“Look at it this way," Ms. Terwilliger said, after several moments of thought. "The callistana thinks of you two as its parents.”

“Sorry, Ms. Terwilliger. I'm flattered that you think I'm such an upstanding person, but I'm already caught up in one epic battle of good versus evil. I don't need another.”

“Shouldn't that be flipped right-side up?" I asked. "No," she said, eyes on the cards. After several moments of heavy silence, said, "You will destroy that which is undead." I waited about thirty seconds for her to continue, but she didn't. "Wait, that's it?" She nodded. "That's what the cards say to me.”

“Very good, Mr.—?”“Robinson,” the boy supplied.Ms. Terwilliger produced a clipboard and scanned a list.“Ah, there you are. Robinson. Stephanie.”“Stephan,” corrected the boy, flushing as some of hisfriends giggled.Ms. Terwilliger pushed her glasses up her nose andsquinted. “So you are. Thank goodness. I was just thinkinghow difficult your life must be with such a name. Myapologies. I broke my glasses in a freak croquet accidentthis weekend, forcing me to bring my old ones today. So,Stephan-not-Stephanie, you’re correct. It’s a temple. Canyou be more specific?”...“Indeed it is,” she said. “And your name is?”“Sydney.”“Sydney …” She checked the clipboard and looked up inastonishment. “Sydney Melbourne? My goodness. Youdon’t sound Australian.”“Er, it’s Sydney Melrose, ma’am,” I corrected.Ms. Terwilliger scowled and handed the clipboard toTrey, who seemed to think my name was the funniest thingever. “You take over, Mr. Juarez. Your youthful eyes arebetter than mine. If I keep at this, I’ll keep turning boys intogirls and perfectly nice young ladies into the descendantsof criminals.”

“Sage," he said. "What are you wearing?"I sighed and stared down at the dress. "I know. It's red. Don't start. I'm tired of hearing about it.""Funny," he said. "I don't think I could ever get tired of looking at it.”

“If you went twenty-four hours without cigarettes, I'd drink a can of pop. Regular pop. The whole can."Isaw the glimmer of Adrian's earlier smile returning. "You would not.""I totally would." "Half a can would put you into a coma." Sonya frowned. "Are you diabetic?" she asked me. "No," said Adrian, "but Sage is convinced one extraneous calorie will make her go from super skinny to just regular skinny. Tragedy.""Hey," I said. "You think it’d be a tragedy to go an hour without a cigarette." "Don’t question my steel resolve, Sage. I went without one for two hours today.""Show me twenty-four, and then I’ll be impressed."He gave me a look of mock surprise. "You mean you aren’t already? And here I thought you were dazzled from the moment you met me.”

“We studied our angels for a few moments more, looking at where we had lain side by side in that sweet, quiet moment. I wished what I’d said was true, that we had truly left our mark on the mountain. But I knew that after the next snowfall, our angels would disappear into the whiteness and be nothing more than a memory.”