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Adrian leaned against the porch's railing, glanced over, and did a double-take when he saw me.
"Oh. Didn't expect to see you here." He smiled. "I was right. You are devastating when you're
cleaned up."
Instinctively, I touched the skin around my eye.
"It's gone," he said.
Even without being able to see it, I somehow knew he was right. "You aren't smoking."
"Bad habit," he said. He nodded toward me. "You scared? You're wearing a lot of protection."
I frowned, then looked down. I hadn't noticed my clothing. I wore a pair of embroidered jeans
I'd seen once but had been unable to afford. My T-shirt was cropped, showing off my stomach,
and I wore a belly-button ring. I'd always wanted to get my belly button pierced but had never
been able to afford it. The charm I now wore here was a little silver dangly one, and hanging at
the end of it was that weird blue eye pendant my mom had given me. Lissa's chotki was wound
around my wrist.
I looked back up at Adrian, studying the way the sun shone off his brown hair. Here, in full
daylight, I could see that his eyes were indeed green—a deep emerald as opposed to Lissa's
pale jade. Something startling suddenly occurred to me.
"Doesn't all this sun bother you?"
He gave a lazy shrug. "Nah. It's my dream."
"No, it's my dream."
"Are you sure?" His smile returned.
I felt confused. "I… I don't know."
He chuckled, but a moment later, the laugher faded. For the first time since I'd met him, he
looked serious. "Why do you have so much darkness around you?"
I frowned. "What?"