CHOSEN-FINALE

“She’s where?” Lenny demanded, wincing as his midriff objected to his deep breath.

“The carnival! Shirley insisted, said she’s gotta talk to some voodoo gypsy woman,” Squiggy’s voice sounded aggrieved through the phone.

“Wonderful, just great. She’s completely exposed…look, Squig, tell her I need to talk to her! Tell her I had…I don’t know…a relapse, whatever! Just get her to this hospital, got it?”

“Hey, don’t be tossin’ orders at me, Mr. Watcher Man! I know what I gotta do!”

Lenny squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m sorry, Squig. I didn’t mean to be bossy. It’s important, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I get that. The sun’s almost all the way down. Look, I gotta go and catch up with her, okay? Man I wish they’d come up with phones that didn’t need wires. How cool would that be?” With that, he hung up.

Lenny cradled the phone beside his hospital bed and cursed. He struggled to sit up and broke out in a cold sweat that left him weaker than before. There was no way he could get down there and help his Slayer or Squiggy. And where was Laverne? If for no other reason than to check on his condition, she should have been there. What could be so important?

“They’re all determined to get themselves killed,” Lenny muttered to the four white walls of his room. “And I’m no use to them whatsoever!” He punched the palm of his left hand with his right fist. “Being a Watcher really sucks sometimes. I should’ve stuck with truck driving!”

***

Shirley paused at the flap of the tent, surprised by what she saw inside. “Laverne? What on Earth are you doing here?”

Her friend looked up at her, green eyes equally startled. “Shirl? Where have you been?”

“Finding Carmine. Or should I say, utterly failing to find him.” She walked into the tent, looking down at the strange, yellowed scroll stretched out between the crystal ball and Laverne. “What’s going on in here? Where’s Madame Donna?”

“Um, just some research,” said Laverne, no longer meeting her eyes. “Madame Donna’s just out back for a sec. I thought she might be able to help us – find, Carmine.”

“Since when do you believe in gypsy magic?” Shirley folded her arms, unable to resist goading her chum.

“Since I ain’t stupid, Shirl!” Laverne retorted. “Every damn thing she said to you turned out to be true. Look, we don’t have anything else to go on, right?”

“True enough.” Shirley sighed, remembering her fruitless search of the graveyards around Burbank.

“So…what are you doing here?”

“The same thing. I was hoping Madame Donna would be able to tell me exactly where Carmine is.”

“And if she did?” Laverne’s eyes were penetrating. “What were you planning on doing about that, Shirl?”

“What I should have done the other night.” She pulled out her two-ended stake and held it aloft. “I’m sorry, Laverne. I know how much you care about Lenny. I promise you, though, Carmine will never hurt him again.”

Laverne smiled her appreciation “Thanks, but we both know it ain’t that easy. You still love him.”

“I love who he was, not what he is now. I just have to remember that.” She caressed the stake and fell silent.

Laverne bit her lower lip, and nodded. “We all have to do whatever it takes.”

“Say what’re you dames doing in here?” Squiggy poked his head into the tent and looked around.

“This dame is wondering what you’re still doing following me.” Shirley planted her hands on her hips. “I told you to tell Lenny that I would be there soon! I have to talk to Madame Donna first.”

“What do you expect some gypsy to do?” Squiggy demanded. “Curse Carmine so that his shoelaces tie together and he trips and falls on his face next time he tries to kill us?”

Laverne cleared her throat and returned her attention to the scroll. Shirley rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly, Squiggy!”

“I ain’t the silly one!” He took a deep breath and walked into the tent. “Listen, Lenny actually seems to know how to handle things, a lot better’n all of us. So if he says we all oughta be stickin’ together in one place, then I think that’s what we should be doing!”

“Well, we sort of are.” Shirley gestured with her stake. “Three of us, at least. Carmine has no way of knowing that Lenny’s still alive, so he should be safe at the hospital. I promise, we’ll go there right after I talk to Madame Donna, all right?” She turned back to Laverne. “Where did you say she went anyway?”

“She was gonna get some sort of book to help us read this thing better.” Laverne frowned. “Didn’t think it’d take this long.”

Shirley’s skin tingled. “You guys? Wait here, okay? I’ll be right back.” She went to the flap of the tent, opened it cautiously, and stepped out into the deserted midway.

Come to think of it, it was awfully quiet at the carnival tonight. It was a weeknight, and didn’t officially open for another hour, but still, she expected people to be hurrying around, setting things up, getting ready for visitors. This isn’t right, Shirley realized, her fingers tightening around the stake in her hand.

She made her way to the red wagon with Madame Donna’s name and a pentagram design on the side. She wasn’t even surprised to see that the door had been left ajar. Shirley climbed the small wooden steps and peered inside, her pulse pounding in her ears. “Madame Donna, are you here?”

“I am!” a voice responded in a mocking falsetto. “Come on in, sweetie!”

She stepped inside, stake at the ready. Her eyes adjusted to the dark interior, and then to the latest horror.

Carmine was holding Madame Donna on her feet with one hand. With the other, he made her limp right arm wave at Shirley. “Hello, there,” he said in the same falsetto, “Want your palm red?” He held up the woman’s hand, from which blood dripped. He chuckled and made the corpse do a little jig.

“You heartless bastard!” exclaimed Shirley, raising her free hand to her throat. “Why?”

“Because I felt like it!” he spat back, letting the body drop. “Because I can!” Suddenly he was right in front of her, his hand resting lightly on the tip of the stake. “Hey, turn that frown upside down, Angel Face. I got good news for you!”

“Don’t you call me that!” she spat, shoving him away. He stumbled backward a few steps, catching himself on the desk in the gypsy’s wrecked traveling home. “The man I loved called me that, and he isn’t you!”

“Oh, please. It’s me, Shirl.” He sat down on the edge of the desk, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his knees. “That’s the problem you’re having. You know it’s me, with all my memories and all my thoughts. Maybe a few less feelings, but hey, when did those do me any good, eh?”

“Your feelings made you wonderful,” she replied. “They made you warm and kind and decent. You were a dear, sweet human being and now you’re just a…a…shell!”

He shrugged. “Truth is, the feelings are still there too, Shirley. Why do you think I’m doing all this?”

She didn’t know what to say to this. His dark eyes stared straight into hers, as if he was looking right at her soul. “Come on, we both know the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. Like the indifference you showed me the last time I made you a proposal.”

“I wasn’t…it wasn’t that! I was scared, Carmine, that’s all. I was afraid you were doing something that you didn’t really want to do, making a commitment you’d resent the rest of our lives!” Tears stung the corners of her eyes and she angrily brushed them away.

“Aw.” He stretched and rose to his feet in one fluid motion. She dropped into a defensive stance, the stake held out in front of her. He snorted and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Whoa, Nelly. Don’t poke me full of holes yet. I can see that you honestly regret turning me down before. So guess what? I’m going to give you another chance.”

She blinked. “You can’t seriously be proposing marriage to me now?”

He chuckled. “Not exactly, but a permanent union of sorts.” He moved and was right in front of her again. Had he still had breath, it would have warmed her left cheek. “Join me, Shirl. You can’t imagine how free I am now! All the guilt, all the worries, all the baggage of being alive…pfft! Gone! Nothing but an endless road ahead, nights filled with desire.” He tickled her ear with his tongue and she shivered. “Some urges survive the change, Shirley. They’re stronger than ever, especially when combined with other, more exotic needs.”

“No,” she whispered, but the word was meaningless.

“We could be together forever, me and you. Take what we want, live however we want. An eternity, a truly permanent commitment. So what do you say, Angel?”

“I can’t…I don’t want to be…like you.” She hated how thin and soft her voice sounded, felt sick at how much she wanted to put her arms around him.

Carmine tilted his head so that he could look into her eyes again. He smiled, and it was gentle, familiar again. “It only hurts for a moment,” he said, his voice lilting. “After, you’re strong, you’re free. Nothing matters anymore, nothing and no one. No one can hurt you ever again, Shirley.”

“Free,” she repeated, her eyes drifting shut. “Free of love. Free of friendship and caring. Free of a conscience.”

“It’s bliss,” he murmured. “Let me give you that. Think of it as a wedding gift.”

He was close now, kissing her cheek, his lips seeking hers. As his mouth covered hers, she put her arms around him, felt his body firm and real in her embrace once again. Her heart ached at the memory of his loss, even as her skin prickled along the path his cold lips traced. She tilted her chin up and drew his head down toward her neck. “Forever,” she whispered as his kisses teased her jaw, under her chin. “But what about Laverne…the others…?”

“Don’t worry,” he soothed. “I’ll leave them to you.”

***

Squiggy backed away from the scene in the wagon and sprinted back over to the tent where Laverne waited, still poring over her weird scroll. “It’s like you thought,” he said, dashing through the tent flap and trying to catch his breath. “The gypsy lady’s all dead on the floor and Carmine and Shirley…well, they ain’t exactly fighting.”

“Damnit!” Laverne squinted. “Madame Donna and I only got through one pass on this thing and there was too much stuff we weren’t sure how to pronounce. It has to be right, or it won’t work!”

“What is that thing supposed to do anyway? Cast a magic spell or something?”

“Or something.” Laverne ran her fingertip over the first line of squiggly text. “It’s a curse, Squig, a powerful one. I don’t know what it’s supposed to do exactly, but it works on vampires.”

“Wow. Like blows him up or turns him into a toad?”

“Whatever it does, I gotta figure it out.”

“Yeah, you better.” Squiggy cast a nervous glance back out into the night. “Otherwise, we might have two vampires on our hands!”

***

He couldn’t believe how much he wanted her and loathed her at the same time. It was the goodness in her, he told himself, that damned soul getting in the way, the life. Once that was gone, he could be with her again. Together, they’d decimate this state, hell, the whole country, or maybe even the world! Shirley always wanted to travel….

The thoughts piqued his excitement and his fangs descended eagerly. He opened his eyes once more to study her snowy, exposed throat and hesitated. What if he didn’t do it right? He vaguely remembered his own transformation, lying on the ground barely conscious, as Darla had let her own blood drip from her wrist into her mouth. How hard can it be? he mentally shrugged. Besides, even if it didn’t work, at least he’d have a full stomach.

Intense pain sent him staggering backward from Shirley. He let out a strangled cry and wrapped his hands around the length of wood jutting out of his chest. He stared at it without comprehension for a moment, then raised his eyes to meet Shirley’s.

She was standing in the middle of the room staring right back at him, strong and defiant like he’d never seen her. Her eyes were steely as she said, “You really think I’m a sap for romance, don’t you?”

He yanked the stake out of his chest, snapped it in two, and hurled the halves in separate directions. He stalked over to her, gesturing at the bloody hole in the middle of his chest. “Sorry, sweetheart, your aim was a little off! Missed the heart!”

“That time,” she retorted. “Not the next!”

With a growl, he swung at her, knocking her backward and out through the door of the wagon. He sprang after her as she hit the dirt and rolled, regaining her feet with unnatural ease. She ran straight at him and leapt, her feet slamming into his chest. He fell back against the wagon, causing it to tilt and nearly topple over. Shirley pressed the attack, showering his head and stomach with punches that sent him reeling. One blow caught him in the temple and he dropped to his knees, ears ringing and eyes unable to focus.

“I miss Carmine,” he heard her say as if from a great distance. “But I won’t miss you!”

***

“Te implor, Doamne, nu igna, ignamor, ignamora?” Laverne groaned. “Damn! It’s hopeless, I don’t know what I’m doing here!”

“Well you best figure it out, ‘cause they’re fightin’ now!” Squiggy was leaning half out of the tent, watching what Laverne could faintly hear as screaming and things slamming around. “Oo, nice shot, Shirl! Yeah, kick him, kick him good!”

“Maybe this won’t be necessary after all.” Laverne took a deep breath, struggling to clear her thoughts and control her thudding heart. Mamma, help me! she begged, clearing her throat to try again. Te implor, Doamne, nu ignara…ignora ac…aceata?”

“Hey,” said Squiggy suddenly. “Who the hell is that?”

***

His vision cleared just as Shirley snapped off a board from the rickety wagon and took a step toward him. Before he could get to his feet though, a shadow detached itself from behind the wagon and took form behind the dark haired girl. It looped an arm around her neck and dragged her away from him.

Carmine stood up, brushing the dirt off his black jeans and wincing at various aches and pains. “Wait a minute,” he said, catching up.

“What? No hello, lover? No nice to see you again?” Darla squeezed her arm tighter and Shirley let out a thin cry, the wood dropping from her right hand.

“She’s mine,” he said, taking another step forward.

“Oh, don’t be selfish, honey. I promise, I’ll keep her alive so that her blood is nice and fresh for you.”

He stared at the beautiful blonde and felt a surge of hatred. He knew he should be thankful; after all, Darla had made him an immortal, but somehow he couldn’t muster much gratitude. He snapped, “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Why do they always want to talk?” Darla sighed. She glanced down at Shirley, who was struggling weakly in her grasp. “The grownups need to chat now, sweetie. Be a good girl and go to sleep.” She gave Shirley’s neck one final squeeze and the girl went limp. Darla let her sink to the ground and strolled over to Carmine, resting her hands on his shoulders.

“So?” he asked.

“All right, don’t be cross. I’ve been following you, ever since you left the morgue in Sunnydale. I must say, you’ve exceeded my expectations.” She grinned, licking her lips. “That little gang you played with, and then that model in her apartment? You do beautiful work.”

Despite himself, he smirked. “Thanks. I guess I’m a natural.”

”I knew you would be.” She nibbled his earlobe. “I could tell, from the moment I chose you, that you’d be a magnificent killer.” She paused and took a step back. “But then you went and disappointed me!”

“How?” His eyes fell on Shirley’s body and he mumbled, “Oh.”

“Trying to convince a Slayer to become a vampire.” She waggled a finger at him and tsk-tsked. “It’s creative, I’ll give you that, but not nearly as much fun as your original plan.”

“I know, I know. It just seemed like the thing to do. I was caught up in the moment, all right?” He crossed his arms and turned away.

“Well, you’re just lucky I was around to step in and save your impulsive, if cute, little ass.” She smacked his behind and he swung round, slapping her hand away. “So, still want her to be your little perma-girlfriend?”

“No.” He crouched down next to Shirley. “I want the bitch for dinner!”

“That’s much better.” Darla clapped her hands and walked over to the old wagon. She hopped into the air and landed on the iron railing that decorated the rim of its roof, crossing her legs at the ankles. “Go on, then. Put on a show for me, lover.”

He grabbed Shirley by the hair and yanked her head back. Fangs extended, he leaned in for the kill.

***

”Uh-oh! He’s gonna kill her!” cried Squiggy, starting out the flap of the tent.

“No, wait!” Laverne called after him. “You’re gonna get yourself…oh, hell!” She cast her eyes back to the scroll in frustration. “There has to be a way to make this work!”

She felt an intense rush of nausea, followed by a sense of something opening deep inside her. She fell into herself, drawn into a whirling current that filled her body and mind with a surge of power. Her eyes burned in her skull as she jerked erect, then looked down at the script on the scroll. Her mouth opened and the words poured out as easily as if she were reading a grocery list:

“Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte.

Nici mort, nici al fiintei...

Lasa sa fie vasul care-i va transporta, sufletul la el!”

The globe on the table beside her flared to life, a burst of light that nearly blinded her. At the same time, she felt something leave her, yanked out into the universe and leaving her limp and gasping for breath in her chair.

When she could move again, she forced herself to her feet and stumbled to the flap of the tent, looking out toward Shirley, Carmine, and Squiggy to see the results. What she saw made her shoulders slump and she dropped to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. “It didn’t work,” she murmured, shaking her head. “Why? How could it not work?”

***

It hit him like a brick wall falling on his head. His fangs retracted and he clutched at his chest as though shot. He stumbled away from Shirley until his back collided with a nearby tree, and cried, “No! No, no, no!”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he heard Darla exclaim. His only response was to crawl to the opposite side of the tree, where he wretched and sobbed helplessly.

***

Squiggy skidded to a halt, pointed, and shouted, “Get the hell off her, you scummy creature of the night!”

To his utter amazement, Carmine flung himself off Shirley and staggered backward, shouting and clutching at his heart. Then he slunk off behind a tree and all Squiggy could hear were his moans and what sounded like heaving.

A small blonde woman landing neatly in front of him quickly distracted him. She started to grab for his jacket, but hesitated and let her arms drop back to her sides. “What did you do to him?” she demanded.

“I…” He thought about it, then gave her his best, wicked grin. “I did to him what I’m gonna do to you if you don’t skeddadle right now and never come back!”

The vampiress studied his face and took a step back. “What are you, some sort of warlock?”

“Somethin’ like that.” He raised his hands and waved them in a complicated pattern. “Begone, foul thing, or feel my wrathful wrath!”

“Fine, fine, I’m gone!” She hissed at him once and then sprang into the darkness, vanishing almost instantly.

He watched her go, letting his suddenly nerveless arms fall back to his sides. “Wow. Hey, how did I do that anyway?” He glanced over his shoulder toward where Carmine was still groaning, until a hand on his shoulder made him jump and spin back around.

Shirley was standing in front of him, her face paler than usual, and her dark hair tousled around her pixie face. She gave him a wan smile and said, “It’s only me, Andy.”

“Hey, you okay?” He touched her cheek like she was made of porcelain, then very gently pulled her into an embrace. “I thought that other one had killed you.”

“Yes, well, I’m sure she would have gotten around to it, if you hadn’t chased her off.”

“Yeah, well, I’m glad she didn’t. You know, kill you and stuff. But we still got a problem.”

“I know.” Shirley pulled away from him and picked up a jagged piece of wood from the ground. “I’ll take it from here, Squiggy.”

He wanted to stop her, to get between her and her prey, but the look in her eyes told him that he’d best be a good boy. He turned and watched her approach Carmine, who was struggling to stand again.

The vampire leaned back against the tree, his arms wrapped around himself. As she approached, he looked at her and his expression crumpled. “Shirley? Is that you?”

She paused, raising the shaft of wood. “You know it is.”

“Shirley, please help me.” Carmine held his hands out to her and Squiggy could see that they were shaking. “I’m so cold, Shirl. I don’t know what’s wrong with me!” He looked around, eyes wide. “Where are we? What is this place?” He pressed one trembling hand against his chest and held it out to her again. “Why am I bleeding?”

“It’s not going to work this time,” Shirley said, taking another step toward him. “Your girlfriend’s gone and I know you for what you are.”

“What…girlfriend? You’re my girlfriend!” His head snapped to the left. Squiggy followed his gaze and saw with a sinking feeling in his stomach that Laverne was approaching. She seemed shell-shocked, but gave Carmine a strange look.

The vampire turned toward her and exclaimed, “Laverne! Come here, please! You gotta help me, I don’t understand what’s going on…!”

Laverne stopped and stared at him, her eyes locking onto his. “Oh, my God,” she breathed. “It did work.”

Carmine stumbled toward Laverne. Shirley dove forward, grabbed his shoulder, and spun him around, the stake in her right hand poised. At the same time, Laverne screamed, “Shirley, no, don’t!”

He wasn’t sure why, but Laverne’s voice sent him running faster than he ever had in his life. He catapulted himself at Shirley’s back just as she was about to plunge the jagged wooden board through Carmine’s heart.

They hit the ground together with a thud that shook him. Shirley simply tossed him off her back and rolled to her feet, stooping to pick up the wood she’d dropped. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, cheeks flushing red. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Laverne said not to,” was all he could think to say.

Shirley opened her mouth to retort, but was distracted by the sight of Carmine and Laverne. The green eyed young woman reached for him, resting her hand against his cheek. “Still cold,” she murmured. “I guess it only goes so far.”

“Laverne.” He sobbed her name. “I don’t understand!”

“You really don’t remember anything? What happened, what you’ve done?”

He blinked and stood still. Squiggy saw his eyes widen then, his mouth falling open as he staggered back against the tree.

“What?” asked Laverne. “What do you see?”

Carmine stared blankly, as though watching a movie from a distance. “There was pain…and then I was cold and hungry, so hungry…and she was warm and…the taste!” He clamped his hand over his mouth and turned away, hugging the tree and screwing his eyes shut. “No, it can’t be…Rhonda? God, Rhonda…Lenny too? No!” A cry tore out of his throat, an animal’s agony. He slammed his head against the trunk of the tree, then again, as if he could drive whatever he was seeing out of his brain.

“Stop, stop it!” Laverne grasped his shoulders but Carmine jerked away.

“Don’t touch me!” he cried. “Don’t…don’t look at me. How can you look at me?”

Shirley was looking from him to Laverne and back again. Finally she demanded, “What is happening here? Laverne, why did you keep me from destroying him?”

“Because,” said Laverne, her face settling into an expression of profound sympathy. “He has a soul now. He’s Carmine again – well, at least part of him. The rest?”

“Still a monster,” Carmine finished, stepping away from them, his hands raised as if to ward them off. “Still a vampire. Oh, God help me!” With that, he turned and ran headlong down the empty midway, until he was swallowed up by the darkness.

Shirley let the wood fall and covered her mouth with her hands. “How?” she asked finally. When Laverne didn’t answer, she grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a shake. “How is this possible?”

“I did it,” said Laverne, shaking her head, eyes nearly round. “I reached inside and…I did it.” She met Shirley’s gaze. “That scroll I had, it contained a curse. The gypsy told me that it had been used before to stop a vampire. I didn’t know exactly what it would do.” She bit her lower lip, and added, “I had no idea this was even possible.”

“Yeah, I thought he was supposed to explode or something,” said Squiggy. “He looks pretty fine, except…”

“…he has his soul again,” whispered Shirley. “He can feel what he did, knows how wrong it was. Oh, my goodness.” She looked at each of them in turn. “The memories, they’ll tear him apart.”

“Good!” stated Squiggy. “He deserves it after all he did!”

“But he didn’t do it, not really,” Laverne reminded him. “Although, given the choice, Squig’s right. At least if he’s busy suffering, he won’t be hurting anyone else.”

Shirley nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “Maybe we should go talk to Lenny about all this. He might know how to handle…things.”

They walked away from the carnival together, but each wrapped up in their own thoughts. Squiggy knew that he was satisfied for now – at least Carmine would suffer good and bad for what he’d done to poor Rhonda, and nearly done to Lenny. Bastard has it comin’ to him. I hope it hurts!

***

Lenny waited until they had each stopped chattering. Then he looked them all in turn and proclaimed, “You are all insane.”

“Like that’s news,” said Squiggy.

“No. Seriously. You’re certifiable. First you go running off half-cocked to hunt down a vampire alone…”

“I’m supposed to do that!” said Shirley. “It’s my job, you told me that!”

“…and you go strolling around town like some tasty bait on a hook…”

“Hey, I was doing my part for the cause.” Laverne crossed her arms and turned away.

“…followed by you…just…being you.” He shook his head and buried his face in his hands.

“It all worked out though, right?” said Squiggy. “We kept Carmine from killing anyone else, now and forever.”

“And we didn’t even have to kill him to do it,” added Laverne.

“They’re right. I’d say we did pretty well for our first time out.” Shirley stared at him, defying him to argue further.

Lenny sighed, letting his arms drop back to his sides. “All right. I guess I can’t complain about your results. But next time, and trust me, there will be a next time, you’re going to be ready. My father’s shipment of weaponry came in today – by the way, Squig, can you pick that up at the post office on your way home?”

“You can ship weapons through the mail?” he asked.

“You can if you’re on the Watcher’s Council. We’re very connected.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah,” said Lenny, grinning. “Sometimes it is. Anyway, we’ll really be able to get down to business with your training Shirley. Well, at least in another week to ten days when I’m allowed to move again.”

“Good,” she said. “I don’t intend to let any other vampires get the jump on me ever again!”

The nurse stuck her head in the room. “Mr. Kosnowski needs his rest now. You can all come back and see him tomorrow morning.”

His friends said their farewells and filed out. Before she could reach the door, Lenny said, “Laverne, wait. Just – I need a second with you. Okay?”

She looked at the nurse, who gave her a reluctant nod. Laverne let the door close behind her and walked back to his bedside. She ran her fingertips over the slight growth of beard on his chin and said, “You could use a shave.”

“What, don’t like the scruffy look?”

“Actually, it’s not all that bad.” Her eyes roved over his face and she grinned. “Not bad at all.”

He took her hand and pressed it against his cheek. “Laverne,” he said. “I…oh, geeze. You know, Squiggy keeps teasing me about speaking better than I used to let on, but right now I feel just as tongue-tied and dopey as I ever was.”

“Silly,” she said. “You don’t need words.” And she bent down and kissed him, her lips warm and soft against his own.

All too soon she pulled away. He ran the tip of his tongue over his lips and murmured, “Wow.”

“Yeah. I know.” She patted his cheek and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, smart guy.”

He could hardly wait.

--END--
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