I caught sight of a large black hoop in the grass not far. Perfect. I walked over for it, bringing it back to our section of the courtyard. I caught Gabriel’s crystal blue eyes boring into me. I curled my finger at him. This hoop, I knew, would take two people.

  Gabriel was on his feet at my summoning, which surprised me. I expected to have to beg with the way they were acting. He crossed the space. I lowered the hoop so he could step in with me. His hand was in his hair, twisting at his locks. He looked unsure.

  “Come on,” I said. “It’s fun.” I backed up close to him. I had to take a wide swing to start the hoop but it slowly turned and came back around. Gabriel’s hips went left, mine went right and we lost it.

  I laughed. He did too. He picked it up again and then hooked an arm around my waist. He brought me up against his body. I inhaled the berry musk from his skin, along with the dust he’d likely picked up from working with me in the shed that morning. The same scent I smelled on the bike ride. It was a strange combination, but I liked the berries.

  I showed him the motion, just in case he didn’t know. “It’s side to side,” I said.

  He studied me and nodded in confirmation. “One, two...” he said, and he started to spin the hoop.

  The music changed over the loudspeakers. The slower pace of the song made it easier to flow in time with the music. We started swinging our hips. I was off rhythm at first and the hoop dropped.

  His hands found my waist and he brought me close to his body as if we were dancing together, and we tried again. My butt met the front of his hips, my back pressed to his stomach. He pushed and pulled at me until we were moving together and the hoop was flying around us.

  The air around us seemed to shift. I was feeling his body behind me, his breath on my neck. We had to keep our arms up to not interfere with the hoop. His fingers touched my elbows and he brought my arms up slowly. My hands found the back of his head and his hair. He kept his fingers touching the underside of my biceps as if he wanted to keep my fingers in his hair, his nails traced along the delicate underside of my arms. We twisted together. My butt brushed against his groin.

  It was far different than dancing with him. It was much closer. The music filled my ears. The school and the others had disappeared in a haze. All I could smell and feel was Gabriel.

  My heart was dancing, too. Neither of us spoke for a long time. It was just moving to the music. My fingers traced along his hair, and I twisted a few locks into my fingers, feeling the soft smoothness. My skin was electrified.

  “We have to stop,” he breathed into my ear.

  I swallowed, twisting my head slightly, but I couldn’t look back at him like this and keep moving. “Why?” I asked, hoping he heard me.

  His fingers moved down from holding my arms, the back of his knuckles brushed against my shoulders and down the sides close to my breasts. “Because I’m falling in love with you.”

  My breath caught. Was he serious? Was he flirting and teasing me? My heart jumped in my chest.

  I couldn’t get myself to stop. The hoop spun. The song dipped into the chorus. He was falling for me? Did I feel the same way?

  I knew that answer, but hearing him say it, it surprised me. And yet I wanted him to say it again. My mouth froze, unable to form the words I wanted to say.

  He continued to move with me, his hips pushing against me. His right hand found my waist again while the hoop slid around our hips, his fingers catching at a spot just below my belly button before he shifted upward toward my ribs to avoid meeting the hoop when it drifted around. He traced small circles. Sparks flew inside of me toward my heart from his touch.

  I peeled my lips apart. “You’re not stopping,” I whispered to him.

  “You’re not, either,” he said, as his lips traced along my ear.

  His fingers shifted across my upper stomach, gripping tenderly. We twisted together, quiet, as if waiting for the other to stop this sudden discovery and prove us wrong before it was too late.

  Neither of us stopped.

  He kissed my earlobe. “Fuck, Trouble loves me.”

  I swallowed again, not finding the voice to speak. I couldn’t deny it. I’d be lying to say I didn’t love him. I couldn’t tell him I did, either. My tongue was glued to my mouth. My heart and fingers trembled, not knowing what to do.

  I couldn’t get myself to stop moving, either. My fingers pressed against his neck. as if trying to pull him closer to me but he was already as close as he could be. His breath hovered in my ear, his lips tracing my lobe. His tongue touched the curve of my ear.

  “Please stop at once!” The shout broke the spell and we parted. My heart was pounding in my ears. The hoop scooped against our knees once before clattering to the grass.

  A teacher I didn’t know and Mr. Blackbourne were charging across the courtyard toward us. Heat radiated through my entire body. Gabriel stood behind me. His hand found mine and he grasped my palm.

  “I’m afraid we have to ask you to stop,” Mr. Blackbourne commanded. He glowered at us. I’d never seen him hurry at us with such an expression. It was one I’d only witnessed it before when he was inserting himself into school fights.

  “We were just playing,” Gabriel said. “The hoop takes two people.”

  The teacher who had come up with Mr. Blackbourne frowned at him and then pointed at the window where the cafeteria was. “This is not within the guidelines of our school.”

  It seemed like thousands of eyes were looking in on us, looking in from the cafeteria. There were more from the windows of the hallway and all around the courtyard. We’d drawn quite a bit of attention. Some were starting to walk away now that teachers were there.

  My free hand fluttered up, my finger hovering over my lip. “Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t realize...” I was confused, but also mortified. From many angles, it could have easily looked like he was kissing at my neck and groping me, and there were windows all over. Teachers couldn’t ignore it.

  Mr. Blackbourne came closer so only we could hear. “I have to make it look like I’m reprimanding you. There’s a student policy about the level of public affection on school grounds.”

  He was right. I stepped forward to accept whatever they needed to tell us, but also felt so embarrassed. Gabriel held on to my hand. Mr. Blackbourne shot him a look. He couldn’t reprimand us if he was hanging on to me.

  This had been the wrong place. Kota and the others in the corner, who had been watching us, had stood up, but said nothing.

  Gabriel grumbled but let go. The moment gone.

  How could I have not minded where we were?

  Especially since I was supposed to be dating Silas at school.

  The Past Setting the Scene

  Years Ago

  Gabriel

  After the funeral, Gabriel sat in the back porch of an old church Pam arranged for the reception. For two hours, Gabriel had been inside.

  But for the moment, he’d had enough. It was mostly Pam sharing food that had been brought by church parishioners. The turnout hadn’t been much more than some of his father’s old work friends enjoying each other’s company and the free food. Gabriel’s friends left earlier.

  It was almost over. He never wanted to go to another funeral. There was no point. It didn’t make him feel better. Why have one?

  Gabriel got up from his spot, and started off, following a small dirt path that led around the church. Sitting still was getting to him, so he’d spend the time doing circles around the church and the parking lot.

  Alone.

  With his hands stuffed into the cotton pockets of the suit pants he wore, he watched his feet as he walked, barely minding what was ahead.

  A familiar voice suddenly spoke.

  He paused, realizing he was by a window. He wasn’t sure where in the church the window was located.

  But Pam’s voice was pretty clear.

  “You’re welcome to stay and have some food. I can give you directions to the graveyard and the plot—”

  Another voice, masculine and slightly familiar but Gabriel couldn’t place it. “A man can’t see his own brother at his funeral?”

  Gabriel inhaled quickly and froze. His father’s brother was here?

  Instead of answering the question, Pam continued, “And Gabriel should be around here somewhere if you’d like to say hello.”

  “Who’s Gabriel?”

  Did they not know about him?

  “Your brother’s son,” she said, this time in a less assured tone than she’d used all day. “Are you sure you’re his brother? You’re a Coleman? Maybe you have the wrong—”

  “No, no, this is it. That’s my brother in the picture. He just never mentioned... or maybe he did. I don’t know. He stopped talking to me.”

  “Well Gabriel’s here. He’s a fine kid. Very smart.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I should look for him.”

  “You’ve got quite the family.”

  “All mine, yes. My wife’s a trooper.”

  Cousins.

  Gabriel’s cousins were here.

  Suddenly, there was a noise coming around the side of the church. A young child’s wail.

  From around the corner, in the direction he was heading, came a toddler, with nothing but a diaper and a shirt on, running screaming and kind of half laughing, half blubbering with tears.

  On the child’s tail was another kid. A girl, maybe eight or so. She chased after the younger one.

  Gabriel lowered himself so he was at the toddler’s height, trying to block the way.

  At this, the toddler stopped, pausing to stare at Gabriel in intimidation. Big eyes. Wild wavy, light-colored hair.

  That pausing of the toddler was enough for the older kid to catch up, grab the younger one by the wrist.

  And she started yanking.

  The toddler cried, wildly, trying to get away.

  “Everything okay?” Gabriel asked, unsure about letting the older girl pull the kid like that.

  “He’s fine,” she said, waving Gabriel off. “Sorry. Got woken up from his nap when we got here.”

  Oh. “If he’s hungry, there’s food inside.”

  “I know.” And at that, she walked away.

  Was that a cousin? There hadn’t been younger children at the funeral except his other uncle’s.

  Had to be his cousins. They were late getting here.

  Gabriel hesitated following to ask and instead went back the way he’d come, through a back door, looking for Pam.

  He was met in the hallway by a man who looked eerily like his father, just with more weight, especially in the gut, and thinner hair at the temples.

  “Hey,” the man said and he was about to pass by Gabriel, completely oblivious.

  Pam didn’t tell him how older Gabriel was. Maybe he was expecting someone younger.

  “Are you... Coleman?” He didn’t know what his name was, or what to call him.

  This made the man pause. “Yeah?”

  How was he supposed to start? “I’m Gabriel.”

  The man slowly seemed to register the name. “Little Gabriel?” He forced a smile first before it seemed to soften into something a little more genuine.

  Gabriel nodded, unsure what to say. He was a bit more eager to know this uncle. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he looked like his father... or what his father might have looked like when he was actually peaceful and happy.

  His uncle surveyed Gabriel, from his hair to his shoes. “Well, look at you. Your dad didn’t tell me you were so big.”

  From what it sounded like, his dad never mentioned Gabriel’s existence at all. But maybe his uncle didn’t want him to feel bad, especially at his father’s funeral.

  His uncle however reached out and opened his arms. “Come give your Uncle Steve a hug.”

  Steve.

  Gabriel hadn’t heard the name before. Didn’t know he’d even had so many cousins.

  The things his parents never told him... not even his mother... it made little sense. How could his parents not tell him about them?

  Gabriel hugged Steve. In that moment, he was sure it was the first time he’d hugged anyone since his father died.

  Gabriel couldn’t help the collection of tears trying to surface at his eyes. He held back, because he didn’t want to appear to be crying in front of this uncle he’d never seen before.

  When Steve let go, he motioned to Gabriel with a wave of his hand. “You going to come stay with me, little man? I’m your only relative now, aren’t I?”

  Stay? With his uncle?

  He hadn’t even thought of that as a possibility. He could stay with different family?

  It hadn’t been on his mind at all since the funeral. However, now with his dad gone... was that what he wanted?

  Or did he want to stay here in the house where his family had died?

  Sure, there was Kota and Luke and Victor and Nathan... but they’d still be his friends if he went with his uncle, wouldn’t they?

  “I can?” Gabriel asked.

  “Sure!” his uncle said. “Come on, come meet the wife and your cousins.”

  He planted a thick slap on Gabriel’s shoulder, turning him around to head toward the main banquet hall where the food had been splayed out.

  A new family. With people who wanted him. And they were real family, cousins, blood relations.

  How could he say no?

  Every Second Matters Now

  Present Day

  Gabriel

  Mr. Blackbourne sent Sang off to Dr. Green’s office, rather than leaving her alone in the waiting area.

  Back in the principal’s office, now empty of everyone else, Gabriel ripped off the school jacket, tossed it to the floor and parked himself across the desk, back in the same chair he had been in earlier. The light coming in from the window dimmed as clouds thickened outside.

  The emotional rollercoaster of today zapped Gabriel’s energy. Spending time with Sang in the shed, then finding out about her mom, and now this.

  What a day.

  Mr. Blackbourne remained by the door, pushing his back against the frame. “We need to watch ourselves still.”

  “I know,” Gabriel mumbled. He tried to focus on the desk, but Mr. Blackbourne’s clothes caught his attention. It was the same uniform he always wore, except the creases at his arms and across his body had deepened over the course of the day. Still, every hair on his head stayed in place, as if never daring to defy him. “It was just the hoop needed two people...”

  “I understand how it works,” he said. He stepped toward Gabriel, picking up his jacket and draping it neatly across the back of a nearby chair. “Hasn’t there been enough fake fights among us, enough lying to save reputations and suspicions, that we don’t need to add any more right now?”

  He was right, of course. This alone would cause a lot of in-school drama, likely, unless they came up with a solution of some sort. They still had to consider Sang, and not let her be caught up in attention. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “We can’t stop thinking.” Mr. Blackbourne paused as he pulled his own jacket off, putting it on his own office chair. “I wish the world was different. And it concerns me that we may always have to worry about what the world thinks.”

  Gabriel popped his head up, and for the first time, he caught the eye of Mr. Blackbourne and held it.

  There was confidence there. There always had been. He radiated it, enough to spread to the entire team at times. It gave them all a sense of hope that often inspired them to do great things.

  But behind it, just under the surface, was a sliver. A small little thread of concern. It was difficult to notice, but Gabriel spent loads of time with Mr. Blackbourne, maybe more than the others at this point.

  Gabriel had wanted to learn to be as confident as he seemed to be.

  “You think we’ll always have to hide this?” Gabriel asked.

  “I can’t say with confidence that we eventually won’t have to. And I also... can’t expect her to always be okay with a future of hiding this all away in the dark. We all might not be okay with that forever. Especially considering she’s becoming a ghost bird.” He turned his head away, gazing toward the window in the office, so that the light reflected off his glasses. “We try our best, we always do. And what works out, works out. But a future together guarantees we’ll always have to watch our backs. Our success, it’s always been fated to be difficult, full of unforeseeable problems.”

  Gabriel breathed slowly, taking in what he was saying. Mr. Blackbourne wasn’t blind to problems. He didn’t like to show concern, but even he sometimes needed reassurance, a voice of hope and reason. “That’s true with every relationship. With every possible future. Unforeseen problems.” Gabriel leaned forward, pressing a forefinger to the seat of the chair as if to stab his point into the wood. “But the only concerns I have are if she’s happy and if the whole group is happy. Every other good thing in our lives is the bonus.”

  Mr. Blackbourne considered what Gabriel said for a moment. “Do you think, after seeing her grandparents and where she comes from, she will be as confident with staying with us? Have we built enough of a relationship to withstand that blood bond pull?” He reached up to touch briefly at the neck of his tie. “I’m not as confident, despite the time I’ve spent with her. She’s asked for more personal time, but all I have time for is this work.”

  Gabriel smirked a little, although he wondered what Mr. Blackbourne was getting at. He was sometimes dour and serious. It was his way of working out solutions. Gabriel usually enjoyed the tête-à-tête. In this instance however, it was hard to disagree with his doubt and concern about the situation. “You don’t think she’d come back?”

  “It’s not just her I worry about not coming back,” he said. He focused on Gabriel. “You have family there, too.”

  Gabriel raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You think I’d just leave? For those people? They haven’t talked to me since the funeral. I get Christmas cards, and I send my cousins some gifts. That’s about as far as it’s gone in years.”