Glitch

saying.
    He looked at me, uncertain of my reaction. His voice
    became distant suddenly. Detached. “I saw in a vision right
    before you returned to the Academy— I saw you and Max
    kissing. That’s why I haven’t said anything about how I feel.
    But the more time I spend with you, and after we kissed the
    other night, I just couldn’t not tell you.”
    “I do feel strongly for Max,” I said slowly. Adrien winced,
    so I hurried on. “But not in the way you think.” I sat up.
    “He was the fi rst one who was there for me when I came
    back and was so scared and alone. But he always wanted
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    something from me.” I paused. “More than I could give
    him. I didn’t know why. I only realized recently, and that’s
    why he and I got in a fi ght.”
    “You don’t have to explain to me,” he said quickly, shift-
    ing to get up and leave.
    “Adrien.” I grabbed his arm to stop him. “The fi ght was
    about you. Because I told him of what I feel for you. Of
    what I think I’ve been feeling for a long time now but didn’t
    know how to put into words. I . . .” My voice trembled as I
    fi nally said it. “As much as Max means to me, I have stron-
    ger feelings for you. I don’t really even understand them,
    they’re so intense.”
    His face froze and he sank slowly back down to sit on the
    bed. “You do?” His voice was barely audible.
    I nodded and watched the uncertainty in his face slowly
    turn to hope like an unfurling bloom.
    “I think—” I started in a whisper, then took a confused
    breath. I looked away and felt a rush of memories. The con-
    fusion I’d felt at how Adrien’s touch made me feel, the elec-
    tricity between us. But it was more than that. It was the
    times we’d spent talking. The connection I felt to him that
    was unlike anything I felt for anyone else in the world—
    the way he seemed to put all my feelings into words, the
    way he felt about life, his hopes and dreams, the way he’d
    opened up a new world for me. Being with him made me
    want to make my own dreams, discover my own path. I was
    my best self when I was with him. I looked back up, the
    realization fl ooding me like the brightest silver of happiness.
    “The way you describe it— it’s just how I feel. It’s love ,”
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    I said with awe, laughing with the joy of the discovery.
    I couldn’t believe one day could hold such wildly opposite
    emotions from one moment to the next. “I love you , Adrien.”
    He blinked rapidly, stunned. “Say it again,” he whispered.
    I laughed and pulled him close. “I love you,” I whispered
    in his ear. Then he grabbed me in his arms, squeezing me in
    a tight hug one second and then kissing me like he could
    never get enough the next.
    I laughed at his genuine, complete joy and kissed him
    back. We kissed for a long time, clutching each other clum-
    sily at fi rst, blinded by euphoria.
    Tomorrow, I’d think about all our problems tomorrow.
    Right now there was only this, only him.
    The fl ying sensation came again but it was like we were
    soaring together— like I couldn’t tell where my body ended
    and his began. He fi nally pulled back, still cupping my face
    in his hands.
    He laughed. “Zo, look up.”
    I did and saw my pillow levitating and spinning above
    our heads. I gasped in wonder and it fell, plopping on my
    head. Adrien just laughed and kissed me again.
    “I can barely cracking believe this is happening,” he said.
    “I mean, I’d seen you in my visions. I knew you were im-
    portant to the Rez, but I hadn’t seen how important you’d
    become to me. My life’s been so hard for so long— and the
    world is too cracked to ever believe I’d get to be this happy.”
    He laughed, his eyes shining.
    His words made my insides light up.
    He pulled back a moment, staring at me as if convincing
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    himself that I was actually there, in his arms. “I had that vi-
    sion of you and Max and I thought I’d lost you.” His words
    came out in a rush. And then you looked at me like I was
    no one, or worse, someone to fear. Just when I thought I’d
    made peace with the fact you’d forgotten me forever, I’d
    spot some glimmer of recognition, some little hint that
    maybe . . .” There was water brimming at the edges of his
    eyes, and the pain he’d felt poured over into me. I wanted to
    take it away. I never wanted him to feel that way again.
    I cut him off with a soft kiss.
    “This is real,” I fi