Cupid’s Match

Ten minutes later, we enter the gym.

The space has been transformed from its usual dull gray to a shock of vibrant pinks. There are blinking white fairy lights draped around the DJ booth in the corner, and a huge banner reading Welcome Back to Forever Falls! covers the far wall—to Cal’s credit, his lobster ended up looking surprisingly good. The pink, black, and white balloons that Cupid and I blew up this afternoon have been hung around the room in bunches, and a flashing, fuchsia strobe light illuminates the hundreds of students already here.

We immediately spot Cal sitting alone on one of the benches. He also looks different—more grown-up in dark-gray suit and a black shirt that makes his light hair look even brighter than usual. He’s done something different with it, too, brushed it away from his face.

“Charlie’s over there,” he says, gesturing across the room.

I turn and see my friend, wearing a floaty magenta dress, dancing.

Cupid raises an eyebrow. “You know, when I said to keep an eye on her, I didn’t mean sit on a bench and stare at her like a creep. Go dance! Have some fun for a change.”

Cal scowls and takes a sip of the pink punch he must have got from the drinks table. “I think you’re having enough fun for the both of us.” He pauses, then looks at me. “You look nice, Lila,” he says formally.

“Um, thanks,” I say, taken aback by the compliment. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

“Yeah. Well.”

He shifts his gaze back to the dancing, and I look up at Cupid who shrugs.

“Come on,” he says. “Let’s go dance.”

I’m about to accompany him when I feel someone’s eyes on me. James is in a black suit, watching us with a sour expression from across the room. I look away and take Cupid’s hand as he leads me into the crowd. We have enough drama going on tonight without James getting mixed up in it all.

Cupid smirks. “I think someone’s jealous,” he whispers in my ear.

“Well, he shouldn’t have kissed my best friend, then.”

Cupid’s eyes twinkle. “Worked out all right for me.”

As we get closer to Charlie, she pulls her phone out of her sleek black purse and looks at it. I reach for her arm, smiling, but when she turns to me, her eyes are wide.

“The Arrows are already inside,” Charlie says. “They hit

Mr. Butler on the door with a Capax and slipped in while he was flirting with Ms. Green. I knew they were into each other!” She catches sight of our faces. “And totally not the point. . . . They’ve asked me to bring you to them now, Lila. They’re creating a distraction so I can slip you away from Cupid.”

“A distraction?” says Cupid. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Are they in the gym?” I wildly scan the crowd. “What do we—?”

Before I can finish my sentence, a sudden burst of screaming erupts from the edge of the dance floor. The whooshing sound of hundreds of arrows flying through the air fills my ears. Students begin scrambling over one another, aware that something is going on even if they can’t see the Capaxes. When those in front of the pack discover the door to the school’s sports fields is barricaded, the panic increases. Cal bolts toward us through the crowd. He shares a look with his brother.

“Brother,” Cupid barks, “look after Lila. Charlie, tell them you’re coming and follow me. We need to get them out of the gym.” When his eyes find my face, he looks as though he wants to say something.

“I’ll be okay,” I say firmly. “Be careful.”

He nods and pushes his way through the dance floor toward the source of the commotion. I reach for Charlie’s hand

and squeeze it. She nods. Then she’s turning and following Cupid toward the gym exit.

Cal grabs my arm. “We need to get out of here.”

We start to move, Cal just ahead of me. I’m getting jostled about in the crowd, and it’s hard to see where I’m going. Then I hear a loud whoosh and feel a sudden searing pain in my shoulder.

I stop, filled with a weird sense of euphoria as I look down, my eyes momentarily blurred. An arrow juts out from my body.

Huh?

I grasp it and pull it out, watching as it crumbles to ash between my fingers.

“Lila!” Cal catches me in his arms as I begin to fall to the floor.

When I open my eyes, Cal’s face is close to mine. All around us people are wandering back to the dance floor as a Daft Punk track blares from the speakers. The pink lights still flash on and off in time to the music. I blink a couple of times trying to figure out what is going on.

“Lila?” says Cal gently. “Lila, are you all right?”

“I . . .”

Suddenly I notice Cal’s arms, which are cradled behind my back, supporting me. Despite his slender frame, I can feel the strength radiating from his tensed muscles. When I look at him curiously, he hurriedly pulls me up toward him so that my feet are flat on the ground.

“Are you okay?” he asks again, stepping back.

“Yeah,” I say, rubbing my head. “Yeah. I’m fine. What happened? Did I faint? Where’s Cupid? Where’s Charlie?”

“They went after the Arrows,” Cal says slowly. “I know you can’t remember, but you were just hit by a Capax, Lila.”

I stare at him, confused. “No, I wasn’t. I can see the arrows, you know.”

Cal nods slowly. “Yes, you can see them,” he says, “but you’re still human. Remember what I told you before. When a human is hit by an arrow, they forget about it.”

I frown. The Capax? I feel fine.

Around us the harsh pink lighting mellows as “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley begins to play. It permeates my mind, soft as a dream, and a smile spreads across my face.

“My mom used to love this song,” I say. “It was my parents’ first dance at their wedding.”

Cal taps his leg anxiously, his gaze darting about the gym as people pair off to dance together. There’s something about him that’s different than usual. He seems brighter somehow.

He shifts a little as I step toward him.

“Dance with me,” I say.

His eyes widen. “Uh, Lila, we should probably get out of here. Hide somewhere and wait for Cupid and Charlie to get back.”

I shake my head. “We’re here now. The Arrows seem to be gone, and Cupid knows where to find us.”

I take another step toward him. He doesn’t move back, but I can tell by the expression on his face that he is troubled.

“Lila, this really isn’t a good idea. You’re not thinking straight. It’s the Capax.”

I look up into his eyes. “It’s just a dance.”

I hold up the palm of my hand. After a moment of looking at it blankly, he moves his hand toward mine. Our fingers briefly entangle but then he pulls away, flinching as though my skin burns.

I give him a look, then put my other hand around the back of his neck. I can hear his breathing deepen as he slowly places a hands at my waist. I move my body closer to his and look up into his eyes. We begin to sway in time to the music.

“When we were back at the Matchmaking Service you showed me a mug,” I say. “It had World’s Best Boyfriend on it. You were in love once?”

He hesitates, then nods.

“What happened?”

He pulls back a little, seemingly lost for words. “Lila, I really don’t think . . .”

“Tell me.”

Cal sighs then relaxes, bringing his mouth closer to my ear. “It was a long time ago. I had feelings for a human. It wasn’t allowed. The founder was still in charge, and set out to punish us. The only way to save her was to turn her into a cupid,” he says bitterly. “So I did.”

I feel his tensed shoulder muscles under my fingertips.

“Afterward, she didn’t love me anymore—not like she did before. I broke it off and returned to the Matchmaking Service. She joined a Matchmaking Service in London.” He looks away as though embarrassed, his eyes shining. “She used to send me gifts on the anniversary of the day I turned her. The mug was one of them.”

I gently pull his face back toward mine.

“Do you still love her?”

He shakes his head. “Not anymore. Not like I did.”

We look into each other’s eyes for a few moments. With anyone else I’d feel uncomfortable being so close, but somehow with Cal it feels okay.

“Lila, this isn’t right. We shouldn’t be . . . you’ve been hit by the Capax.”

I move closer and lightly touch the side of his face. He leans into me, his forehead just barely touching mine. Then suddenly he springs away. He looks over my shoulder, clearly mortified.

I turn around.

Cupid.

He’s no longer wearing a jacket, and his shirt sleeves are rolled up over his muscular arms. His hair is slightly ruffled, and there is a pink bruise emerging over his left eye, as though he’s been fighting. And as soon as I cast my eyes on him, I want to be close to him too; to run my fingers down the muscles in his back, taste his kisses, feel his lips brush against mine.

“Cupid.”

I am consumed by fire; my skin is alight with it. My heart thumps so hard against my rib cage it feels like it’s trying to leap through my chest and into his. He looks at me and then at his brother.

“She was hit by the Capax,” Cal says.

I take a step toward Cupid, my eyes fixed on his face. I have never wanted anything more than for him to kiss me.

Something is playing out behind his solemn expression. Then he swallows hard and forces a smile onto his face.

“Come on, lovebug,” he says, placing a firm hand on the small of my back. “Let’s get you back. You need to sleep this off.” He shoots his brother an unfriendly look over his shoulder. “I took out a few of the Arrows, but there could be more. We need to get back. There’s been a change of plan, and I don’t think either of you are going to like it.”

“Where’s Charlie?” I ask suddenly, though thoughts of my friend are clouded and far away. My skin feels like its burning where Cupid touches me.

“Yeah, that’s where the change of plan comes in. I’ll explain in the car.”

He steers me through the crowd and out of the gym, Cal following closely behind, his eyes cast to the ground.