The Gossamer Gate Read Free Page A

It was a creative way to release stress. There was always laughter, which Khiara considered to be an essential part of a healthy life.
    She glanced at the photograph of the gaming group on the corkboard on her bedroom wall. In it she was laughing at something someone had said, while Sean, her best friend regarded the camera with a mix of amusement and exasperation.
    Sean.
    Her heart quickened for a moment, and then she shook her head, spun on her heel, hoisted the strap of her messenger bag over her shoulder, and strode out the door.
    The evening was warm and inviting. She dawdled the entire way, taking slow steps so she could bask in the perfumed heat. The sun lingered on the horizon, casting a warm, golden glow over the town. Khiara closed her eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling the heady scent of fading lilacs and blooming honeysuckle. For a brief moment, she entertained romantic thoughts – going out for a treat with a certain long-time male friend… It was the perfect night for a cone of vanilla ice cream with someone who laughed at the same things she did.
    Someone like Sean.
    “Cut it out,” she muttered to herself. “He’s never going to be anything but a friend.”
    When she reached Sean’s small cottage, she walked up the brick path, did her best to check her mental baggage at the door, opened the front door, and walked right inside.
    The guys were already there, sitting around the dining room table and laughing uproariously over some remark that Khiara was sure was related to something fairly juvenile. Maybe someone had farted. Anything was possible. Hot pizza replaced the scent of summer-blooming flowers, and her stomach grumbled. Khiara walked into the dining room, said “Hello”, dropped her bag into a chair, and kept on walking to the kitchen to grab a can of soda.
    “Hi Josh,” she said to one of the guys standing at the refrigerator.
    “Hey, Khiara.” He turned look at her, his gaze raking her from head to toe.
    It wasn’t often that the guys looked at her like that. As soon as he stepped out of her way, she angled herself away from him and smoothed her t-shirt over her slim waist. Pressing one hand to her stomach, she reached for a can of ginger ale with the other. She leaned back just enough to make sure Josh had gone back to the table, then exhaled.
    That was the first time any of the guys had looked at her like that. Then again, it was the first time she had been alone with anyone but Sean. Since junior year of high school, hanging out alone with Sean had meant he showed her his drawings, and she voiced her admiration of his talent. He had certainly never looked at her in such a frankly appraising way, nor had any of their gaming buddies. At least, not around the table.
    Khiara shut the refrigerator door and leaned against it, head tilted as she watched the guys in the dining room. Perhaps, she thought, they didn’t count her as “one of them” as much as she had assumed over the years. Or maybe Josh was the only one with enough nerve to look at her like she was just the “token chick”.
    “Are you going to join us or just take up permanent residence here?”
    “Huh?” Khiara jerked back to awareness and blinked when she realized Sean was standing in front of her, waving his hands only inches from her face.
    “ Dude, the game?”
    “Right. Sorry.” She pushed away from the refrigerator and tapped her fingernail against the top of the soda can. “How are you?”
    “Thirsty. Think you could move?”
    “Oh, right.” Khiara furrowed her brow and stepped aside. When Sean opened the refrigerator, she tried to think of something to say, but it felt like a thick fog clouded her mind. With a sigh, she walked to the dining room, moved her bag out of the chair, and sat down at the table.
    When it came to Sean, her own feelings about him annoyed her. They seemed es pecially persistent today. She had to admit that while she did not want to be “one of the boys” for her entire life, the