Forbidden Boy

“So, we’re here.”

“Well, thanks for the tour.” Remi gri

“I don’t know,” Julia

41

Hailey Abbott

“Fancy meeting you here,” Remi started again, feigning shock. “Do you come here often?” He arched his eyebrows, clearly amused with himself.

Julia

“Run into, eh? Didn’t your sister say the same thing the other night?” Remi cocked his head toward her and squinted, as if hoping she wouldn’t vanish into thin air if he blinked. Julia

“Probably. It’s the Kahn sense of humor. Gives us away every time. I think it’s the by-product of seventeen years spent in a very small space together—eventually we’ll turn into the same person. Me, my dad, and Chloe will all morph into one huge Mega-Kahn.” She absentmindedly picked at the stickers covering her water bottle, peeling the edges away so that the Nalgene logo was visible for the first time in several summers.

“Sort of like Transformers?” Remi gri

“Oh, totally,” Julia

Forbidden Boy

vases at once. You know, the basics.” She giggled. She’d almost peeled a border all the way around her Decem-berists sticker.

“I won’t lie, that’s pretty sweet. If my family had crazy powers we’d probably just sort our laundry into whites and darks telekinetically. Or teleport ourselves back to work from the di

“Nothing like really utilitarian powers, I guess.” Jules unscrewed the cap of her Nalgene and took a huge gulp before offering it to Remi.

He shook his head, but his eyes lingered on the spot on the rim of the water bottle where Jules’s lips had just been. “I mean, it’s not as boring as it sounds,” Remi continued. “My family’s actually really great. We’re just not that, um, original. We’re more Leave It to Beaver, I guess.

You know?”

Julia

Hailey Abbott

the right reasons, our dad is pretty much happy with whatever.”

“What does your mom think about that?” Remi looked at her as if she were describing a totally different world.

Julia

Jules wiped a bead of sweat from in between her blue eyes and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Sorry to be so blunt, but you didn’t say anything wrong.” Remi reached out and touched her wrist, then sheepishly shoved his hands into his back pockets.

“So, what are you doing on this beach?” Julia

“I think you’re safe for now—there isn’t a keg in sight.” Remi laughed a deep, rich laugh. “I was surfing with some guys I met down at the boardwalk earlier, and then I was just exploring the beach, really. You saw my brief attempt at a second run in the water. I haven’t been in town long; I don’t know where anything is, but I really love this beach. What are you doing down here?” He laughed again, gesturing at Julia

Forbidden Boy

obviously I know what you’re doing right now. But what’s your usual beach routine?”

“I live down there.” Julia

“Can I see what you’re working on? Or are you one of those super-secretive artists?” Remi asked with a sly wink.

“Oh, super-secretive. Definitely. That’s why I would never in a million years work in the middle of a public beach where everyone could see me.” Julia

She took Remi’s hand and led him back around the easel, where her landscape was still sitting deserted and unfinished.

Remi was silent for a minute, looking at the easel and squinting his eyes. He even crouched down to take in Julia

“It’s not anywhere near finished,” Jules started. “I’m having a lot of trouble with the light. The highlights on the water, especially. I don’t know what my problem is; I’m usually not this—”

Remi cut her off midsentence. “This is good. Like, really good. Julia

Hailey Abbott

the painting again from a distance. Julia

“I bet you say that to all the girls . . .” She smirked, her eyebrows arched.

“Not all the girls.” His eyes twinkled as he countered her teasing. He walked back around the easel and plopped down in the sand, staring at the waves in front of him. “So, will you tell me about it?” Julia

“Well, duh,” Remi replied, a smile creeping across his face. “And I’d love to hear about just how much you completely rock some other time. Maybe over coffee or something? But I was actually referring to your painting.”

“Oh.” Julia

“So, you know I told you about my mom?” Remi 46

Forbidden Boy

cocked his head and nodded. “Well, she was an artist. A really incredible artist. She showed her work all over the country—and in pretty much every gallery in Southern California. She also lectured at all these different universities and illustrated all of my dad’s children’s books.

There was really nothing she couldn’t do. When she first got sick, she still went outside and painted every single day. I mean, every day. But when she died, there were six paintings she never had a chance to finish. I’ve finished up three of them—I made two of them into multimedia things, that’s more my style. That and photography. But this one I’m trying to re-create as if she’d had the chance to finish it. Her paint, her light, the whole nine.” Julia