Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,110

her, you hear me? And have her home at a decent hour. Behave yourselves.”

Mitchell laughed. “Gee. Who needs parents when we’ve got you around?” He gave her a quick hug as well.

“Have fun, you crazy kids,” Taylor said, and she could see how happy they really were together. That made her happy as well. “’Bye!”

When they went out, she hustled to shut the door from the cold, and she shivered at the on-rush of the chilly evening wind. Her heart tried to remind her of the others back at the student center, partying without her, but just like Elphaba, she had decided that if she had to be what they wanted her to be in order for them to accept her, that was much too high a price to pay.

She wasn’t truly sure how to figure out how to be unlimited like they sang in Wicked or how to complete her Masterpiece. But she remembered the two roads in the wood. It took having the courage to find her own road, no matter what anybody else thought. Picking up the remote for the television, it took a few minutes to locate the angel movie. She didn’t have a notebook, paper, or a pen, nor did she know where any of those might be. So instead, she curled up on the couch under the blanket. First, she would watch the movie, later, she could fill in the details for her paper. With that thought, she hunkered down and let everything else go.

All of that would have to wait. This was important.

Procrastinating. That’s what it was called. Greg knew it, and he knew they would know it too. But he simply couldn’t get himself excited about hurrying to the party. He finally made it well after he should have been there and after an extended text-messaging conversation with Wes about if he was coming or not. The shower had felt good, and clothes that weren’t sweaty and gross were nice too. Mostly, however, he would have chosen, if he’d had one, to stay home and watch Top Gun. When he was going to get that done, he had no idea.

It was clear the party was already in progress when he stepped in from the bone-chilling cold. The memory of a snowball fight in Paige’s front yard nearly took his heart out from under him. Wow, how things had changed.

“Well, it’s about time,” Lauren said, and while her actual words had a bite to them, there was a lilt to them as well. That was probably for the benefit of everyone else if Greg didn’t miss his guess. “We thought you must’ve gotten lost at the hospital.”

He strode over to the group, wishing he could run the other direction. “Nah. Had to make a pit stop at home.” His steps took him right to Paige who stood with Nelson’s arm around her. “Happy birthday. Sorry I didn’t get you a card or anything.”

She smiled just like he remembered—wide and unassuming—as she leaned into him for a long hug. “That’s okay. I’m just glad you’re here.” Her voice, once again, sounded like the gentle tinkling of small bells.

Greg sent his hand up and down her back, fighting not to remember how it had felt to hold her when they were together. “Well, happy birthday anyway.”

“Thanks.”

When she shifted back to Nelson, there was a pause as Greg fought not to look fidgety and out of place. With everyone else paired off, his singleness was glaringly obvious.

“So,” Clara said, glancing at him with a look he couldn’t read but didn’t like, “are y’all going to play?”

Wes nodded. “Sure thing.”

As Taylor watched, she thought about her assignment and the comparisons and contrasts she saw between this one and the other one. She wondered if Meg Ryan always fell in love with someone who wasn’t real. Leopold was a wealthy aristocrat from the 18th Century. Seth was an angel. Didn’t get more ‘not real’ than that.

The thing was, however, in both movies, Meg’s character was similar. Practically alone in the world, headstrong but secretly, privately flailing, wanting love but being so enmeshed in work that life was passing her by. Then her otherworldly suitor showed up, and she found herself falling for him despite her best attempts to keep herself from it.

Every time Dr. Maggie, Meg Ryan’s character, was at the hospital, Taylor found herself wincing at the scenes, and it felt like someone was vice-gripping the top of her lungs and throat. As the romance built, it