Page 9 of Heavensent & Hellbent

She clasped her fingers together. “Great! Can you cover the floor while I grab some lunch? I won’t be longer than fifteen minutes—I promise.”

“What if someone wants to buy something?” I asked, feelingvery much thrown into the deep end. It seemed a red flag that she was willing to have me manage the entire bookshop—albeit for fifteen minutes—when she didn’t know me, and, more crucially, I knew nothing about the place.

“People spend so long browsing that probably won’t happen…” she said, edging toward the back room. “And if it does, ask them to wait!”

“Okay?” I said, not sure how else to respond.

“If you could start with unpacking those boxes, that would beamazing,” she called before the staff room door swung shut.

I put my bag under the cash register and glanced at a stack of five boxes against the wall. Dropping one onto the counter, I opened it and the smell of freshly cut books was heaven. I inhaled deeply, shutting my eyes. I was taken to summers back home, reading all day in my room. My mum calling me downstairs to have lunch, then dinner, bringing me cups of tea as I tore through novel after novel.

As I organized the books alphabetically by author onto a trolley, I let my mind wander. The upside of letting the nightmares in was that they rarely happened more than once in a night. So after watchingGuardians of the Galaxywith Ehsan and my dad, I went to bed early and slept soundly, waking up fresh thirteen hours later. I didn’t even need to put on much concealer today, opting instead for tinted moisturizer that left me with a shiny glow and my signature winged eyeliner, because my face didn’t feel like mine without it.

The girl and the golden-haired boy lingered in the back of my mind.I’ll always love you.It seemed my dreams were abouttwo lovers. Last night, before bed, I expanded on my drawing of the boy, refining his eyes, showing the pain there as he called to me—to her, whoever she was.

Of course, I’d had secret theories about my dreams. Like what if these visions were of a past self being burned? The dreams were so visceral, so specific. It was only in moving to Denver, though, that they had progressed, and I saw more of what was around me. Particularly, the boy. The boy who apparently worked only a few doors away from here…

Fifteen minutes had passed without me realizing. Cleo stood opposite me, cheeks a little less pink now, lip gloss freshly applied.

“Thank you so much. I practically inhaled my burrito,” she said.

“No problem. I’ve almost finished unpacking the boxes.”

“Cool, I’ll help you finish putting these on the cart.” She stood next to me and ripped open the last box. We methodically organized the books by genre, then in alphabetical order, onto the trolley. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen,” I said. “You?”

“Same. And before you question why an eighteen-year-old is running a bookstore, know that I’ve been working here for years now. Some would say it’s a violation of child labor laws but…” She shrugged.

“So can you get any of these books for free?”

Cleo laughed. “Yes, sort of, but that’s more because my mom is the boss than because I work here. And that perk becomes less exciting when you’re working in a bookstore while all yourfriends are away for summer break. It’s okay, though—I’ll travel later.”

The bell on the top of the door jingled, signaling a new customer. I was not, however, prepared for who it was.

He didn’t look in our direction but first went toward a stand of new releases. He wore his uniform, presumably on his lunch break. I must have made a choking sound because Cleo asked if I was okay.

“Yeah, it’s just a cough.” At this, Cleo appeared more concerned. “I’m not sick,” I quickly backtracked. “Just have a tickle in my throat.”

She leaned her elbows on the counter, a knowing look on her face once her eyes flicked toward the boy then back at me. “You sure it has nothing to do with the guy who walked in a second ago?”

I bit the inside of my cheek for something to focus on and kept my gaze down on the cover of a Tahereh Mafi book. I was staring at it for so long and yet I couldn’t tell you which one of her books it was. MaybeAn Emotion of Great Delight. OrA Very Large Expanse of Sea.Possibly neither.

“What guy?” I asked.

The boy put the book he was reading back down on the display table and made his way to the counter. It was only when he was directly opposite me that he really noticed my face. That same look of recognition from yesterday struck him, and his head cocked ever so slightly to the right. His eyes went to Cleo, his lips perking up in an almost-smile.

“They sent you here for change again?” she asked.

“Yep,” he said, rocking back on his heels. “Sorry. I did tell the old man that he should just go to the bank, but he told me to try.” He had fifty dollars in his hands, which Cleo took and exchanged for smaller bills.

He did prayer hands. “You’re a lifesaver.” His voice was silky smooth and when he flashed Cleo a smile with his straight, white teeth, I swear she started blushing.

“Anytime,” she choked. At least I wasn’t the only one acting like a fool in front of this boy.

He pivoted himself back toward me and asked, “Have we met before?”

Tongue-tied, my mind immediately went back to my dreams. Us tied up, cold eyes watching us as flames engulfed our bodies.I’ll always love you. But no, that wasn’t what he was referring to. “I was at the diner yesterday,” I finally said.