One (One Universe)

why there was ever a minute I didn’t want him. I wanted to blend in, wanted to be all alone in my Oneness forever, because that’s what I was used to. There’s no way I can blend in if I’m with Elias because he is so handsome my heart breaks when I look at him.
    My Oneness has always been the only thing I’ve thought about, stressed about, fought against, and now — when I’m standing here with his arms around me — it’s the last thing on my mind.
    His fingers loop around my wrist lightly. This touch is tender and somehow so much more intimate than holding my hand, and I want his fingers to run up my arm and down my back and…
    There are a few low wolf whistles from the crowd of students, and some guy shouts, “Hey, E, who’s your girl?” but they all sound like they’re worlds away because Elias is so close to me, resting his forehead against mine and grinning, even though I’m just a pale, plain girl whose only real superpower is playing the drums louder than anyone can stand.
    Finally, he pulls away.
    “Why did you do that?” I’m trying really hard to look away from him and not let him see my face because I’m pretty sure I look like an idiot, twitchy and half-smiling.
    “It was the only way to get you to stop.”
    “Yeah. Well, next time you kiss me, make sure no one else is watching,” I say.
    As soon as the words come out of my mouth, I regret them. I look at him, expecting him to look hurt. But instead, a slow smile creeps across his face, his shoulders begin to shake, and then he’s laughing.
    “What are you laughing about?” I ask, indignant.
    “You said next time I kiss you.”
    This is not the time to hold anything back, I realize. “Look, I’m just pissed off because you wouldn’t…if we were…”
    “You mean I wouldn’t have kissed you if we were both Normals?”
    I flush when he says “kissed.” A lot. “Yeah,” I say to the ground.
    “That’s ridiculous,” he says.
    “You’re ridiculous,” I huff, even though I can’t hide the smile that has touched my cheeks along with the blush. He touches my arm, and the buzz stops me dead in my tracks, pulls my gaze back up to his.
    “I would be nice to you if we were Normals, yeah… I’m nice to all the new kids ‘cause I’m a nice guy. Especially the transfers because…I know what it’s like. To be an outsider. But I’d never kiss you, Normal or One, unless…”
    I look up at him, and his smile is gentle, and he’s looking at me like I’m a rainbow after a thunderstorm, a breath of fresh air, a promise of hope. Like I’m the best thing ever. And I think he’s probably the best thing ever, too. I try to look him square in the eye, but he’s so tall and so freaking beautiful, and there goes my stupid palpitating heart again. I want to say something, but all I can do is smile.
    He grins and reaches down to weave his fingers with mine. I let him.
    And I know, right then, that he would do anything for me, and that I can trust him. And that right there is my breath of fresh air. If being attached to him is the price of being able to fly — if it is — I may be willing to pay it.
    “I missed seeing you the last couple days,” he says.
    I really can’t get my head around how boldly he says it, like he either knows what my response is going to be or it doesn’t affect him in the least what I say.
    But I know from the way he kissed me three days ago, floating above the cornfields, that he must care what I say. At least a little. I want to stand on my tiptoes and touch his jaw, stare at his eyes some more, check them for reassurance that this is real.
    “I would have called,” he says, “but I don’t have your number. Besides, the first day I could barely get my head off the pillow.”
    “Wait. You were sick, too?”
    “Too? What happened to you?”
    “A lot of heaviness,” I say, rolling my shoulder. “And pain, the aching kind. Mostly in my back.”
    He nods, like he knew what I was going to say. “And fever?”
    “Yeah.”
    “My dad was really worried,” he says.
    “Oh. Well, my mom thought it was…um…you know.”
    He looks at me, puzzled. He has no clue.
    “Uh, a girl thing. I think.”
    “Oh! Right. Right.” His cheeks blaze red. “Sorry.”
    If it were anyone else, I would run from the embarrassment, but I can’t stop looking at him. “Anyway,” I say, “The fever was bad, the end of day one. I think they decided it was the flu. They mostly left me alone.”
    “Wish my