Page 47 of Releasing 10
And her blue eyes, the ones locked on my face? Well, I had never seen eyes likethatbefore.
I blinked a few times, not entirely sure if I was seeing her properly because this girl didn’t look like the other girls on the bus. She didn’t look like anything I’d ever seen before.
She sort of resembled a ghost.
Or an angel.
Something different.
Something special.
The girl didn’t look away from me when she caught me looking. Instead, she continued to stare back at me.
Somehow, and I wasn’t sure how, I managed to gather the nerve to walk over and ask, “Lizzie?” Because if Claire had pointed out the wrong girl, I was going to be embarrassed.
God, please let this be the right girl.
When she nodded and offered me the seat next to her, I almost fell into it. This confused me because I never wanted to sit with girls, but Iwantedto sit with this girl. Iwantedto look at her, too.
Her long, poker-straight hair wasn’t tied up with any fancy ribbons or bows like the other girls. Instead, she had it tucked behind her ears to keep it out of her way. She wasn’t wearing tights like the other girls, either. She wore white socks that stopped below her knees. Her coat was black, not pink or colorful, and both her knees were littered with bramble scratches. Everything about this girl was different, but it was hereyes that really caught my attention. They were so light, they looked like pale-blue icicles with jagged lightning bolts of gray darting through them.
When I introduced myself and we started to talk, I couldn’t hear a word of it. I had no clue what was coming out of my mouth. I was too distracted by the sound of my pulse drumming in my ears and the way my eyes enjoyed looking at this girl. It honestly couldn’t be helped because sitting in front of me was the prettiest girl in the world. When she leaned in and sniffed my neck, I thought she might be the strangest, too. I didn’t pull away, though, and I didn’t feel awkward or embarrassed when she paid me a compliment. Instead, I feltpleased.Because I quickly realized that Iwantedher to admire me.
Like I was definitely admiring her.
When I handed her the invitation to my party and she agreed to come, my stomach flipped like a pancake. I tried to be cool about it, but I could hardly breathe. The way she smiled at me made my skin prickle and heat up. I wasn’t sure how long it took me to get back to my friends, but when I did, I felt like I’d just staggered off a fairground ride. A really fast one that spun me ragged and made me dizzy.
When the lads started teasing me about her, I found myself not caring one bit. Instead, I laughed off their taunts, feeling smug instead of embarrassed.
Because they didn’t know what I did.
They didn’t have the strangest girl in Ballylaggin coming to their birthday party.
My eyes locked on hers from across the bus and I smiled.
Or the prettiest.
HE SMELLS LIKE SOAP AND STRAWBERRIES
Lizzie
OCTOBER 31, 1994
IWAS SO HAPPY THATITHOUGHTIMIGHT EXPLODE INTO A HUNDRED MILLIONpieces. I had been waiting for Halloween to arrive ever since Friday, and it was finallyhere.Excitement bubbled inside of my belly, making it difficult to sit still for my sister.
“You’re like my own personal doll,” Caoimhe said from her perch behind me, where she was fixing my hair for the party.
“My hair is getting long,” I noted, looking at our reflections in her vanity mirror.
“Mm-hmm,” she agreed, flicking her waist-long, blond braid over her shoulder. “Almost as long as mine.”
“Almost.”
“What time is Claire’s mam picking you up?”
“Half past two.” A shiver of excitement rolled through me. “What time is it now?”
“Almost two,” my sister replied. “You know, you don’t have to bring the invitation with you, Liz.”
