But I’m also starting to wonder if I’ll survive another two weeks at Whisper Cove.

“Okay,” Willa tells us, and she claps her hands to get our attention. “We’re working the scene at Eden’s funeral tonight.” Val is sitting beside me, and I can feel her excitement, because this is her first really big moment. “Eden’s older sister, Anya, finds Orion after the funeral. Everyone else is gone, but he’s still sitting there. And she tries to talk some sense into him.” Willa winks at Val, then turns her eyes toward Cole. “You two ready?”

I’m glad I’m not in this scene. It gives me a chance to watch.

And think.

Cole takes his place in a folding chair onstage, and Val enters from the right. She crosses down to stand beside him. I notice the stubble along Cole’s jawline. He’s wearing the same wrinkled clothes from last night. And his eyes are so dark. Rimmed with black circles. I wonder how long it’s been since he slept.

Days?

Weeks?

Years, maybe.

Probably.

Val puts her hand on his shoulder.

ANYA: You can go home now, Orion. She’s gone.

ORION: What if there was a way to bring her back?

Cole turns his head to look up at Val. The two of them are striking, onstage together. All that beautiful dark hair and intensity.

ANYA: You can’t—

ORION: Maybe I can.

ANYA: That’s not how it works. No matter how much you loved her—

ORION: I more than loved her.

ANYA: Everyone more than loves the people they love.

ORION: Nobody has ever loved anyone the way I love Eden.

ANYA: Even if you could, she wouldn’t be the same.

ORION: That doesn’t scare me.

ANYA: It should.

ORION: I promised her I’d save her.

ANYA: No one can really save anyone else.

ORION: But I promised.

I’m sitting in the first row. Cole isn’t looking at his script now. He’s staring at me, and I get so lost in the bottomless gray of his eyes. And I know he’s lost, too. We can’t breathe. Can’t look away from each other. It’s like we’re holding each other prisoner. Trapped in this moment together.

ANYA: You shouldn’t have promised that. It wasn’t fair.

ORION: But I meant it.

Cole’s voice is so broken. There’s real pain there, and I hurt for him. He drops his head to his hands. And I think, for a second, he’s crying. But his shoulders aren’t moving. He isn’t making any noise. It’s like he’s turned to stone.

And I’m not sure that he’s acting anymore.

I’m not sure he ever was.