Soulmates

Chapter 31

Now everything is like my heart,

a color at the edge of blood:

the grey of your absence, the color of poison, of thorns,

the gold when we meet, the season ablaze,

the yellow of autumn, the red of flowers, of flames,

and the black when you cover the earth

with the coal of dead fires.

And the sky, the road, the glass of wine?

The sky is a shirt wet with tears,

the road a vein about to break,

and the glass of wine a mirror in which

the sky, the road, the world keep changing.

Don't leave now that you're here-

Stay. So the world may become like itself again:

so the sky may be the sky,

the road a road,

and the glass of wine, not a mirror, just a glass of wine.

I like you too.

-Magnus

Alex ran to Shel and Sadie, waiting outside the mythology classroom.

She shoved the note into Sadie's hands and allowed the duo to squeal at the poem.

"No, because you two are so fucking romantic," Shel said before handing back the note.

"You know, Alex," Sadie said. "Good on us, because now we both know that we are not unloveable piles of gay!"

Alex raised a brow as Shel's head whipped toward Sadie. "What in the fuck does that mean?"

"I asked out Jaz..." Sadie trailed off.

"Bitch, do you care to continue?" Alex said. "I did not have the most emotional talk with you, something I didn't even do with my sister, and you don't want to finish the fucking sentence?"

"No, she said yes," Shel said. "Sadie just thinks being mysterious adds an effect."

"Alex!" yelled a familiar voice. "I had to find out through Magnus that you wrote a confession letter--"

Chiron came out of the room. "You guys need to enter now, or I am required to mark you as late."

"You wrote a confession letter, and you didn't tell me?" Samirah's hijab was black today. It meshed well with the denim jacket and loose white shirt.

"Sorry," Alex said. "It all happened so fast, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Samirah tapped her finger on a desk. "Someone ripped of my hijab today."

Alex's gaze darkened. "Who do I need to revive and kill again?"

"You know Octavian?"

"Yes."

"He introduced himself to me and tried to shake my hand. So I thought, 'Okay, he probably doesn't know about the touch thing.' So, I tell him that I can't shake his hand since it goes against my religion, but, like, it's nice to meet you, yadda yadda, right?"

Alex found Octavian near the back of the classroom, talking to a girl with long, black hair, a cute cropped top, and high-waisted pants. She looked so uncomfortable. After talking with Samirah, Alex would help her out. "Right."