ROME'S POV"Argh!" I grunted, plunging into the dirt.I looked down and realized my foot had slipped under one of the tires.Turning onto my back, I winced at the glare of the sun. It burnt so harshly, making the scratches on my palm and my now bruised shoulder tingle.The guards watched silently, their gazes fixed above my head and their faces motionless.Stony bastards."Keep your head out of the clouds if you want to make it to the end, Rome."I glanced up.Jade stretched a hand and helped me to my feet. She moved quickly, dusting weed and sand off my brownish wife-beater.Her auburn hair had been tied into a high pony in the morning, but it was a sloppy knot at the base of her neck at two in the afternoon.With scrunched brows and pursed lips, she inspected my skimmed shoulder. I smiled at her concern.Jade could never hide her feelings.She wore them like a dress. A gorgeous dress.I quickly looked away, clenching my jaw. Damn it."There," she smacked her hands together. "It's so hot today, but the weather report said it'll be cloudy. Liars.""Yeah, it is," I said, but I wasn't paying attention to whatever she said.My attention was on her face.Over time, we'd gotten closer than before. I responded to her cheery 'good morning's and smiled more than I had in a while.She'd quickly become something to look forward to."Come on," she said. "Eyes up here. We're not done with today's set.""Yes, ma'am."We did a couple of stretch reps together before she led us west of the main training ground.The guards had stopped following us whenever we moved around, and Kingsley barely showed up to practice. I wondered if they were slacking or plotting something."Do you have any childhood friends?" Jade suddenly asked.I opened my mouth to say no when someone I'd forgotten entirely about came to mind.During our years on the streets, I'd met a rich girl at a public playground where I was hiding.Her name was Ava. A chuckle slipped past my lips as I recounted how proud she was to say it."It's A-V-A! Ava! Not Ever!"I wondered how she looked now.Was she still carrying that proud smile of hers? Did she still believe that good things happened to everyone? Did she still have those dark eyes and even darker hair?Maybe she was happy where she was, just like I was.I faced forward. My happiness was currently shoving overgrown weeds out of her way."Yeah," I replied, "but she moved away."Jade pouted. "That sucks."Shrugging, I shoved my hands into my pockets and strode closer to her.Each day, we spent so many hours talking, training, and learning more and more about each other, and before I knew it, I'd fallen even harder for her that I could barely find words to describe the foreign feeling.Every time she laughed, uttered a word or even frowned, I could feel my heart swell bigger and bigger.You could say I worshipped the floor she stepped on.When we were finally out of range of the guards, Jade slipped her fingers through mine.My chest ballooned. I still hadn't gotten used to this even though I'd been the one to ask her out.I'd told her that my towering height made up for our age gap, but she didn't buy it. She'd said she didn't care about that, instead the type of person I was should make up for everything.I'd been waiting for an answer and she'd finally given it to me. I resisted the urge to thrust my fist above my head.Unable to control my excitement growing in my chest, I slid my arms around her waist, set my chin in the bend of her neck and closed my eyes, allowing the calm to pour over me.Her arms folded over my back."Wait," she breathed, pulling away after a few minutes to peer behind us. "Let's go. We can't get caught."She pulled her shirt down and ran a free hand through her billowing hair.I squeezed her one last time. "Right."As her fingers worked her hair into a knot, she stared at me and beamed like I held the moon and stars up for her. "I like you more than I should."My insides warmed up and fluttered with her confession. "I love you more."It stayed like that, pretending nothing was burning between us whenever we were watched and meeting in secret.I was addicted to everything that came with it, the thrill of the secrecy and the surge of happiness that she came with. I was so high from the sensations I thought that I would never touch the ground, but I was wrong.Gramps ripped everything apart over the landline."It's time to come back, Rome. School resumes in a couple of weeks." He declared before hacking up a lung. The unmistakable scratch of matchstick hung in the silence."Come on, Gramps, it doesn't start till next month," I bit my lip, flicking off bits of the wall paint.It was a crazy move, talking back to Gramps, but I wanted more time. I needed more time.More time with Jade, more time to think, more time to plan.Everything was moving so fast it felt like a heavy load kept piling on my shoulders, ready to bury me at any moment.I would give anything for it all to slow down.His end was quiet for a moment and then his hoarse voice filled my ear."You have two weeks."