"So what is all this?" she asked, surveying the thick binder and stack of books William had pulled out of his backpack.

"Um, Calculus II though most of that's finished, and Organic Chemistry. Once that's done, I was planning to do some more research to see how I might be able to improve the treatment for shadeweed poisoning."

"Organic Chemistry? Is that even an option at Bristlecone High?"

"No. I'm taking it as an independent study through Mountain State. Bristlecone doesn't technically offer Calculus II, either. It's just me, sitting in the library with my own book, completing assignments. They used to make me actually sit in a lower-level class, but Nathaniel finally convinced Mr. Bradley to let me do it this way."

"Ugh. Calculus II? I don't think I'll be making it that far. Trig is giving me enough of a headache."

William smiled. "It's okay. You're not a doctor in your other life."

"No, definitely not."

Out of habit, she turned at the whooshing sound of the door opening behind them.

William's eyes followed hers. "Your boyfriend seems to have great timing."

Quinn flushed scarlet. "He's not my boyfriend."

He raised an eyebrow, and held up a hand. "Whatever you say. I have enough sisters to know to stay out of that."

William sat down at the table and tried to look like he was already engrossed in his work, but Zander reached them before he had the chance.

"Hey!" Zander placed his hand on her shoulder, brushing her hair back slightly. Even from the corner of her eye, William's "I-told-you-so" expression was obvious.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Quinn asked.

"I knew you were working tonight, and I thought I'd just drop by to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine. Surprised, but fine."

A little v appeared between Zander's eyebrows. "Is it a good surprise?"

Butterflies hit with a vengeance. "Yes, it's good."

His shy smile turned into an ecstatic grin, and Quinn's heart rate accelerated further.

"Hey, you're William, right?" Zander asked, looking behind Quinn.

He turned slightly, not looking all the way up from his notes. "Yes. And you're Zander Cunningham."

William's reply was a statement, not a question, but Zander seemed to ignore that. "That's me. What are you working on?"

"Homework."

Zander's eyes widened. "That's a lot of homework."

"I suppose it is," he answered, shrugging. "And if you'll excuse me, I need to get working on it or I'll never finish tonight."

"Sure. See you around."

"Yes." William didn't even look back up to answer; he was already scribbling furiously in the binder.

Zander followed Quinn back to her cart of books. "He's not exactly friendly, is he?"

She shrugged. "No, not at first." Not in this world anyway. For just a moment, her thoughts drifted to the William she had seen at Mistle Village Medical Clinic in his own world. She had watched as he treated a little girl with the most gentle compassion. Then there had been the day she went swimming in a river with William and Thomas ... a day filled with horseback riding and water fights and basking in the sunshine. No, William definitely wasn't always distant and unfriendly.

"Is it snowing again?" she asked, noting the dusting of flakes starting to melt into his light brown hair.

"A little, but it isn't sticking to the roads yet. You should be okay getting home tonight."

"Ick. I'm ready for summer."

He laughed. "You never have been a fan of winter, have you?"

"It's not my favorite."

"Good thing you live in the Rocky Mountains, then."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

Zander stayed at the library with her for the rest of her shift. Her boss, a kind, older librarian named Sylvia Williams, didn't mind, as long as Quinn got her work done. He tried to help her with re-shelving some of the books, but he didn't understand the system she had for getting it done quickly. In the back room, he was more helpful, though, making small repairs to damaged books, and putting the new magazines into their protective binders. And the company was surprisingly enjoyable. She had forgotten how easy it was to talk to him. The evening ended long before she expected it to.

A few minutes before her shift ended, Zander asked her for her keys, and then went outside, promising to warm the car and scrape the windshield for her. Once he was gone, she glanced back at the table where William had been sitting, but it was empty.

* 4 *.

The Valentine Dance.

QUINN FELT LIKE THE anticipation might turn her stomach inside out as Zander walked around to the passenger side of the truck to open the door for her. She closed her eyes and took one deep breath while she had the time. She rubbed her hands against the green material of her Valentine dress to make sure they were dry, and then the door opened.

Zander's smile was so big she had to wonder if he was really this calm, or if he was putting on as much of a show as she was.

She smiled back as she took his hand and stepped down.

The curb near the main entrance of Bristlecone High School was still snow-packed and slushy; Zander was careful to lift her all the way to the mostly-shoveled sidewalk. Ice-melt crunched under her heels, and she wished again for summer. Zander drove away to park the car, leaving Quinn to join a cluster of girls in the school's foyer.

Abigail spotted her immediately, and rushed over. "Quinn! You look gorgeous!"

"Thanks, Abbie. That dress is amazing on you." Abigail was wearing a dark-blue strapless gown with a billowing skirt that reached only to her knees. She had dyed several strands of her short, black hair to match, and pinned the rest of her hair back with a silver headband. She looked spunky and beautiful, as usual. Quinn wondered if her own style was too conservative.

"Thanks. It's awesome, isn't it? Did Zander get that for you?" Abigail pointed to the small arrangement of red roses and baby's breath pinned to the front of Quinn's dress.

"Yes, isn't it pretty?" She felt a tiny burst of heat in her cheeks as she played back the memory of Zander pinning it on her, with her mother and Owen and Annie watching. It had taken him two tries, his large fingers fumbling over the tiny pin.

"Ooh, so pretty! Adam got me this." She held up her wrist so Quinn could see the bright pink tiger lily corsage.

Quinn smiled. It looked like Adam was already getting to know Abigail rather well.

"It suits her, don't you think?" Quinn was startled by Adam's voice. He had suddenly appeared beside Abigail.

Quinn nodded. "Definitely. I was just thinking that."

"Zander was parking right next to me; he should be here in just a second." Adam leaned into Abigail and kissed her cheek. Abbie giggled, but didn't blush the way Quinn was certain she would have.

And then Zander was there. He was smiling, happiness twinkling in his brown eyes the way it had been all evening. She swallowed hard. Despite all of Zander's advances over the last couple of weeks, she hadn't realized until she'd seen the look on his face as she came down the stairs tonight, just how serious he was. He really liked her.

"Shall we?" he asked, extending his hand toward her.

Quinn accepted it. "That sounds so formal." she stifled a nervous giggle.

He smiled and shrugged. "It's a semi-formal dance, right?" He led her through the double doors into the gym. Red and white streamers zig-zagged across the ceiling, anchored everywhere by matching balloons. Soft lamps around the room had replaced the glaring overhead lights she was used to, and a disco ball dangled in the middle of the gym.

She had never been to a dance before, but the whole thing reminded her of every high-school movie she had ever seen.

Pop music blared from the speakers, and people were dancing mostly in groups, not as couples. Several of the groups were doing more standing and talking than dancing, and Zander and Quinn quickly joined one of those, along with Abigail and Adam.

The evening went just as she had always expected it would. Zander didn't know how to dance, and until her time in Eirentheos, Quinn hadn't either. They stayed with their small circle of friends, chatting, and occasionally swaying to the beat of a song they liked. Quinn found herself trying to imitate Abigail, who was in her element here, carefree and having fun.

When Zander had first asked her to the dance, Quinn had felt relieved that he wasn't a dancer, and that he wouldn't expect her to be, either.

Although she was still giddy at the sensation of being here on Zander's arm, her mind kept flashing back to the dance in the castle, where she had somehow glided effortlessly across the floor on the arms of both William and Thomas.

The dance was nearly over when the DJ finally began playing a slower tune. The change of mood in the gymnasium was instant. The large, fluid groups spread out and paired off. Three bars into the song, Quinn glanced over at Abigail and saw that she was wrapped tightly around Adam, their lips locked.

She glanced up at Zander. He'd seen where she was looking, and now he was smiling shyly down at her. He held out his hand, a questioning look in his eyes. Quinn accepted the offer and followed him to a spot near the edge of the dance floor.

Her heart hammered in her chest as he put his arms around her waist. Now this was different than dancing with Thomas or William had been. The way Zander stared into her eyes with his brown ones, so familiar, and yet so entirely different than she had ever seen them before, let her know that his intentions ran much deeper than this dance. Hesitantly, she placed her hands on his shoulders, and he smiled. Suddenly, her shy awkwardness melted away, and she smiled back.

They swayed to the music together there in the dim room, Zander studying her face intently. "You are so beautiful, Quinn."

Heat flowed into her cheeks, and his smile grew wider. He traced the pink stain on her cheek with the side of his finger. "You always do that to me," she said.

"I try." He brought his hand up to her chin, and rested his forefinger underneath, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

She was suddenly having trouble remembering how to breathe. "You're very good at it."

And then, he kissed her. Just the lightest brush of his lips against hers, but it was enough. The swarm of butterflies that had occupied her stomach felt as if they'd exploded into a million tiny, fluttering fragments that rushed everywhere, up to the top of her forehead, and down to the bottom of her toes.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Zander held her wrapped in his arms as they swayed on the dance floor to the rest of the songs even the ones that weren't slow. He drove her back home, and then walked her all the way to the porch, where he stopped to gently kiss her again, first on the lips, and then on her forehead before whispering, "Goodnight," and walking back to his car.

Inside the house, her mother was sitting in the big, brown armchair in the living room, a book open on her lap, though she looked slightly out of breath, and Quinn noticed the curtains on the front window still quivered slightly.

* 5 *.

Thomas

QUINN ARRIVED AT SCHOOL early on Monday morning. Her dreams had woken her far too early again, and she'd long since decided that if she was going to have trouble sleeping, there was a certain point in the night where it just didn't make sense to keep trying.

Last night's dream had been particularly vivid. She'd tossed and turned through a perfect replay of the dance in Eirentheos she had shared with the mysterious Alvin.

Well, an almost perfect replay. There had been something different about the end, something significant, darker somehow, but she couldn't recall that part of her dream.

Once it ended, she had been unable to fall back to sleep. Part of it had to do with the dream, but an even larger factor was the fluttering feeling in her stomach at the thought of seeing Zander today at school. She hadn't seen him since he'd walked her up to her porch on Saturday night, after the dance.

The hallways were empty and quiet, as they always were when she arrived at such an early hour. After re-organizing her already immaculate locker, she was bored and started wandering. She found herself walking toward the hall that led to William's locker he was always here before her, regardless of when she arrived. Deciding she was too jittery to be alone anymore, she wondered if maybe he would have something to share from his weekend in Eirentheos.

She was startled when she turned the corner and heard two voices. One was William's, but there was another voice she thought she recognized. It couldn't be ... it couldn't possibly be ...

"Thomas?"

"Quinn!"

William's younger brother practically ran the rest of the way up the hall to meet her. He wrapped her in an enormous hug, spinning her around in the process.

"What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't go another three months without seeing you. I had to come and visit."

William was noticeably glaring at his brother. She guessed he probably wasn't too pleased with Thomas' loud demeanor.

"Did you miss me?" Thomas' gray eyes twinkled. He paid no attention to William.

"How could I not?" She smiled back. "How are you doing?"

"What am I going to do with you, Quinn?" he asked, sighing and shaking his head. "I'm fine. I've always been fine, and I'll always be fine. The real question is how are you? Adjusting to being back here after your grand adventure?"

She shrugged. "Sure. I live here, don't I?"