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down there tonight,” he says, toying with my hair as he talks. “Let’s go somewhere. Right now.”
    “Where would we go?” I giggle.
    “The mountains. We could stay there all weekend.”
    “And what? Live off the land?”
    “I know this guy with a cabin.”
    “You’re serious?”
    “Maybe. Come on, Em. There’s so much more out there than this place.”
    “Jackson,” I say, my voice saying no even though I wish I could say yes. I really wish I could say yes.
    “Come on,” he says, smiling. He flips me onto my back and presses my hands against the floor. “I could wrestle a bear for your dinner.”
    I just laugh. “You’re completely insane.”
    “Am I?” he says with a twinkle in his eye.
    He lets go of my hands and goes for my stomach, tickling me until I can’t breathe and have to beg him for mercy. Then pulls me close again, my head back in that perfect spot on his chest.
    “How are you?” he asks. “Are you okay? With all of this?”
    I take a deep breath, letting it all soak in. Do I feel different now? Has anything really changed? There’s a smile in my heart as I realize the answer is both yes and no. No, nothing has really changed. I don’t feel guilty, don’t feel wrong, don’t feel devastated at the mistake I’ve made. Nothing as beautiful as that could be a mistake.
    And yes, because everything is different. The whole world. It’s bigger than it was before. More beautiful.
    “I’m…fantastic,” I say.
    He laughs, the boom of it in his chest almost concealing the noise.
    The noise.
    What was that?
    Then there’s another sound, and I see it too late. The audio recording light mounted on the ceiling, switched on, red and blaring, one here, and a matching one in the hall to ward off intruders who might inadvertently ruin a take. It’s not capturing anything, but it is a beacon of our presence. How did I not think of it?
    That sound was a door. There’s someone here; I can feel it. I push Jackson away. He doesn’t understand it at first, thinks I’m teasing again, and pulls me closer to him.
    “I heard something.”
    He lets go, and we both leap up, scrambling for our clothes. My T-shirt is back over my head, and my jeans are on, and I’m out in the hall in a flash, looking to see who it was. Praying that no one saw me. Saw us. But they must have.  
    That sound. What was that sound?
    But when I tear open the door to the studio, there’s no one there.
    “Are you sure you heard something?” Jackson says, right behind me.
    “I don’t know,” I say. “I thought so.”
    He jogs down the hall, looking, but comes back to me shrugging his shoulders.
    “I didn’t see anyone.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “I looked everywhere. All the doors are locked along the hall.”  
    “Okay,” I say, even though I feel anything but okay.
    “You’re probably just nervous, babe. Your mind’s playing tricks on you.”
    “Maybe,” I say. “But I should get back anyway. It’s nearly midnight. The service is about to start.”
    “Okay. You go ahead. I’ll clean things up here.”
    “You know how to get out, right?”
    “Yeah, no problem.”
    I kiss him goodbye.

    I race back toward the Youth Center, piling my hair into a bun to mask how messy it must be. There’s music blaring from the room, so loud I can hear it the minute I open the door to the stairwell.
    As I run through the hall, I see a spirited game of basketball in the gym. And then another game of Red Rover going on in the Youth Center. Red Rover. Anywhere else it would be a game for kids. I’m not sorry I missed it.  
    The whole thing is a cacophony of bouncing balls and shouting teenagers and Christian rock anthems everywhere.
    Paige catches me at the door as I enter.
    “Where did you disappear to? I was starting to get worried.”
    “I’ve been around,” I say, breathless.
    Paige smirks. “By “around” do you mean off in a dark corner with my brother?”
    “I—“
    She puts up her hand. “Nevermind. I