Page 52 of Forbidden Heart

“Where did you go?” JJ asks, waving a hand in front of my face.

“Just lost in thought.”

“If you’re worrying about the song, don’t. It’ll be great. I know it will be.” He takes my hand, flips it over, and drops the small but surprisingly heavy jewelry bag on my palm. It feels like a watch, and I wonder if JJ got it for me to make sure I don’t miss their competition like I did their audition.

“Open it,” JJ presses before my self-deprecating thoughts can spiral any further.

I carefully reach inside the bag and pull out something hard wrapped in white tissue paper. Definitely feels like a watch. I unwrap it, and the item that emerges from the tissue paper is a surprise. It’s a bracelet made of shiny metal as black as my onyx pendant.

I turn it under the light, and it flashes with silvery rainbows. The metal itself is a deep, dark shade, but the way the light plays on it makes it look much brighter.

“Oh, JJ,” I whisper. “It’s beautiful.”

“When I saw it in the store, I immediately thought of you.” JJ takes the bracelet and fits it onto my right wrist.

“You did?” I ask as I twist my wrist under the light to watch the rainbows slide across the perfectly smooth surface of the bracelet.

“The heart pieces you’re wearing, this is the same color.”

“It is.” I smile up at JJ as my left hand drifts to my collarbone.

I wonder if he just happened to pass by a store, see the bracelet, and think of me. Or if he went searching for it. It doesn’t really matter, since I still don’t understand why he would get me a gift at all. I didn’t earn it.

Father never got me gifts, not even for my birthday. My friends didn’t either, though we did always get cake. There was another girl whose birthday was a week before mine, so we’d all pitch in and buy a cake to eat at lunch and celebrate them both.

Mom used to buy me little gifts all the time, but that feels like ages ago. And Charles and Tate both bought me stuff, but not like this. Not as a surprise.

“It’s good for your health,” JJ says, gesturing toward the bracelet. I blink at him, trying to figure out what he’s talking about. “It’s a magnetic bracelet. It’s supposed to do something to your body with, you know, ions and stuff.”

“Really?” I ask in surprise. I’ve heard of healing bracelets before, but I figured they wouldn’t be beautiful like this.

“That stuff’s probably all made up.” An adorable flush creeps across JJ’s cheeks. “I just thought you’d like it.”

“I love it! Thank you so much.” I throw my arms around him and pull him into a tight hug.

Then I realize I’m pressed up against JJ’s chest less than twenty-four hours after being pressed up against Charles’s. Quickly, I scramble away.

JJ looks like he’s going to say something, but then his pocket beeps.

“That’s my alarm,” he says. “I have to get to my next class. Our prof locks the doors at ten after, so I can’t be late.”

He leans in and gives my cheek a quick kiss. I can still feel his stubble against my face as I watch him race away.

Then, I’m alone again, but JJ’s right—this bracelet is exactly what I needed for inspiration. Happily, I dance around the living room, humming to myself. I let this feeling of fairy tale magic carry me, as I twirl and sing whatever lyrics come to mind.

Then suddenly... snap!

My wrist gets stuck on the post of the halogen lamp that sits in the corner of the living room. Oh, right. The bracelet is magnetic.

I manage to pull my arm back, but not without resistance. The lamp rocks in place for a precarious moment before steadying itself.

I’d better remember to be careful. Definitely no more twirling.

I flutter into the kitchen and head for the fridge. I reach for the handle and snap. My hand is stuck again. I don’t know where JJ found this bracelet, but he really didn’t think things through.

Holding the fridge door closed with my left hand, I yank my right wrist free. My arm swings back and snap. It sticks to the frying pan that hangs from the rack over the kitchen counter.

“Really?” I ask the universe. The universe doesn’t answer.