His tie whipped over his shoulder in the wind and he tugged it back into place. What happened early this morning had been… a gift. Something he’d never dared picture for himself. Kissing a girl he really, really liked? He’d barely slept once he got back to his room, his mind turning over what had happened in brilliant color.

Then Jaya had texted him an hour ago, just before their first class, to ask if he’d meet her somewhere to talk. He’d suggested going together, but she said she had some things to do. She probably wanted to discuss the logistics of their… of them. Grey knew his days were limited; his eighteenth birthday was a month away. But the idea of spending the remaining weeks with someone he really cared about felt… It felt indescribable. It felt like the universe was finally, finally letting him have a sliver of happiness. And a minuscule part of him, one that he was too afraid of fully tuning in to, wondered if the universe might give him a pass on the curse, too. What if his life didn’t end on his eighteenth birthday? What if Jaya was a signal of good things to come? Maybe it was just wishful thinking. But it was the first time in a long time Grey felt anything close to optimistic.

Jaya walked out onto the plateau, breathing hard, and Grey walked forward, smiling. “Hey.”

She didn’t smile back. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her hair wasn’t nearly as neatly done as it usually was. “Hello, Grey.”

He frowned, concerned. “Are you okay?”

Jaya huddled into her coat; it was zipped up to her throat, as usual, whereas Grey’s was unzipped. “Thank you for meeting me here.”

Grey studied her expression, but it was hard to read. “Sure.” He didn’t say anything else; he could sense that she needed the time to gather her thoughts. Grey’s palms felt coated with ice.

Jaya walked a few steps away and leaned against a giant granite boulder. There was more space between them now. He turned slowly to face her. “Grey…” She swallowed, looked away, looked back at him. “Grey, what happened early this morning can’t happen again.”

His stomach dropped, as if he were falling from a very great height. “You… you changed your mind? About me?”

She flinched as if his words had a physical force. “No—I—I can’t…” Taking a deep breath, Jaya spoke in a more controlled voice. “We can’t be together.”

“Why not?” he heard himself ask, in a voice that was rough as the rock they stood on.

Jaya

Why not? There had never been a harder question in the history of the universe. And there had never been a simpler one.