Chapter 54
Chapter Fifty-Four
ELIZABETH
Reflections of You
Like the click of a camera shutter, my thoughts fire in rapid succession as image after image flashes in front of me.
Beloved memories. All our next times. The prince with the moonlight eyes who rescued his princess one day in the woods.
The boy who first stole my heart with his gap-toothed smile.
The boy who placed hundreds of stars in our tree for our first date and gave me a wish jar full of paper stars.
CLICK.
“Do people mix you up and call you the wrong name?”
“All the time,” they answer in unison, voices so in sync that I can’t help but giggle.
Julien leans in and whispers something in Jayson’s ear, a grin playing on his lips.
“I bet you can’t tell us apart,” Jayson smugly says.
Licking the sticky sugar from my fingertips, I meet his challenge with a smug smirk of my own.
“Bet I can.”
“Close your eyes.”
I roll them instead. “Why?”
“Just close them,” Jayson insists, a playful edge to his voice.
Reluctantly, I oblige and squeeze my eyes shut.
Running footfalls thunder around me in dizzying circles, and laughter bubbles up in my throat as I try to follow their movements.
“Okay, open your eyes.”
When I blink them wide, they’re grinning like they’ve pulled off the greatest of tricks.
“What’s my name?”
“Julien,” I say confidently.
His grin falters and is replaced by a frown. “Lucky guess. Close your eyes.”
With an exaggerated huff, I do as he says. More footfalls, the swish of leaves under their feet, the sensation of a breeze tugging at the loose wisps of my hair.
“What about now?”
I quickly study their faces. “You’re Jayson,” I declare, locking eyes with the twin on the right. “And you’re Julien.”
Their mouths drop at the same time, clearly shocked at my superpowers of deduction. It’s kind of funny to watch.
Jayson narrows his eyes, clearly suspicious. “How can you tell?”
They may look the same, but there are a lot of things different about them. Jayson’s eyelashes are slightly longer, and Julien has a small scar above his right eyebrow. Jayson has seven freckles across his nose, but Julien only has four. I counted.
Standing up, I dust off the dirt and crumpled leaves clinging to my dress. “I just can. Want to play castles and dragons?”
We abandon the half-built dam by the creek and dive into an afternoon of grand, imaginary adventures. Julien becomes the brave knight, Jayson the cunning wizard, and I—naturally —am the princess, leading them into battle against a fearsome dragon.
By the time we defeat the beast, the sun has dipped low, casting long shadows through the forest canopy.
“Lizzie! Boys! Time to come in,” Mommy calls from the backyard.
Hailey shouts, “Daddy’s grillin’ burgers!”
We scramble to the creek, frantically washing the mud from our hands, though it’s no use against the sticky residue of candy.
Our clothes are a lost cause, smudged with dirt and grass stains.
But none of that matters as we link hands and head toward the house together, our laughter floating up into the warm summer air.
Walking hand in hand, my heart swells with the kind of happiness that fills every corner of my chest. I glance at the twins, and something inside me instinctively knows that meeting Jayson and Julien has changed my life forever.
CLICK.
Just as my bedside clock turns ten, Jayson appears outside my bedroom window. I should have known.
“Oh, my gosh,” I gush when he holds out a small bouquet of wilting flowers.
Taking them, I hold them to my nose and sniff.
“I may have stolen them from Mom’s garden. Hope you like them.”
Aw. So freaking sweet.
“Liz, you look beautiful.”
My heart soars that he notices the effort I put in to look good for him tonight, so I repay the compliment.
“You look very handsome as well.”
And he does. He changed out his usual tee and basketball shorts for a polo and chinos.
We take a minute to absorb what feels like a significant moment before he reaches for my hand and bows at the waist, all gentleman-like.
“Princess Elizabeth, I am here to escort you to your date.”
I want to say something silly like, I thought my date was already here, but I don’t want to ruin the romance of what’s happening with jokes.
I place my hand in his, and he raises it to his lips, placing a tender kiss on my wrist. I don’t know if I’m going to survive the night if he keeps this up.
I’m already melting into a puddle of goo at his feet.
Jayson waggles his eyebrows. “Follow me,” he says and pulls me to the window.
My first thought is, he’s going to make me climb down a tree. My second thought is, I’m glad I decided not to wear a dress.
Jayson, Julien, and I have gotten very good at climbing up and down the old oak tree between our houses. We’ve been doing it since third grade.
Jayson helps me out of my window and carefully guides me down to a lower branch, one that’s sturdy and thick.
Clasping his hand like a vise, I lower to straddle the branch with my back to the trunk. He sits down facing me and takes out a small remote from his pocket. My eyebrows raise in curiosity.
“Wait for it,” he says in a hushed whisper and presses a button.
Hundreds of tiny white fairy lights come to life around us. When did he do this, and how did I not notice?
I touch a small bulb. “Jayson, this is amazing. It’s like that time when we were camping.”
It’s one of my favorite memories. The site where we pitched our tents would glow with thousands of fireflies every night. It was magical.
“As a first date goes, how am I doing so far?”
I’m filled with wonder for this boy, for all the ways he shows me that I am special. He built me a starry fairy-light universe. He truly does treat me like a princess.
“Really good.”
He reaches into his other pocket and brings out a small item wrapped in tissue paper.
“This is for you.”
“You got me a gift?” I ask in disbelief.
“I hope you like it. Jamie helped me make it.”
I pull off the tape, being careful not to tear the tissue paper.
I want to preserve it in a scrapbook, one I will make to commemorate all of Jayson’s and my firsts.
I carefully pull back the last corner. Nestled inside is a necklace.
But it’s not just any necklace. There’s a charm hanging from a thin leather cord.
It’s the rose quartz heart Jayson found in the creek and gave to me when we were younger. He must’ve stolen it from my rock jar.
“I love it.”
They’re inadequate words to express how I feel right now.
“As first dates go, you knocked it out of the park. And you’re definitely telling me later how you were able to do all of this without me seeing. But for now, I just want you to kiss me.”
He feathers his nose across my cheek. “That I can absolutely do.”
CLICK.
He guides me outside, his hand placed possessively at my back.
On our way to his truck, I stop when I see bright twinkling lights.
Our oak tree is decorated from top to bottom with fairy lights and silver origami stars, and an old-fashioned swing hangs from the bottom branch.
I take it all in. It’s the most wondrous thing I have ever seen.
“It’s beautiful.”
Jayson threads his fingers with mine and brings my hand to his lips for a reverent kiss on my wrist. He leads me over to the swing and holds it steady for me to sit down.
“Aren’t we going to be late for dinner?” I ask.
“I planned ahead.”
He smiles, waiting behind me as I smooth down my dress and gently lower to sit on the polished wood board of the swing. Once I’m settled, he gives me a small push.
“You keep surprising me,” I say, tilting my head back to look up at him.
“I used to daydream about doing this when we were younger.”
“Your dream was to push me in a swing?”
“Actually, yeah. You would be wearing your blue princess dress, the one you wore the first day we met, and that plastic tiara.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Looking back, that whole outfit was embarrassing.
I straighten my legs, feeling the wind rush up my dress every time I pendulum forward.
“I liked that tiara. And stop interrupting. I’m trying to be romantic.”
“Oh, by all means, please continue.”
He playfully narrows his eyes. “Like I was saying, I would picture you in the swing like this, and every time I gave you a push, your hair would whip back, all beautiful and shit. You’d smile at me and laugh, telling me to push you higher so you could swing into the sky to catch the stars.”
He lifts a hand and plucks one of the silver origami stars down from its string.
“Open it.”
I place my feet on the ground to stop the swing from swaying and carefully unfold the paper. Inside, he wrote, “a daughter who has your eyes and your smile.”
Curious, I ask him, “What does it mean?”
Jayson bends down to my upturned face and says, “Inside every star is a wish.”
My brows scrunch together before understanding hits me. His wish is for a daughter—our daughter. Tears spring to my eyes, the emotions I feel so intense they would set the world on fire.
“Every star on our tree is filled with a wish. Wishes that I want to share with you. Spend the rest of my life giving to you. All you have to do, Liz, is reach for the stars, and I will give them all to you. I love you so fucking much.”
He kisses my ear, my neck, my bare shoulder, then my lips.
“Jayson, I don’t know what to say.” I’m so enamored with this boy. “I love you, too. So much.”
A single tear slips down my cheek, one that he captures with his finger and brushes across his lips.
CLICK.
“Liz.”
I blink. Look around. Where did everyone go?
Julien kneels beside me on the ground and wraps his arm around me. I peer down. My fingers are sunk inches deep into the fresh dirt of Jayson’s grave. I don’t remember the service, or when they lowered his casket, or when they covered him.