carefully everywhere descending (23 page)

BOOK: carefully everywhere descending

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I nod and point at the TV. She turns her head to look at it as Sam and Jimmy both head for the bathroom. Sam uses it first, and Jimmy queues up, leaning against the wall and watching us closely.

“Sure, we'll watch some movies too,” Scarlett says, unperturbed by Jimmy. “Though they'll have to work hard to be as awesomely bad as yesterday's. Well,” she amends, glancing at the wall clock. “Saturday's.”

I shake my head. I can't believe it's only a day later. It feels like months have passed.

“I know,” she says. “The past eight hours have aged me. I think I've got gray hairs. I'm checking my retirement account as soon as you fall asleep.”

I laugh voicelessly and comb my fingers through her brown hair, pushing it off of her forehead and clearing my view to her bright, bright, smiling eyes.

Sam comes out of the bathroom, and Jimmy goes in. Dad opens his and Mom's door and says good night, then shuts off their light and leaves the door partially open. Jimmy comes out of the bathroom and also leaves their door pointedly ajar when he goes back inside.

“Oh, come on,” I say as loudly as possible.

Scarlett just chuckles and settles down on the mattress on her back, one arm bent beneath her head, watching me with a smile.

I turn onto my side so I can see better, still pressing the ice to my throat. I'm not going to recite poetry to her, but I suddenly understand the impulse and regret I don't have the talent to distill into words what I feel when I look at her. I wish I could stay awake, but exhaustion is pulling me away. In the future I'll have to deal with the fallout of this evening. And I'll have to go back to school and finish my exams, and start applying to colleges and for scholarships, and keep working and working. But at least I have the assurance that when I wake up, Scarlett will be there, and I can hold her hand.

Happiness blossoms in my chest.

L.B. B
EDFORD
is a librarian who loves the thrill of inhabiting a good story. She has more ideas for books than she does excuses for getting out of awkward social interactions. Since her last girlfriend, she has entered the harrowing and amusing world of online dating. This form of communication makes sense to her, since she is almost permanently online anyway.

On any given day, she will be reading, writing, running, learning to code, taming her sewing machine, playing the piano, or taking advantage of all the free online courses available in a multitude of subjects. She loves cooking, sushi, and trying to kick her pasta habit. A former cat owner, she has not yet made a commitment to her next cat, though she does have the name picked out (Thor: Cat of Thunder). She lives in the Washington, DC area, where she continues to plan for more cultural events than she ends up attending.

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