ORION: I love you.

EDEN: I don’t remember anyone ever saying that to me before.

ORION: I’ll say it to you every day for the rest of my life. I wish there was a better word, though. The word love doesn’t seem big enough.

EDEN: We’ll have to invent a new language, then. With a word that’s just ours.

I know what comes next because it’s written into the script, but it still takes my breath away when Cole reaches for me and pulls me into a kiss.

My head starts to swim and I hear the musical tinkle of wind chimes. Goose bumps pop up all along my arms. I’m afraid, and I start to tremble.

I know that if I open my eyes, I’ll be lost in remembering. And I’ll see stars.

Not my stars, though.

Cole’s stars.

The grass. That night.

I’ll be lost in that other world. Make believe.

Or memory.

So I squeeze my eyes tight and try to focus on what I know is real. The hard stage floor underneath me. The quiet buzz of the stage lights.

Cole’s lips.

I let him be my anchor. He keeps me close to shore.

When the feeling fades, I open my eyes and we go on with the scene. And I don’t get lost again. I stay grounded. Present.

Rehearsal runs later than usual. It’s almost eleven o’clock when Willa calls it a night. She asks Jude and Cole to stay and help her get set up for tomorrow. We’ll be working new scenes, and she needs help bringing some set pieces up from the shop.

Cole says he’ll find me later, and I nod, because I know we need to talk. Even if I’m dreading it. Then Lex grabs my hand. “Come on,” he whispers. “I’ve got a surprise for you.” We step outside, and I glance up toward the sky. It’s been threatening rain all evening, but it hasn’t started yet. “Come on,” Lex pleads. “Please?” So I let him pull me toward the farmhouse, around back to the great lawn where we can see the ocean spread out below Whisper Cove.

We settle onto the thick, soft grass. The hugeness of the lawn makes me feel tiny. The strangeness of everything and the gorgeous sparkle of waves in the moonlight. The dancing glow of the lighthouse beacon. The memory of last night. How that lighthouse wasn’t there.

It all makes me dizzy.

Lex gives me a mischievous grin as he pulls a bottle of wine out of his backpack.

“Where’d you get that?” I demand.

“One of the other guys had it stashed under his bunk.”

“You stole it.” I’m pretending to be shocked, but Lex just laughs and unscrews the cap.