“No, I’m not going to forget.” He was still touching her arm, just barely. Skin brushing her skin. “This witchy, weird, terrifying girl appears in my life. I want to know more about her. About you.”

A twitch in her lips. “Didn’t your mother warn you about witches?”

This time he full-on grinned and it was beautiful. It was the moon slipping out from behind the clouds. Bright and enchanting. Belle’s chest flushed, and her heart felt like it was on a rickety roller coaster. Was the ground sloping beneath her? “My mother doesn’t talk about witches,” Raven said. “But I have this friend, and I think you’d really like her. Her name is Poppy, and she’s been looking for a witch. We’ve been looking for a witch since we were little kids, and it started as a game but… I think we’ve been looking for you.”

Oh, that was it. The exact worst thing to say to her, because now she was swooning, and swooning led to danger. It led to hundred-year curses and girls falling asleep while boys crawled over them, stealing kisses. Sometimes, when she finished her homework early, Belle slipped into the library and pored over the fairy tales Edwin had bought for her, seeking unusual details. How many princes had kissed Sleeping Beauty without waking her? How many lips pressed against hers without her knowing? And since she didn’t know, would all of them stop at kissing? It was the kind of question Edwin would be able to answer, but she didn’t want to ask him.

She was afraid of what he’d tell her.

“Speaking of fairy tales, what do you think of ‘Sleeping Beauty’?” Belle asked Raven, a quick test. An easy one. Raven would say the wrong thing, and all these soft, sweet feelings would be replaced with anger. Then she would be safe again. “It’s so romantic, isn’t it? Waking your true love with a kiss?”

“I think kissing unconscious girls is demented. So is trapping them in a castle until they fall in love. And what’s with all these princesses just sitting around, waiting to be rescued? Tie your sheets together, girls. Rescue yourselves.”

A laugh burst from Belle’s lips. It was so unexpected, so joyful, she couldn’t do anything to tamp it down. Within seconds they were both laughing under the bleachers, and they might’ve stayed there forever if the bell hadn’t rung, lancing through their gaiety like a blade through skin.

“Lunch is over,” Raven said, shaking his head in chagrin. “Too bad. I kind of wanted to see Landon and his friends checking their sandwiches for poison.” He guided Belle from the darkness. When they stepped into the light, he let go of her arm. “Stay here a minute. Do you mind?”

“Being late for math? Gee, no, I couldn’t.” A pause. “Take your time.”