

  Maddie clicked her tongue. “Go get ‘er, tiger.”

  —

  I stared at myself in the mirror, studying every detail of my reflection. The way my eyebrows weren’t neat and even like the girls’ in the movies, instead they were thick and surrounded by stray hairs. My nose; flat and wide. The scar stretching across my cheek, jagged and gnarled with raised tissue. My lips; thick and scarred from dozens of splits. My hair came down to my eyebrows once again, like how it was before Father first made me cut it. My jawline was soft.

  I wasn’t pretty like people in movies or posters. But… this was my face. It was easy to forget that when most of the time my reflection was just a featureless black helmet. I liked my face. I wondered if the girl who was me before liked it, too. I hoped so, because, while it wasn’t anything special, it was still ours.

  Why did I have to hide it from everyone?

  Why was Father so adamant that no one saw my face? Was this combination of features so horrific that anyone who saw it would immediately be sent into cardiac arrest? No, because that was stupid, and if that was the case, I’d have killed everyone at the facility, myself and Father included. There was… really no good reason I could think of.

  And I was sick of letting him dictate everything I was allowed to do.

  I had no idea what the punishment would be, but if I never went back to the facility, he could never enact it, right? All my stuff was here at the Union. If he wanted to see me, he’d have to come here. And my friends would be here to protect me from any unjust punishment.

  Maybe… maybe they’d agree with him that I deserve it for showing my face. But, if that was the case, I would accept it. I knew I had to be punished when I did bad things; it was just that Father’s rules on what was ‘bad’ didn’t seem to be all that accurate to the real world. If the Union decreed that I deserved a day in the penalisation room, then so be it. I still wanted people to see my face.

  I wanted Vivienne to see my face.

  But… that thought was still scary, so I put my mask back on for now. I could work my way up to it.

  —

  Vivienne arrived at the usual time, bearing all sorts of snacks and drinks that Father had warned would destroy my figure, but that wasn’t going to stop me from enjoying myself. She, Brianna, and I spent the evening gorging ourselves, chatting, and watching movies. Well, it was mostly Vivienne and Brianna chatting; I didn’t really have a lot to talk about, and I was worried that if I opened my mouth too soon, everything was going to come spilling out.

  Throughout it all, Vivienne seemed kind of… nervous? She kept glancing at me before quickly looking away, a slight redness on her cheeks and shakiness in her voice. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking.

  When the night was starting to stretch on into the later hours, Vivienne got up and went to the bathroom, leaving me and Brianna alone. She leaned over to me.

  “So, are you gonna do it?” she asked.

  “I’m… I’m working up to it. It’s scary.”

  She put her arm around my shoulders. “You got this, Jean Shorts. Just be yourself. Tell you what; when she gets back, I’m gonna head off and go to bed, and leave you two lovebirds alone to figure your shit out. Sound good?”

  I swallowed, nodding. Alone with Vivienne. “Y-yeah. I think so.”

  “Good. And you better tell me all about it in the morning, okay?”

  I smiled. “Sure.”

  Vivienne came back in, and Brianna made a big show of stretching and yawning. “Aw man, I don’t think I can stay up tonight. You two have fun, I’m gonna go to bed.”

  I struggled to hold back a laugh at the display. Vivienne frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “Yep, yep. I can barely keep my eyes open. Don’t wanna fall asleep out here, y’know?”

  “Okay,” Vivienne said with a pout. “We’ll miss you!”

  Brianna laughed as she walked to the door. “You’d better!”

  And just like that, Vivienne and I were alone together. Neither of us said anything for a long moment; awkward silence stretching on until I finally hyped myself up enough to speak.

  Just do it just do it just do it just do it JUST DO IT JUST-

  “Vivi, I-”

  “Jordyn, I-”

  We both paused, staring at each other, before bursting into laughter.

  “You- you go first,” Vivienne said quickly, her lips curling up into a small smile.

  Okay. Here goes nothing. Brianna said a surprise kiss was the best way, right?

  “I, um… I have a surprise for you,” I said, trying to keep my voice from trailing off with nerves.

  “Oh?”

  “Y-yeah. Could you… close your eyes?”

  Vivienne raised an eyebrow curiously, but complied. “Okay.” She smiled wider, laughing. “This is exciting.”

  Now that she couldn’t see, I felt safe to take off my mask and put it on the floor. Father would be asleep by now, so I didn’t need to worry about any retaliation until tomorrow. It was time.

  I put my hand on Vivienne’s cheek, and her breath hitched. Her skin was soft. I leaned in.

  The moment our lips touched, it was like fireworks went off in my chest. Vivienne gasped, but she didn’t move away. Instead, it was almost like she’d been expecting it. She leaned into me in turn and reciprocated the kiss, placing a hand on the crook between my neck and my shoulder and gently stroking with her thumb as her mouth moved against mine.

  My entire body deflated, melting against her more with every brush of lips or hint of tongue. Her other hand trailed up my thigh to rest on my hip. I sighed into her mouth, savouring the humid scent of her breath and the taste of sugary drink still lingering from earlier. My other hand came up to properly cradle her face, holding on like I might float away from her if I let go. It was better than I could’ve ever imagined.

  After what seemed like both forever and not long enough at all, Vivienne pulled back. Her eyes were still closed, but her mouth was stretched into the biggest, most elated grin I’d ever seen.

  “Jordyn, that was…” she sighed happily, opening her eyes. Finally, she would get to see what I looked like. My heart pounded in my chest.

  She froze, her eyes going wide. The grin disappeared, replaced with an open-mouthed expression of pure horror. The warmth that had previously been thrumming through my body from the kiss turned to ice in my veins. I didn’t know why or how, but I’d fucked up. Something was terribly, horribly wrong.

  Vivienne’s mouth moved, forming three syllables that rocked through me, shaking my system down to the core.

  “Rosalyn?”