Once Again by Amy Durham

Lucas’s reincarnation, and she knew that he’d seen me in his
dreams before I came to Sky Cove. But she didn’t know about the
dreams I’d had, or about what Lucas and I had discovered about
ourselves. I was also relieved because Luke wouldn’t be distracted
by a vision during his run. He could focus totally on his sport,
and hopefully come in first again.
    I wanted to see him cross the finish line
before anyone else and cheer him on as he did.
    “You know,” Gwen said, breaking the silence
between us. “Lucas has a birthday on Sunday.”
    I pulled the headphones from my ears, a smile
spreading across my face. “He didn’t tell me.”
    “That doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “He
never likes to draw attention to himself.”
    “Which is exactly why he gets so much
attention,” I added.
    She nodded. I wasn’t telling her anything she
didn’t already know.
    “Would you come to lunch on Sunday?” she
asked. “We’ll surprise him with a little get-together, just the
three of us.”
    “I’d love that!”
    Instantly, my mind whirled with possibilities
for a present. With Lucas, it couldn’t be ordinary. It had to be
unique, unexpected. But, of course, he wouldn’t want anything
extravagant. He’d be embarrassed if I placed too much attention on
his birthday.
    It came to me then, the perfect gift for him.
Funny, yet special. Something that would commemorate all that had
happened between us.
    A group of runners came into sight, just as a
sliver of sunlight peeked trough a tiny break in the clouds. They
curved around the bend in the road on the hill above the school.
One runner broke from the pack, as if a burst of energy propelled
him forward toward the finish line.
    I knew at once it was Lucas.
    Gwen and I cheered as he came down the hill
toward the parking lot, faster and faster, traveling further from
the rest with every stride, as if he’d saved his last burst of
energy for the end of the race. I decided that must’ve been exactly
the strategy, because other runners did the same thing, but with
much less effect than Luke.
    He crossed the line first, to the cheers of
his coaches, his mom, and, of course, me. He only took a moment to
catch his breath, down half a bottle of water, and then he came
toward us. He kissed Gwen on the cheek, then scooped me up in his
arms and twirled me around, as if having me there waiting for him
was the best thing in the world.
    The heat from his body seeped through the
layers of my clothes and warmed me as I wrapped my arms around his
neck. He smelled a bit sweaty from his run, but not in a bad way.
In a way that reminded me how hard Luke worked for the things that
meant something to him.
    While watching the world spin as Lucas
laughed and twisted around, I thought this must be what falling in
love felt like.
    Yikes.

CHAPTER 17
     
    Ashley Emerson was as pretty as I remembered, with bright green
eyes and the kind of dark auburn hair I’d always wished I had. But
mine was just one shade off it seemed... all of the brown without
the hint of red. And she was just as friendly today, when I walked
into Emerson’s antiques after my Saturday shift at String City.
    “Looking for anything specific?” she
asked.
    “Actually, yes,” I answered. “And I think I
remember exactly where it is.”
    She waited at the counter while I made my way
to the back room. I found what I wanted quickly, pausing for a
moment to recall being here several weeks ago with Lucas.
    The musty smell once again seemed pleasant
and welcoming, rather than old and moldy. I’d wondered if coming
back here would feel awkward. It didn’t. Instead, it felt
comforting, familiar, correct. Of course, my knowledge that this
was most likely the place the people in our dreams had lived added
to the emotional effect the place had on me.
    Still, no vision erupted in my mind, as it
had the last time I was here.
    I glanced around the room once, trying to
imagine it as it had been in my dream, with a wood burning