Page 30 of Queen’s Gambit

I placed my hand on Ella’s shoulder before handing back her sketch pad and standing.

Eddie promised me a tour. Do you want to come?

She bit her lip like she was unsure. I grabbed her hand tugging her to her feet.

Please come with us. It’ll be fun. I need a girl’s perspective anyway. You know who I should avoid and all that. I’ve never been allowed to attend school before, and I could use some help.

Ella giggled, and her smile was completely infectious.

Okay, let’s go.

Edmundo – Age 18

Ana was captivating and more incredible than even I had realized. That was saying something because, to me, she was as perfect as an angel. We’d walked the entire property of Wayward, and her smile never wavered. She pointed at things that I’d overlooked, yet she found them fascinating or beautiful.

Paul had never been so talkative except with me, and Marcus now hung on her every word, which was amusing considering how much shit he’d given me over the years about her. She blew me away with how fast she could sign and talk to Paul at the same time. Ana and Ella went back and forth laughing, and it made me realize just how cut off Ella had been from the rest of us.

There was so much we couldn’t stuff into our short once-a-week conversations. The all too brief moments we spent in person were filled with a desperation for touch and scheming of ways to marry. I quickly realized that as much as we knew about one another, there was equally as much that we didn’t.

We ate in the cafetorium, and as soon as I could get Ana alone, I dragged her outside to my favorite spot on the whole property.

“Eddie, this place is pure magic,” Ana said as she cuddled into my side.

“Yeah, I love sitting by the pond. Especially when there’s a full moon.”

Walking her to the bench, we sat down, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

“It’s not just this, it’s everything. I feel like I’ve stepped out of a gilded prison and into freedom. I’ve never felt so alive or free. Being here with other people my age and with you. It’s a dream I don’t ever want to wake up from.”

Feeling the same, I kissed the top of Ana’s head and hated that I’d only get this one year with her. I was graduating in the spring, but at least Ella and Paul would be with her next year.

“I never want this to end either. We need to make every moment count. A year will fly by and….”

Ana looked up at me.

“I want to do it all. I want to go to the movies with you, have a real dinner date, study until we fall asleep with our heads on tables, and I want to watch you play football,” she said.

Smiling, I tucked her blonde hair behind her ear.

“Here, they call it soccer. Don’t get me started. I fight about the name daily,” I said, and Ana laughed. “I want to kiss you, but once I start, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to stop.”

“What if I don’t want you to stop?”

Shifting on the bench so I could look at her, I cupped her face and took a moment to just stare into her eyes.

“I’ve always believed that we each have one special someone out there in the world. God graced me by allowing me to find mine so young. I love you, Ana. I will always love you.”

“Even if I have to marry another?”

Anger roared through me at the thought.

“I won’t let that happen.”

Ana’s eyes were filled with so much fear that I felt it coursing through my veins. Until our names were on a contract anything could happen, but I’d been making strides and now had my father helping me. It had to be enough.

“Eddie….”

“Ana, even if it does happen, we will do what we must until we can find a way back to one another. When we have enough power so that no one can stop us, we will be reunited.”