Eternity (27 page)

He hesitated.
“I don’t know. I didn’t really think you were serious before. I’m
not sure I’m ready for something that big. Besides, I’m happy being
with you.”

I sighed. “No
you aren’t. I know you love me, but neither of us is really happy
at this point. We’ve been through too much. We blame ourselves for
what happens to each other.”

“Fine,” Adrian
said. “I’ll meet her, and we’ll see what happens. What did you say
her name was?”

“Her name is
Mariella. She lives just down the street, but we’re going to wait
for her by the Fountain of Neptune in Piazza della Signoria, since
she’ll be passing by there in about ten minutes. It isn’t far.”

We started
walking, and we got to the fountain in less than five minutes. The
area was fairly crowded, and we stood out a little bit since we
were both wearing our school uniforms.

“Nice
fountain,” Adrian commented, looking up at it. He then started
scanning the crowd. “How will we know her if we see her?”

“You’ll know
her when you see her,” I told him. “You’ll feel the connection
immediately.”

We sat down and
watched the people pass by. There were so many people who looked so
happy, and for some reason it made me feel sad. There were eager
children pulling along smiling mothers, elderly couples holding
hands, and young couples arguing passionately. They all seemed so
much more alive than I felt.

I felt Mariella
approaching, but I didn’t say anything to Adrian. She was walking
slowly, and she had a book open in one hand and a shopping bag in
the other. She barely looked up from the book to see where she was
going. She was small, barely over five feet, and had a mass of dark
curly hair and wide hazel eyes that went well with her olive skin
tone. She was approaching from the direction opposite to the one in
which Adrian was looking, so she saw him first. I watched as her
book fell to the ground, and her eyes became as round as
quarters.

“Shouldn’t she
be here by now?” Adrian asked. He was getting tired of waiting, not
that his level of anticipation was high.

“She is here,”
I said, just as she reached him. She put a hand on his shoulder,
and he jumped and turned around.

The moment was
definitely magical for both of them. They stared at each other for
a good minute, both of their hearts pounding. Adrian was the first
to speak.

“Hi,” he
said.

“Hello,” she
answered. She knew some English, but not a lot, and her accent was
strong. I could have translated, but I decided to give them some
privacy. I walked over to a statue and pretended to study it, even
though I had seen it many times before, and they didn’t even
notice.

Almost an hour
passed before Adrian came to get me, by which time I had looked at
all of the statues in the area, and had gone back to the first. He
was smiling and looked very happy. It made me feel both happy and
sad.

“Time to get
back to school?” I asked.

“Yes,” Adrian
said. “Mariella had to get back to her grandmother. She gave me all
of her contact information, and I promised to write to her every
day until I can see her again, since I don’t know when that will
be. She’s incredible.”

“So now you see
why we aren’t meant to be together?”

Adrian frowned
and squinted in the bright sun. “Juliet, I’m sorry. I do love you,
but I love her more than I ever imagined possible. I hope that
someday you can be as happy as I feel right now. I feel like I have
a whole new meaning and purpose in life.”

“Don’t worry
about me,” I reassured him. “I’m only happy that you’re happy.
That’s all I wanted.”

We hid behind a
statue before I psychoported us both back to Adrian’s room so that
no one would see us leave. Before I left the room I made a promise
to Adrian that he would see Mariella again soon. I had a plan that
involved paying for an apartment in Florence so that he could live
there for the summer until he had to come back to school. He
thanked me profusely after I explained my financial situation to
him, and he was excited to spend the summer with his soulmate.

Exams came and
went, and everyone was glad that they were over. Many people left
right away, but a few stayed behind to wait for their flights, and
some were even spending the summer at the school because they had
nowhere else to go. Jack was one of those people. I felt bad for
leaving him behind, but I wanted to spend the summer in my
sanctuary. He was shocked when I told him I was leaving because he
had assumed I would be staying with him, and it would be the
longest we would be separated since we met. I told him I’d heard
from a distant relative who wanted me to stay with her for the
summer, but he didn’t completely believe my story, since he knew I
didn’t have any relatives.

I planned to
leave on the first of July. By the thirtieth of June, three
quarters of the student population had already left, including all
of my roommates and Adrian, who I had taken to Florence as soon as
he finished exams. I could still see Michael and Leon when I went
to the cafeteria for breakfast in the morning, but I sat by myself
at an empty table. Jack was still in bed sleeping.

I realized
suddenly that the room had become extremely quiet. Only a moment
before there had been many people talking and laughing and there
had been the sound of forks scraping against plates, but all those
sounds had stopped. I looked up to see if everyone had left, but
they were all still there. They were sitting still and they were
all looking in the same direction. I heard footsteps approaching
from behind me, but I didn’t turn. I already knew who it was, and I
couldn’t help but smile widely. I was still smiling when he sat
down across from me, and he was grinning widely as well. He leaned
forward and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Where have you
been hiding?” I asked him. It was still painfully quiet in the
room, and everyone was listening, but I was speaking Greek, so I
didn’t really care.

“I’ve been in
L.A. for a few months, though I don’t think I’ll be staying there
much longer,” Amun answered in Swahili. “It’s too modern for my
taste. I plan on going back to Nevali for awhile.”

“That sounds
nice,” I said. “I’ll have to go visit at some point. I haven’t been
there in ages.”

“You haven’t
been anywhere in ages,” Amun joked. “I was hoping you’d become
yourself again just so we could have a party. I’ve already got it
all planned.”

I laughed.
“Well, we do have good parties.”

Amun’s face
became serious. “Planning parties is not exactly why I’m here,
Dory.” That was his silly nickname for me, which still annoyed me
even after thousands of years. “I did come to see you, since I’ve
missed you, but there’s something else. We’re not the only ones
anymore.”

“What do you
mean?” I asked.

“You missed our
five thousandth birthday, which was a year after you were born as
Juliet. I was celebrating in Nevali with my people when something
extraordinary happened. At the exact time of day when we were both
born, two new gods were born. One in Italy, named Tristan, and one
in Canada, named Sarah. Of course, that was sixteen years ago. They
both have plans to attend this school next year, but they’ll be
careful to hide what they really are.”

My heart leapt
at the news. I couldn’t imagine having two new friends who would be
with me throughout my long years, but I was excited. “You’ve met
them, then?”

“Yeah. I
haven’t seen them too many times because they’ve been busy, but
they’re both great. I told them about you, and they know you’re
here, so they look forward to meeting you in the fall, unless you
see them before then. Sarah has already created her sanctuary,
though Tristan hasn’t. Sarah’s is hidden away in the Himalayas,
inside of a mountain. I think Tristan is still deciding what he’s
going to do.”

“Well, it’s not
like it’s a requirement. Having a sanctuary is a choice.”

“I know, Dory.
It doesn’t really matter. Anyway, I wanted to let you know. I have
a meeting to get to, so I have to go. I’ll see you soon?” Amun
stood up, and I did as well.

“Of course,” I
said, giving him a hug. “It was wonderful to see you.”

Amun kissed me
on the cheek again, and then he left. The rest of the people in the
room started talking almost immediately, but I ignored them. They
didn’t know what we had said anyway, so they didn’t know that there
would be not one, but three gods in their school in the fall. I
couldn’t wait to meet them. As I walked to the south wing to finish
packing, I wondered what the next school year would bring.

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