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people again. And if I’m wrong about all the things I’ve told myself a million times—then maybe I’m wrong about everything. If you’re for real, then my whole world is upside down. But if I open up these walls and I get burnt, I’ll have to rebuild them twice as thick. And I’m afraid of being that person, too.
    One final twinge. His eyes increased in size until I’d tumbled into the black pupils and seen nothing but the abyss reflected therein: my abyss. There were no words in this place; there was only an image, a dream.
    It was me, and it was not me. This woman was older than I was, and she had thick, wild black hair lifted by some phantom wind. She was taller than I, and held herself with a noticeable confidence: shoulders squared, chin up, eyes even. Although she was slender, like I was, her body still wasn’t quite the same. Her cheeks were pink, and her tan skin bore a smattering of freckles, as well as scars. Her face bore the exact same structure as mine. It bore not one single crease, and somehow, I knew that this was because of her effort to appear strong, and not because she was never bothered by anything. She wore a blue gown and an armored breastplate: a warrior and royalty in one.
    In the next moment, as suddenly as a plug ripped from a drain, I funneled backwards out of Theon’s eyes—I had forgotten I’d even been there—and was back on my Dad’s stoop again: December, Maine, hyperventilating, vertigo, and everything else.
    I shook my head and staggered away from him. I’d never taken drugs or even gotten drunk before in my life. So how could I explain how I’d just been led into Theon’s eyes, drawn down into absolute darkness, and shown a vision of myself so realistic I’d forgotten I was standing on a porch?
    “What… was that? What did you do to me?”
    “It was just a test for confirmation.” Theon’s brow creased with concern at my reaction. “I meant no harm.”
    I placed my hand over my chest, as if to protect my heart. “Well, you did harm,” I snapped. That was invasive! And—and wrong! And what did you do? Did you hypnotize me? “How did you do that?”
    “It’s a gift,” Theon said. His eyes shone with remorse.
    I jabbed my finger in the air at him. “A gift is…” I began hotly before reining myself in at the last minute. I would not become my mother, standing outside with my father, yelling hurtful things which hardly made sense to outsiders. “A gift is finally meeting a guy who is willing to take the time to unravel you.” I lifted my eyes to his. Augh, I hated how sad he looked. You can’t make me feel guilty for being mad that you just… sucked my soul into your eyes! “A gift is respect for boundaries.” I pursed my lips. “You can’t just do that to people. It’s not right.”
    Theon reached for me again, as if to touch my hair, but I took a step back and glared at him. “Believe me when I say that I would never intentionally hurt you,” he said. “I will never do that again. You may keep your secrets—and I’ll wait for you to reveal them to me in your own time.”
    “Yeah, I think that would be fair.” I grasped the doorknob behind my back. I dared glance up at him one final time. “Considering you’ve got secrets of your own you feel free to keep.” With that, I twisted the doorknob and let myself inside, closing the door firmly and leaning my back against it. Maybe I was crazy to think that I could feel the heat from his body emanating through this wood… and maybe he was right on the other side of the door, feeling me too.
    I shook my head. No, no, ridiculous. The heat ventilation was just angled toward the front door, that was all. I tore myself away and traipsed to collect my luggage, still piled on the floor where it had been left a lifetime ago.

Chapter 10: Nell
    I was moving toward the staircase with my bags when Dad came thundering out of his bedroom, wild-eyed. “Where have you been?” he demanded. “And who was