He couldn’t do this any more; couldn’t take the never-ending disappointment. If he’d never seen another like himself in all these years, in a country as populated as Mexico, then it was time he finally faced the truth – there were no others. No half-angel girl was going to miraculously appear to ease his loneliness, no matter how strongly he thought he sensed her. She didn’t exist. She’d only been a figment of his imagination all this time; a beautiful phantom. By some bitter joke of nature he was alone – the only one of his kind – and it was time to just accept that and try to get on with the rest of his life, whatever that might bring.

The decision felt right. It also felt like something had just been ripped out of his chest, leaving a jagged hole that would never be filled. Seb lay on the soft grass, gazing upwards as his angel self flew, so effortlessly agile against the stars. And he knew that what he’d been thinking wasn’t quite true – as long as he had this other part of himself, he would never be completely alone.

It only felt that way.

Chapter One

THE SCISSORS WERE COLD AGAINST my neck.

I stood in the bathroom of our motel room with my eyes shut, trying not to notice how much I hated the sound of each metallic snip, or the odd, awful feeling of lightness that was slowly spreading its way across my head. Even though I knew how much we needed to do this – of course I did; it had been my idea in the first place – that didn’t mean I had to enjoy it. Alex wasn’t enjoying it much, either. In fact, he probably hated this part most of all. But when I’d brought up the idea earlier that afternoon, he admitted he’d been thinking the same thing – and now the scissors didn’t hesitate as he worked them. If I hadn’t suggested this, he would have.

It was weird, though...both of us so eager to do something that neither of us actually wanted.

I heard Alex put the scissors down on the bathroom counter. “Okay, I think I’m done.” He sounded uncertain. Dreading what I was about to see, I opened my eyes and stared at myself in the mirror.

My once-long hair was now short. Very short. I don’t even know how to describe it. Sort of a pixie cut, maybe, if the pixies had gone berserk with the scissors. And more than that, it was no longer blonde – it was a deep reddish-gold that made me think of autumn and bonfires. I’d thought it might go better with my skin tone than brown, but now...I swallowed. In the mirror, my green eyes were wide and unsure.

I looked nothing like myself.

Alex was staring, too. “Wow,” he said. “That...makes a big difference.”