A shadow crossed his eyes, and he stood up and brushed the sand off his jeans. “I’ve gotta go,” he said. “Maybe I’ll see you around again, Gemma.”
“Yeah,” I said breathlessly, my head spinning from the sudden way he’d come into my life, and the sudden way he was apparently leaving it. “Maybe.”
He spun around, jogged out of the cove, and turned the corner before I could ask how long he was staying in town and where he was heading off to so quickly.
2
Gemma
“You’ll never guess what happened at the beach today,” Mira said as she grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes and dumped a huge spoonful onto her plate. Her cheeks were flushed pink, and her bright blue eyes twinkled with excitement.
That was the only genetic physical difference between me and my twin—her eyes were blue, and mine were green. It shouldn’t have been scientifically possible, since we were identical. The doctors had no explanation for it.
My mom called it magic.
Mira was also tanner from all her time surfing, and her hair was shorter and dyed blonde. But those were choices—not something she was born with.
I took the bowl of mashed potatoes and spooned a more sensible portion onto my plate. “You caught your biggest wave yet?” I asked.
“Nope.” She smirked mischievously. “I met someone.”
“Let me guess,” my mom said as she placed the bowl of mashed potatoes back in the center of the table. “This ‘someone’ is of the male variety?”
“Duh.” Mira rolled her eyes. “He was walking by, and we got to talking. He just moved to town, and he’s never surfed before. So starting tomorrow, I’ll be giving him lessons.”
“He’ll be a pro by the end of the year,” my mom said.
“You’ll have forgotten about him by the end of the year,” I teased my sister.
That was how it always went with her. A guy struck her interest, she got him to fall halfway in love with her, and then she got bored and dumped him.
I’m not much better. My mind instantly went to Joey.
But that was different.
Or was it?
“Not with this one.” A dreamy look crossed Mira’s face. “He’s different. I’ve never believed in love at first sight, but with him…” She trailed off, smiling as she cut into her meatloaf and took a bite.
My mom raised an eyebrow. “You can’t be in love with him already,” she said. “You just met him.”
“Come on,” Mira said. “You think we’re descended from an ancient line of witches, but you don’t believe in love at first sight?”
“Maybe I’d believe it if Gemma said it,” she said. “But you fall ‘in love’ with a new boy every month. Also, I don’t think we’re descended from an ancient line of witches. I know we are.”
“Ooookay,” Mira said, and she took another bite of her food.
“You’ll find out in three months,” my mom said confidently.
Because we were part of a witch circle called the Gemini circle, and she claimed Mira and I were the twins of an ancient prophecy. In three months—on our seventeenth birthday—we were going to receive dragon magic that had been gifted to our ancestors and passed through our bloodline for generations.
I wanted it to be true. But every time I tried a spell from our family spell book, nothing happened. Mira had stopped trying with me back when we were thirteen, calling it a stupid family superstition.
I was excited for the night of our birthday, but at the same time, I was trying not to get my hopes up. It was better to be surprised than disappointed.
“Anyway.” Mira straightened, still smiling despite my mom’s mention of magic. “Back to the guy. We’ll be an official couple by the start of next term. Just you wait.”
“I’m sure you will,” I said, since when Mira set her sights on something—especially when that something was a guy who’d caught her interest—she was a force to be reckoned with.
I felt kind of sorry for the poor guy whose heart she was bound to break.
“Does this mysterious guy have a name?” my mom asked.
“Ethan,” she said, and I froze, my fork halfway to my mouth.
“He said he passed you on his walk down the beach,” Mira continued. “He’s gorgeous, right?”
His intense, hazel eyes flashed in my mind. The way he’d sat down next to me, and how easy it had been to talk to him in those few minutes that had passed far too quickly.
Gorgeous was an understatement.
He was perfect.
“He’s American,” I said instead. “You can’t date a tourist.”
“He’s not a tourist,” she said. “He just moved here from North Carolina. His dad got a super amazing job offer, so they picked up and moved across the world. He’s starting school with us next term.”
What?
I stared at her, mind blown.
Ethan was going to our school. I was going to see him again. Maybe we’d have a class or two together.
“How long did you hang out with him?” I sounded far more nonchalant than I felt.
“All day.”
Hot jealousy raced through my veins. Why did Ethan have time to hang out with Mira, and not with me?
“Just the two of you?” I asked.
“No.” She frowned. “It was me and my friends. Ethan and I actually went back to find you to see if you wanted to join us, but when we got to the cove, you were gone.”
“It was hot out,” I said quickly.
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “The heat never bothers you.”
It was true. But it was better than admitting that after Ethan left, I couldn’t focus on anything other than him. After ten minutes of staring out at the ocean hoping he’d come back, I went back home to read for the rest of the day to try to stop thinking about him.
It hadn’t worked.
Regret hit me hard, and I wished I could go back in time and tell myself to stay at the cove. Then Ethan would have come back, and today would have played out completely differently.
It’s not like Ethan and Mira are actually dating, I told myself. And he asked to come back to get me. That has to mean something, right?
“Why didn’t you text me?” I asked.
“I did,” she said. “I asked if you wanted to hang out with me and my friends at the beach. You said you were reading, so I figured that was that.”
“You didn’t say anything about Ethan.”
“Would that have changed your mind?”
Yes.
“Maybe.”
She looked at me like she didn’t recognize me. “You’re not interested in him, are you?” she asked. “Because he said you guys only talked for like, five minutes. And you’re never interested in anyone. Well, except for Joey, and we all know how that worked out.”
I flinched at the mention of my ex.
“Sorry,” she said. “Is he still not replying to your texts?”
“Nope,” I said, inwardly fuming about how she’d changed the subject before I could answer her question about Ethan.
But like she’d pointed out, I’d never really been interested in any guy. Including Joey, if we were being honest. And she was right—Ethan and I had only talked for five minutes. Maybe less.