My throat tightens and a strange buzz fills me with energy. I weave to Ernie and Bert, who stop

dancing when they notice my clenched fists.

“You okay, man?” Bert asks, puffing out his chest. “Someone bothering you?”

“I just—” Want to go home? Was that it? “—will you dance with me?”

Ernie breaks away from Bert. “Thought you’d never ask.”

It’s strange when Ernie takes my hands and pulls me close. Awkward, and his aftershave

overpowers me. But we manage something akin to dancing, and halfway through the second song, I

relax as our laughter drowns out the whispers. So long as I don’t look across the room to Jace, I’m fine.

I find my sister across the hall, watching us. Her head is cocked slightly and a mesmerized smile

makes her face glow.

“Me too, me too,” Bert says, butting Ernie out the way and grabbing my hips. “All the girls are

looking. Share the love.”

Bert is taller than me but not by much. I’m spin him around per Ernie’s request.

“Fag!” some bastard says at the sidelines. I flip him the bird.

When Class A bastard says it again, Bert balls his fists and storms toward him. I grab Bert’s shirt.

“Just leave it. Probably a closet case himself.” My words shut the dumbass up.

I smile. See? I can stand up for who I am.

I whirl around at the tap on my shoulder, ready to block a punch if I have to.

“Jace!” I search the crowds for Susan. “But I thought—”

“Can I cut in?” He says to Bert, who backs off with a grin.

The mirrored ball reflects squares of light onto Jace’s face. I try to nudge a small smile from him,

but he’s not biting. Something lurks behind the depths of his eyes. I glance at our shiny black shoes.

He touches my forearm.

I glance up. “What will Susan think?”

He looks at Susan, who’s sitting on a bench chatting with Darren and my sister. “It’s fine.”

His hand slides up my arm to my shoulder, and he steps closer. We’re almost the same height. “I

got your note.”

The last of my jealousy bleeds away, replaced by a pulsing ache. “I am, okay? Always there.”

“She’s going to fight it. She will.” His voice is stern, determined, as if he’s convincing himself.

“Now, just . . . dance with me?”

I swallow and fumble for a loose hold on his hips. His fingers press into my shoulder blades as he

draws me nearer. Our auras hum, and our lengths are but an inch apart. His cheek brushes mine for a

tender moment. “I’m sorry for shutting you out.”

We sway slowly to the beat, but everyone else is jumping and swinging wildly.

A tear falls onto my neck and rolls under my collar.

I slide my arms around his waist and squeeze. “I’m here. I’ll be here for whatever you need.”

Another tear follows the same path. With every inch, my pain deepens. I don’t know what else I

can say. Don’t know what else I can do.

So I say nothing. Do nothing.

Just feel the stone against my heart and pray everything will turn out okay.

And dance.

opal

Dad fumbles with his key, trying to open the damn door. Jace has an arm wrapped around his mum.

The air is tense, pensive, as it always is after coming home from one of her treatments. The key sliding

into the lock sounds like cymbals battering together. Then the key gets stuck, and Dad jiggles.

I rest a hand over my dad’s trembling one, and take over. Lila burps softly as I push open the door.

She makes it over the threshold before retching. A pained and embarrassed groan warbles her “Sorry.”

Dad and Jace stroke her back as another spasm takes hold of her. Annie pales. “I’ll . . . make some

tea.” She hurries away.

The acidic scent fills the entranceway and follows me to the cleaning supplies, where I grab a mop

and then fill a bucket of soapy water.

When I come back to clean up, Jace grabs the bucket and mop. Twisting his back as if to curtain his

mum from me, he cleans up. I back away. I feel so . . . so stupid. Useless.

I race upstairs and make sure she has a bucket by the bed and some water. Dad carries Lila to the

bathroom first, and then settles her in under the covers. Jace stands with me at the door; his body is

strung tight and he shifts from foot to foot, then pushes his fingers into his pockets. Pulls them out

again.

Lila chuckles softly. “Knock-knock,” she says, looking at Jace and me.

Jace frowns. “Who’s there?”

“Cancer.”

His Adam’s apple bobs with quick swallows. “Cancer who?”

“Cancer see I need some sleep?”

Jace blinks rapidly, twists, and darts out of the room.

Lila swears, tries to call after him, but he isn’t coming back. “Too much, then,” she says.

Dad kisses her thinning hair. “He’ll be all right. You rest now, beautiful.”

She leans back against the pillows. “Just for a bit. Then I’ll talk with him.”

I awkwardly wish her a good sleep. I’m itching to find Jace, and race downstairs where Annie

points out the kitchen window. I slip out the opened patio door, catching Jace in the back garden at the

exact spot I bloodied his nose all those years ago. His shoulders spasm with a silent cry and then he

hiccups. I fold him into a hug, and he clutches me so tight that I taste his fear. He sniffs against my neck

and whimpers. “Don’t let go.”

* * *

A month later, Jace is at his piano, pounding out sharp, violent pieces, surging his anger into the

instrument. Waiting. Waiting for Lila to come home.

The music snatches my breath, all the way from the kitchen where I sit with Annie, staring into my

empty cup.

Annie lifts the teapot to pour me some more when the familiar sound of the door opening stops her.

We edge out to the arched doorway, pausing there as Dad steps inside with Lila. They are both smiling

today.

“Jace!” Dad yells, and the music stops abruptly. Seconds later, the stairs are groaning under his

impatient gait.

Lila beckons us nearer and we flock to her.

“Things are looking good for surgery soon,” Dad says, and kisses Lila’s cheek with a smack.

“We’re positive about the progress. So are the doctors.”

Jace steals closer and wraps his mum into a hug. Annie and I join in until we are one big lump of

warm wishes. Jace twists his head and captures my gaze; the tension he’s held over the last months is

still there, but a hopeful smile brackets one side of his lips.

“I made some tea,” Annie says as we break apart.

“That would be lovely.” Lila and Dad follow her to the dining room.

“Cooper and I are going out for an hour,” Jace calls to them. “Do you need anything?”

They don’t.

Jace quietly gestures to follow him to the hatchback. Ten minutes later, we are strolling on the

beach, enjoying the cool sand, beautiful seashells, crashing waves, shrieking seagulls, and the distant

scent of fish and chips. Shells poke into my soles, assaulting me with sharp pangs that remind me I am

not dreaming.

Jace picks up a beautiful paua shell. It shines as though the seas have been polishing it for decades,

and the inside swirls with dazzling greens and blues.

“These are my favorite shells,” he says.

He passes it to me and I take it.

“What’s your favorite stone, Cooper?”

I laugh. “That’s like a parent choosing a favorite kid or something.”

“But what do you consider special? Diamond, maybe?”

“Diamond is the strongest, and I do like it. It’s pretty much a stone of optimism. No matter how you

turn it, the light is always there.”

The shoes dangling from Jace’s shoulder start to slip, but I catch them before they hit the sand.

“However,” I whisper, setting his shoes back on his firm shoulders, “my favorite stone is opal.”

Found in Australia where an enormous inland ocean used to be, opal is literally like touching a