I stare at her. I’ve never seen a human being who looks like her, and I’m from Miami, where good-looking people go to spawn. But this girl isn’t just beautiful. She’s perfect in a way that’s unreal, like one of Meryl’s Barbie dolls.
What I’m saying is, this girl is…
“Wow, she’s hot,” Travis says when he finally reaches the door.
Yeah. That. She’s lying on the floor with these golden curls all around her, like someone arranged them that way. Her body, I can tell even in her long dress, is totally perfect. She’s taller than almost everyone else here, and thin in all the right places with these great…
“Would you look at her?” Travis interrupts my thoughts again.
I am. I stare at the top of her dress, which she’s really filling out, let me tell you. I feel this incredible urge to touch her, but I know it’s wrong because she’s asleep.
But the weird thing is, it’s not her body I notice the most. It’s her face.
Her skin is the color of milk with just the tiniest bit of strawberry Nesquik mixed in. Her eyes are closed, but I can tell they’re huge, with long eyelashes that curve upward.
And her mouth. It’s full and red, and her lips definitely don’t look like lips that haven’t been moistened in hundreds of years.
For some reason, looking at her makes me think of Amber. Not that she looks like Amber, because she doesn’t. Amber’s beautiful in a normal, human way. But, compared to this girl, Amber’s total chopped liver.
And somehow, just looking at her, I know she isn’t like Amber. She wouldn’t dump someone for a guy with a cooler car.
“What are you, in love with her?” Travis says. “You’re staring like an idiot.”
The weird thing is, I think I am.
Stupid.
“She’s asleep. You could…” Travis looks at the door. “…do anything.”
“That’s sick.”
“You know you were thinking about it.”
“No, I wasn’t. That would be wrong.”
“Right and wrong’s getting kind of fuzzy for me. Was it wrong to ditch the tour? Was it wrong to lie to Mindy? Was it wrong to sneak in here?”
“I guess.” I keep looking at the girl. I can’t stop looking at her.
“Come on. I dare you to touch her.”
“Okay.” I want to anyway. I lean toward her, wishing she’d wake up.
I reach down and touch one of her curls.
Soft. So soft. I comb my fingers through it to make it last. She stirs in her sleep, and I imagine she’s enjoying my touch, but of course, that’s impossible.
“Not her hair, dorko. She can’t even feel her hair.”
“She can’t feel anything. She’s asleep like the rest of them.”
“So why not touch an important part?”
It’s not because Travis says to. It’s because I want to. I move my hand back up the length of her hair to her face.
It feels like—God, this is hokey—flower petals. Roses, maybe. I move my finger across her cheek, to her mouth, her lips. They’re parted slightly, and suddenly, I can’t keep from admitting it: I want to kiss her. Crazy, because ten minutes ago I was still completely thinking about Amber, but I really want to kiss this comatose chick. I lean closer.
“Not her cheek, idiot!” Travis leans down. “God, get out of the way.”
“No!” I block him. It’s impossible to say that I totally, like, respect this girl even though I don’t know her. I can just tell she’s someone special.
God, I wonder if she’s a princess!
I stand. “Look, I want to kiss her, but not in front of you. Why don’t you go downstairs and steal those crowns? The princess and I need some time alone.”
“For real?”
“Sure.” I can get him to put them back later. “But give me ten minutes.”
“Okay, but I’ll be back soon.” He starts toward the door and then turns back. “Hey, you don’t think it’s really stealing when they’re, like, never going to wake up?”
I sort of do, but I’m not the one doing the stealing, and I want Travis gone. “Of course not.”
“Okay. See ya.” And he’s gone.
I’m alone in the room except for the girl. I touch her hair again, and her cheek, now that I can do it without Travis ragging on me. She sighs softly in her sleep. She’s so beautiful, I wish she’d wake up so I could talk to her. But it’s probably better this way. If she were awake, she wouldn’t be into me.
That’s when I think of Snow White.
Snow White was Meryl’s favorite fairy tale. Of course, being a boy, I thought it was lame. Still, she watched the DVD maybe a thousand times, so I couldn’t help but know the story, which is about a princess who eats a poisoned apple.
Everyone thinks she’s dead. But then the prince kisses her. She wakes up, and she and the prince live happily ever after.
Maybe I could wake her up.
Except, of course, I’m no prince.
And there’s all those other sleeping people. That didn’t happen in Snow White.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to kiss her. I’d feel less like a sicko if I think I’m trying to wake her.
I raise her up toward me. Her body is warm, and it’s like nothing to lift her. Her dress is made of this soft velvet, and when I pull her close, I can feel her heartbeat.
I wish I could see her eyes, but her face…her lips…
It’s kind of weird to kiss a girl if you don’t know her name. But maybe I can make one up.
Talia.
The name just comes to me. I don’t know where I got it from. I’ve never known a Talia. Still, I’m sure it’s the perfect name.
“Talia,” I whisper.
She sighs in her sleep.
“Oh, Talia.” I pull her toward me, one hand in her hair, supporting her head. I bring my face close to hers, and it’s like I can see her whole life, being in this castle, isolated, wishing for something more. I don’t know how I know it, maybe the same way I know her name. Talia.
My lips are on hers. It’s a long kiss. I hold her closer, feeling her hair, her body, her mouth, and then her hands in my hair.
What the—?
I don’t want to stop kissing her, especially since she’s kissing me back, even if it’s in her sleep.
Still, finally, I have to pull away from her to breathe. So I do.
“You’re so beautiful, Talia.”
I look straight into her grass green eyes. I’ve never seen eyes that color before.
“Thank you, my prince,” she sighs.
Then the green eyes widen.
“Who are you?”
And that’s when she screams.