Chapter 2

Calliope woke to sunlight streaming through her windows and falling across her pillow. Her heart jumped into her mouth as she remembered the Testers arrival. 

Calliope leaped up, hardly noticing that she was still wearing the clothes she’d thrown on the night before. She took them off and put on a new outfit: A white cotton blouse tucked into a brown pleated skirt. 

Padme entered Calliope’s room, dressed in a faded blue cotton dress with only a small tear in the hem. She was combing her hair with a comb that had several broken teeth, and as she finished, she pulled a slightly less faded ribbon from her teeth and tied up her hair. 

“Calliope, Adalynn is here and she says that you should’ve been at the workshop twenty minutes ago.”

Calliope closed her eyes. She hadn’t realized it was so late. Adalynn Celadon, the technician Calliope assisted, valued timeliness above all else. 

She raced down the hall, skidding into the living room at lightning speed.

“Calliope.” The one word made Calliope's worst fears a reality. It was too late. Adalynn pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing to slits. 

“I’m so sorry. The Emergency Council Meeting…”

“...Makes it even more important for you to be on time.” Adalynn stood, then exited the room. 

“Come, Calliope.” 

Calliope followed Adalynn out the door, ignoring her mother fluttering around with plates of steaming food. 

“At least eat something, Calliope.” 

“Your daughter was late to her occupation. She has no time to eat.”

With this, Adalynn ushered Calliope not-so gently out the door.

When she stepped outside, Calliope forgot her tiredness in delight at the warm air and gorgeous trees surrounding her house. Devlin had always loved spring. Calliope glanced up towards Knott’s Hill– a natural reaction when thinking of Devlin– and sighed at its splendor. 

“Come on, girl.” Adalynn snapped her fingers impatiently. 

Calliope looked at her instructor with reproachful and imploring eyes, but Adalynn wasn’t budging. 

“We have work to do.” She said, turning away from the hill and toward the workshop, which was a small shack located deep in a forest much darker than the one behind Calliope’s house. 

The pair made their way towards the shadows that engulfed the workshop while Calliope thought in the still silence of the late morning. She thought about the rebel testing, she thought about her occupation, and she tried hard not to think about Devlin. 

Suddenly, Calliope saw two tall figures sauntering through the woods toward her and Adalynn. At first, she thought it was her imagination, since she’d been trying not to think about the exact person closing the gap between them at that moment, but then its voice, drifting across the expanse of dead leaves, grew louder.

“Rowan, you don’t know anything.” It was clear to Calliope that Devlin wasn’t angry with his instructor, Rowan Gamboge.

“Actually, being a Twenty means I’m technically a Fully Grown. You, however, are an Adolescent.” Just then, something distracted Rowan and he peered through the trees at the girls. 

“I think we’re being stalked, Adalynn.” Calliope said loudly. 

“It’s just us, Callie.” Devlin called. 

Adalynn began to make her way over to the boys, and Calliope followed reluctantly, dragging her feet and not looking at Devlin. She liked Rowan, though, and so when she reached the clearing where the group stood, she managed to produce a large smile.

“Hey, Rowan!” She chirped a little too brightly. Calliope caught sight of Devlin out of the corner of her eye and was aggravated to see one of his eyebrows crooked in a sharp arch. 

“Hey, Calliope.” Rowan replied with a grin, brushing his brown hair out of his eyes and carefully positioning it perfectly on his head again.

“Where are you two going?” Adalynn questioned abruptly. 

“One of the idiotic supply deliverers delivered the supplies we need to the wrong address, and we need them today, so Mr. Adolescent and I– Devlin, stop kicking me– are going to pick them up.” Rowan replied. 

An awkward silence prevailed over the group, and Calliope looked at anything other than Devlin. She carefully studied the leaves for so long that when she looked back down, everyone was staring at her. 

“Well, you best be on your way.’’ Adalynn said curtly. Calliope agreed wholeheartedly, though Rowan seemed to have other plans.

“We’ll come with you two. The workshop is on the way to our destination.” No, no, no, no, no. That was the last thing that Calliope wanted. But when Adalynn gave a singular nod and beckoned everyone towards her, Calliope sighed and began to follow, lagging far behind Devlin and Rowan’s laughing figures. 

“How would you know? You’ve never had a girlfriend.” Rowan proclaimed, evidently continuing a previous conversation.

“You don’t know that.” Devlin said dangerously. 

“You probably haven’t even kissed anybody.” Rowan replied dismissively. Devlin glanced behind him towards Calliope, and she immediately pretended not to be watching him. Rowan hadn’t missed where Devlin’s eyes had gone, though, and his eyes darted back to Calliope before he leaned in towards the slightly smaller figure next to him. 

“What? Calliope?” He whispered just loud enough for Calliope to hear.

“Huh? No!” Devlin tried in vain to cover up his mistake as his face grew progressively redder.

Rowan slowed to a halt and his mouth fell open. 

“I can’t believe it. You kissed Calliope Ambrose!” Calliope winced at the volume of Rowan’s voice.

“No I didn’t, Rowan. Shut up.”

Calliope felt her cheeks grow red, and she glanced down at the dead leaves littering the ground. She could feel Rowan’s eyes on her, and she wanted with all her might to disappear. Fortunately for her, at that moment, Adalynn called to her. 

“Calliope, we’ve arrived.” Calliope ignored Rowan’s startled goodbye, as if he’d just been jolted out of a reverie. Devlin said nothing.

The workshop was one of Calliope’s favorite places. It was dark and quiet, and spiders crawled adventurously across the floor, not fearing for their deaths, for they knew that the giants thundering around them were amiable. 

Calliope took a spark plug from the nearby table, continuing work on her latest project, which had been a malfunctioning receiver. Receivers were used to pick up signals for Emergency Council Meetings, as well as other things necessary for comfortable life in Salus. 

“You need to finish that soon, Calliope. We have lots of work to do.” Calliope knew that. She fiddled with the wires spilling out of the receiver, connecting them in different ways to jumpstart the machine. 

“Calliope. Safety.” Rolling her eyes, Calliope pulled on the sleek black gloves meant to protect her hands from the small explosions that often took place in the workshop. When Calliope had first been in the workshop, she had forgotten about the gloves and when the explosion occurred, her hands had been red and her skin peeled for weeks. 

“Adalynn?”

“Yes, Calliope?”

Calliope wasn’t sure that she should ask Adalynn for advice on Devlin, but she also wasn’t sure she could wait, and who else could she ask? 

“Why… Did a boy ever… Why are boys so hard to understand?” Adalynn turned away from her work and crossed the floor to Calliope. 

“I think I know what you’re saying. He’ll come around, Calliope.” She wasn’t sure, but Calliope thought she saw her instructor’s eyes soften. Calliope shook her head and turned back to stare down at her gloves, blinking away tears. 

“But… maybe it’s me, Adalynn.”

“Oh, it’s both of you, dear. It always is.” The workshop fell silent, except for the scurrying of mice across the floorboards. 

Calliope left the workshop late that evening, satisfied with the amount of work she had done that day. She’d finished the receiver and begun work on an Automatic Food Supplier, which provided styrofoam containers filled with a slime-like substance, which was supplied to be flavored like the food it imitated. The Supplier took into account the number of calories you’d ingested and the grams of protein you hadn’t to produce the perfect meals for you. Calliope loved when her parents got off work early to make real dinners so they didn’t have to use their Supplier. 

Calliope was jolted from her reveries by the sound of a heated argument 

“You’re the one who…” The person speaking had a low, dangerous voice, and Calliope realized that she recognized it.

“Don’t you dare blame me!” This voice was high and hysterical.

“I’m not blaming you. I’m stating a fact!” Heath’s voice rose to a shout. 

“Shut up!” 

“Calypso, calm down!” Calliope strayed as she realized that the person Heath was yelling at was his sister. This was strange. Heath and Calypso had been best friends since childhood. 

“I hate you! You ruined everything!” To Calliope’s horror, Calypso’s shrill voice was heading towards her. But suddenly, Heath’s voice rang out. 

“It’s just that… you’re so perfect.” The venom was liberal in Heath’s voice. 

“I’m not perfect.” Calypso sounded like she was about to cry. “But, according to you, Calliope Ambrose is.” 

Calliope caught her breath. Was she the reason the twins were arguing? Was that even possible? 

“I never said…” Heath began. 

“Oh, I know you didn’t say it, but I’ve seen it in the way you look at her. Just… don’t talk to me anymore.” The footsteps were moving towards Calliope again. She cast her eyes around, then scaled a tree until she was twelve feet in the air. 

“Wait! Lylie!” Heath's voice shook as he called to her sister, but Calypso’s dark sheet of hair was already disappearing through the branches. 

Calliope wasn’t about to climb down, though, since Heath was still clearly visible, but she began to relax. She tilted her head back to look at the sky. It was rapidly approaching dusk, which meant curfew was on its way. Heath would surely start heading his house soon, and Calliope would have plenty of time to get home herself. 

But Heath wasn’t leaving. Instead, he was lying down and staring up at the branches silhouetted against the night sky. 

By the time half an hour had passed, Calliope was beginning to get worried. Heath wasn’t moving, and curfew was in three minutes. Suddenly, Heath leaped to his feet and, hands stuffed deep in pockets, made his way out of clearing.

Relieved, Calliope slid off her branch, landing on her hands and knees. She jumped up and sprinted straight for her house. She reached it with twenty seconds to spare, and Padme greeted her at the door with a worried, motherly look. 

“Where were you, Callie?”

“Just let me inside before the curfew bell.” Padme opened the door a bit wider, and Calliope slipped inside just in time. The bell rang loudly moments after she’d entered the house. 

“Where were you?” Padme wasn’t giving up. 

“I got distracted.” That wasn’t technically a lie. The argument between Calypso and Heath had been extremely distracting. 

Padme seemed to accept this, and Calliope’s heart rate slowed. 

“Oh, Calliope. There you are. You didn’t miss curfew, did you?” Calliope’s mother stepped into the room, her hair curling out of stress. 

“I didn’t miss curfew. Don’t worry.” Calliope didn’t want to talk to her family about her day, but since her mother insisted on having their evening meal together, she had to sit down at the table instead of fleeing to her room. The only conversation was forced and tense, since everyone could tell that Calliope was trying hard not to answer any questions. Even the food wasn’t much of a talking point, for, being from the Automatic Food Supplier, was fairly tasteless, with only a hint of the meat they were supposed to be enjoying. 

“I think… I think I’ll go work on my application to Confractus College.” Padme reported. Students had to submit an application to the college, but most everyone was accepted. Only one student in Calliope’s year had been rejected, and he had been exiled. No one knew where you went when you were exiled, just that you wouldn’t see your family or anyone you had ever known again. 

Taking a deep breath, Calliope pushed back her chair and stood up. 

“I’m going to go upstairs too. I have work to do.” 

“Ok, Calliope. Remember to prepare for tomorrow. The ceremony of recognition begins at eight.”

“Right. I’ll tell Padme.” Calliope dashed upstairs, stopping for a moment to knock on her sister’s bedroom door.

“I’m still working on my application.” Padme said through the door.  

“It’s ok, it’s just me.” Calliope tapped on the door to allow it to swing open, then leaned against the doorframe. 

“Oh, hi Callie.” Padme glanced up and smiled welcomingly at her sister.

“Mom wants me to tell you that the ceremony of recognition is at nine tomorrow.”

“Ok.” Padme sighed. Silence prevailed over the room, and eventually, Calliope left the room, looking over her shoulder at her sister’s head, bent over the paper she was scribbling on. 

When Calliope reached her room, all thoughts of her sister were driven out of her head. There was a face at her window.

“Heath!” Calliope rushed to the window, her hair flying, and threw open the latch. 

“Shh.” Heath climbed into Calliope’s room and quickly shut the window. 

“What are you doing here?” Calliope whispered loudly, hardly heeding Heath’s warning. She watched as the dark haired boy in front of her checked the window on the opposite wall and then leaned himself against the door. 

“You can’t tell anyone I was here. I just…” Calliope was drawn near tears at the sight of Heath’s despair.

“Is everything alright? Is it about the rebel testing?” Calliope asked hesitantly.

“No. Well, yes. I’m not sure. But… but I just needed to tell someone.” Heath took a deep breath. “It’s Calypso.” Calliope inhaled sharply, her mind flying back to the twins’ fight in the forest. 

“What about Calypso? Heath, are you sure you’re alright?” Calliope took hold of Heath’s arm and tugged him, with great difficulty, to her bed. Heath perched on the very edge of the firm mattress and continued.

“It’s because of you, Calliope. I was talking to her about you and she just… exploded.” Heath put his head in his hands.

“I… I’m sorry.” Calliope didn’t know if this was the right thing to say. Lately, it seemed as though she didn’t know anything about boys. 

“It’s not your fault, Callie.” Heath looked up fiercely, a kind of fire in his eyes. “It’s mine. I was the one who infuriated Lylie. I…” Heath’s voice had risen dangerously, and suddenly, he stopped. Footsteps were slowly climbing the stairs.

“Calliope? Are you alright up there?” 

“My mother.” Calliope leaped up and threw herself against the closed door. Heath ran to the window and swung himself out onto the narrow ledge. 

“Calliope, darling, is there someone with you up there?”

“No, I’m fine.” Seeing that Heath was safely out of sight, Calliope dived for the bed, making it there just in time, so that when her mother entered, she was sitting normally, though a bit stiffly, on the blankets which had been disrupted when the two teens sitting on them had lunged away.

Calliope’s mother scanned the room, her eyes alighting for half a second more on the open window. 

“I wanted some air.” Calliope broke the silence, answering her mother’s questioning eyes. 

“All right. Get to bed. Early morning tomorrow.” 

As soon as the door had closed, Calliope made for the window. When she opened it, Heath was gone.

Calliope climbed into bed, the cool white sheets enveloping her. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Calliope awoke to darkness later that night. At first she thought the soft wind whistling into her room through her still open window had woken her, but then she noticed a dark shape at the end of her bed. She couldn’t quite make it out, and without her trying to, she found herself moving closer to it. 

The shape was long and thin, and it was curving, twisting, and writhing as if in pain. When Calliope was about two feet away from it, the thing she now recognized as a snake lunged right for Calliope. The world went black.

Calliope sat up quickly, her hair clouding around her face. There was no snake now, and yet it was a minute before she realized her late night experience had been a dream. Her breathing beginning to slow, Calliope brushed a strand of light hair out of her face.

“Calliope!” Padme’s clear voice rang through Calliope’s room. “Time for preparation!” 

Calliope leaped up and walked over to the clothes she’d selected ages ago for the ceremony of recognition. She just hadn’t expected to have to wear them this soon. 

She undressed, then slipped the soft rose colored dress over her head, the smooth silk brushing her arms and legs. The dress fell to her lower thighs and she had black flats to go along with it. 

When she was dressed, she entered the kitchen where Padme was sitting dressed all in sky blue. Her red hair was in soft curls on her shoulders, and her cheeks were rosy from excitement and nerves. Padme had never been to a ceremony of recognition before, since it only happened every 10 years.

“Don’t be nervous, Padme. You know your part perfectly.” The young ones were put in small groups to show the Rebel Testers how the education was going in Salus, since the testers didn’t just test the soon-to-be rebels, though that was their main occupation. The ceremony of recognition was a way to get the education testing out of the way. 

However much Calliope told Padme not to worry, however, she was a bit off-set as well. She still had to test her education levels, though she had graduated a few months ago. She raised her hand to her mouth and bit at the skin underneath her fingernails. It was a bad habit she’d acquired when she was very young. After a few moments, Calliope’s mother entered the room, caught sight of her two daughters doing nothing, and clapped her hands twice. 

“Come, girls. Time to go.” 

When Calliope stepped out onto the grass outside her house, she saw the three Personal Hovercrafts belonging to Calliope and her parents already sitting on the lawn. There was a small attachment, somewhat like a sidecar, on the side of her mother’s hovercraft for Padme, since she wouldn’t get her own until she was a Fourteen. 

Calliope walked a small circle around hers, examining it from all angles. It was covered in a thin layer of dust, but other than that, it was in perfect condition. 

“Hurry up, Calliope.” Calliope shook her head and looked around at her family, who were all ready to go. Calliope climbed onto her hovercraft, adjusting her skirts so that they fell equally on both sides of the seat. 

“Ready to go?” Calliope’s father asked, glancing towards the sky. “Ok, now.” The family kicked off from the ground and soared for the clouds. The hovercrafts steadied at about nine yards above the ground, then took off towards the center of town. 

Calliope loved the sensation of flying. She loved the cool air rushing through her hair, she loved dodging the trees that silhouetted against the sun, she loved just being under the open sky. But the ride didn’t last long.

After a half hour, her father began dipping down below the clouds. “Be ready for landing.” He said above the wind. Calliope circled lower and lower, and eventually she took her feet off the sides of the hovercraft and let them hang until she could set them sturdily on the ground. 

A bit delirious from the ride, Calliope parked her hovercraft in the long metal rack and waited for her family to join her. Then, together, they entered the huge building in front of them. 

If the Council Hall was intimidating, the building Calliope was now in was more than daunting, more than formidable, more than extravagant. The entire place was made of marble, and there were gold accents around the large stage, which was equipped with a flowing, crimson, silk and velvet curtain. The chairs on the stage were elaborate solid gold, and the ones facing it were marble and stemmed straight from the floor. Red velvet covered every seat, and Calliope marveled at the wealth of it all.

“Callie!” Calliope turned, and caught sight of Devlin resting his arms on the back of Faye’s seat. They looked like a picture in one of the cheesy romance books Calliope had dismissed when she was an Eight. 

“Hi, guys.” Calliope made her way over to them and took the seat next to Faye’s. Devlin didn’t glance at her, but his eyes made it clear he registered her presence. 

Faye’s eyes narrowed as they darted from Devlin to Calliope, and she took a deep breath, but just as she was about to speak, the doors to the outside burst open and a dark haired man entered, a tight-lipped woman following a few steps behind him. The doors were almost shut before Heath caught the twenty pound wood and held it open until he and his sister were both safely inside.

“Are those Heath’s parents?” Faye asked, and Calliope caught sight of the empathy in her face. Calliope hadn’t realized before now that she had never seen Heath’s parents before. They had never been around. 

Calliope noticed Devlin’s line of sight on Heath’s parents, and smiled sadly at the distress written all over his features. It reminded her of the old Devlin. 

Her own eyes went back to the figures near the front of the room. The man appeared to be conversing with his wife, pointing her towards the seats in the first row. Calypso and Heath followed their parents and took the seats next to them. Heath’s father stiffened and seemed to avert his eyes from his son. Heath didn’t look at his father, but Calliope could see him wilt slightly.

Suddenly, a woman walked onto the stage and stepped up to the podium. Other men and women followed her and took seats at the back of the stage. Calliope’s eyes fixed on an ancient, wizened old man who appeared to be withering away in his chair. She didn’t know how it hadn’t occurred to her before that many of the testers must have been alive for decades.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” The woman at the podium said into a microphone. “Today is the day where we acknowledge our graduates applying for Rebel Testing.” The cheers drowned the rest of her sentence. “And,” she pronounced, when things had quietened down, “When we test the education quality here in Salus.” Dead silence. Calliope could see Padme biting her lip in nervousness.

“Is Padme alright?” Faye whispered to Calliope without taking her eyes off the woman on stage.

“She’ll be fine.” Calliope muttered back, though she wasn’t sure. Padme’s frail spirit could be crushed by the harsh comments from the testers. 

“If you were not here for the last ceremony of recognition, I will explain how things work around here. When we call your age group up to the stage, we will assign each of you a tester, and they will test you about all you should have learned this year.” Calliope didn’t like the emphasis the woman put on the words ‘should have’. “Now, will the Sevens please come to the stage.” A group of small children staggered to the stage and stood in a wobbly line in front of the podium. 

“They look so scared, poor things.” Faye murmured. “I hope the testers aren’t too hard on them.” 

For some strange reason, Calliope’s eyes were drawn to the smallest child in the line-up. A tiny, pixie-like girl with large gray eyes. Her skin was pale as snow and perfectly clear. She was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet and staring at the ceiling. perfectly clear. She was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet and staring up at the ceiling as if to avoid the reality of the situation. 

“Eburnean, Mauve.” A girl with wild brown hair stepped up to the podium. “Your trainer is… Devyn Falu.” A tall, dark-skinned woman stood and beckoned the child over to her. Calliope watched until only the gray-eyed girl was left. 

“Zaffre, Odette.” The girl inhaled deeply as she took several small steps to reach the podium. “Your trainer is..  Conan Smalt.” The ancient man Calliope had seen earlier crooked his finger, somehow drawing the girl towards him as if it were magic. 

The testing was a lengthy process, often over an hour for each age group. Calliope leaned closer to the stage in an effort to hear the words of the gray-eyes girl’s tester, but it was useless. The rumble of voices mixed together to form a wave of sound in which it was impossible to pick out any one voice. 

Calliope glanced over at Heath again, and realized that he was gone. When had he left? How could she not have seen him leave? Quietly, Calliope got to her feet and began making her way along the row of seats, mumbling apologies to everyone who stood up to let her pass. Faye looked over at Calliope questioningly, and Calliope answered by gesturing towards the front row. She slipped out the door, and, looking behind her to make sure the door didn’t slam, she nearly ran into a dark-haired figure standing just outside the entrance. 

“Heath!” Calliope gasped. 

“Hi, Calliope.” Heath’s voice was stiff and emotionless.

“Are you okay? Is everything alright?” Calliope uttered hurriedly.

“What do you think?” Calliope took a step back at the pain and anger in Heath’s voice. He’d never spoken to her like that. “You’ve seen my father. Would you be alright if you had a father like that?” 

“Heath…” Calliope's voice shook as she spoke. “I…”

“Can I show you something?” Heath whipped around, his eyes ablaze.

“I… of course.” Calliope relented. Heath grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him as he ran, ran away from the hardships that lay behind. Calliope began to slow after a few minutes, especially when Health began to lead her towards the rocky shores of the forbidden ocean. 

“Heath, we can’t be here. No one can.” Calliope said under her breath, glancing around to make sure they weren’t overheard. 

“That’s exactly why I come here. To be alone. Especially when my father has been…” Heath trailed off, scanning the horizon as if looking for something no one else could see. “Follow me.” Heath suddenly snapped back to reality and began to walk along the edge of the shore, and Calliope followed him, periodically looking through the trees in case they were being watched. 

When Heath stopped, he was standing in front of a tall tree, peering up in it’s branches. 

“What are we doing here?” Calliope asked, her eyes moving up and down, taking in every inch of the tree’s stature.

“Don’t question. Just climb.” Heath took a hold of a low branch and pulled himself into the tree. Calliope hesitated only a second before doing the same. She’d climbed the tree on Knott’s Hill enough to know exactly what to do. She followed in Heath’s footsteps until they reached a canopy of leaves about a hundred feet in the air.

“You’ll love this, Calliope.” Heath looked down at Calliope as he spoke, and Calliope felt a rush of exhilaration which was nothing like she’d ever known before. Heath disappeared through the foliage, and Calliope could hear the leaves rustling under Heath’s weight. She took a deep breath, then hauled herself above the mass of greenery.

A gasp escaped her mouth at the sight that met her eyes. Heath was silhouetted against a gorgeous sky of all the colors of the rainbow. The hues reflected upon the gentle waters that washed up on the sand, and Calliope realized her mouth had fallen open in astonishment.

“It’s called a sunrise. Nice, isn’t it?” Heath’s voice broke into her consciousness.

“It’s more than nice, it’s brilliant!” Calliope breathed. “But, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. How do you get here from the neighborhood? It’s miles away.”

“I walk.” Heath’s voice turned surly, and Calliope wondered quickly if she’d said the wrong thing, but she was reassured by his next sentence. 

“Calliope, I’ve been here often enough to notice something.” Heath raised his hand and pointed towards a small spot in the sky. “Look. See that?” Calliope caught sight of a charcoal-colored pin-prick just above the water. 

“That?” Calliope said, pointing in the same direction. 

“Yeah, that bird’s always there. Keep watching.” Calliope gazed towards the bird, which appeared to be flying in their direction, but then, it flickered and disappeared. Calliope blinked.

“What?” 

“It’s not real.” Heath said, his head tilted a bit to the side. 

“It’s not…”

“Yes, it’s not real. It’s a simulation. Whenever it passes just about three hundred yards from the edge of the sand, it disappears.” 

Calliope stared out at the place the bird had disappeared for a few moments more, then turned back to Heath, whose gaze was fixed on her. Heath hurriedly glanced down at his own hands when he saw her looking at him, but then he raised his eyes to Calliope’s face, and when he saw the soft smile playing around her lips, he spoke.

“You… you look nice today, Calliope.” Calliope’s eyes drifted down to her dress, then looked back up at Heath.

“Thank you.” Calliope’s heart was beginning to pound in her chest.

“All I mean is… your hair is gorgeous, of course, every boy in our school knows that, but I never notice, at least, not usually, and your dress really brings out the color of your eyes, and… and…” Heath’s voice slowed to a halt, and his face began to redden to a deep crimson.

“Are you… what are you saying?” Calliope’s voice seemed to have jumped an octave. 

“This.” Heath leaned forward towards Calliope, and kissed her.