A Beautiful Dark

way he looked at me made me pause. The blackness of his eyes was magnetic, and something strange flickered through my own in response. I had the weirdest feeling of déjà vu.
    It was dark where we stood on the street, but what moonlight there was shone on his face, exaggerating the definition of his cheekbones and illuminating his smooth olive skin. His short hair was so black that it was hard to tell where he ended and the night began. “You’re Skye, right?”
    “Yeah,” I admitted, tearing my eyes away to look back out at the mountains. I didn’t want him to catch me staring. Did I know him? He didn’t look familiar, but he seemed to recognize me. Maybe he’d heard someone inside say my name. “Hiding from my own party. I’m such a winner.”
    He sized me up. “You don’t strike me as someone who would avoid a good time. So there must be more to the story. Anything—or anyone—specific that you’re hiding from?”
    “Nope,” I said. “Nothing.”
    “Nothing?” His tone was playful, like we’d known each other all our lives and shared secrets.
    “Or everything,” I admitted, trying not to smile.
    He laughed, and the low sound echoed across the empty street. My stomach twisted. Calm yourself, Skye . I never reacted this way to guys I’d just met. I was usually the cool and collected one. It was Cassie who was boy crazy.
    “So do you make a habit of ducking out of your own parties?” he asked.
    “Only when they’re thrown for me against my will. Do you make a habit of lurking outside of other people’s parties?” I shot back.
    “Without question.” He grinned, showing off an adorable dimple. “You never know who you’ll meet.”
    We stood on the silent street for a while, at an impasse, just watching our breath escape in clouds of steam into the night. I wanted to keep talking to him, but my brain felt stuck.
    You really need to stop letting Cassie empty her flask into your drink, I thought.
    “I should go inside,” I said finally. “They’re going to wonder where I disappeared to.”
    “What’d you wish for?”
    I turned to face him again. “What?”
    “Your birthday wish,” he said. “You know. Closing your eyes. Blowing out the candles. What did you wish for?”
    For some unknown reason, warmth rushed up my spine, flooding my cheeks. Why did so innocent a question seem so intimate? “I must have forgotten to make one,” I said, realizing as the words left my mouth that they were true.
    “It’s not too late,” he said. “You’ve still got half an hour to change your life.”
    I looked at him, confused. What a strange thing to say to someone you’d just met. “Maybe I don’t want to change my life.”
    “You wouldn’t change anything at all?”
    My mind flashed to my parents, of course, but wishing for a way to feel closer to them was impossible. “No,” I said. “Not really.”
    “Well, I hope that works out for you.”
    I turned back toward the door, feeling like I’d missed the point of the conversation somehow.
    “I’ll see you around, Skye,” he said as I walked back inside. “Happy birthday.”

Chapter 2

    I n the privacy of the fluorescent-lit bathroom, I stared at my reflection. My eyes were flashing silver in the light—true silver, not the silvery gray they appeared to be on most days. I blinked, but nothing changed. They only flashed brighter, more vibrantly. They reminded me of a movie we watched in chemistry earlier in the year. When the scientist broke an old thermometer into a petri dish, the mercury slipped from the cracks in the glass, quick and light, not nearly as thick and goopy as I’d expected it would be.
    I couldn’t quiet my heartbeat. What had caused my eyes to look this way? Had the effect started before I went outside? Or did it have something to do with the unexpected attraction I’d felt to the guy leaning against the wall? I realized now that I didn’t even know his name.
    When I heard the door to the bathroom open followed by the sound of laughter, I fled into the nearest stall and pressed my back against the cool metal door. I fought to calm my erratic heart and wild thoughts, to focus on the problem at hand. I couldn’t face my friends until my eyes were normal gray again. What had I done to make it stop the last time this happened?
    I’d been skiing in a race about two weeks before. It had been neck and neck for a while—this girl from Holy Cross Academy and I. I’d leaned into the wind, feeling for the