Page 107 of 16 Forever

“Hi there,” I say with a wave.

“What’re you—What is he doing here, Maggie?”

“Oh, him?” Maggie asks, and I can tell she’s flipping out, like maybe on the verge of a panic attack. “I don’t... Um, I think he said he was just...”

“Here to take pictures,” I say, holding up my camera. Hell yeah, backup plan!

“We have a professional photographer for that,” Vivian says, eyes shifting back and forth between me and her sister.

“You’re gonna wanna get this keyboard under the canopy pronto,” Ron says, joining our horribly awkward gathering with a huge white umbrella held overhead.

“They actually say rain during a wedding is good luck,” Maggie’s mom says, huddling next to Ron. “But we should—” There’s a thick, terrible pause as I’m spotted. She looks to her younger daughter. “Maggie?”

I have to speak up. For myself. For Maggie. For both of us.

“This is my fault,” I say, stepping away from the tree toward the group. “Maggie specifically told me not to come, and I should have listened, so I’m really sorry.”

“Oh my,” Maggie’s mom says, under her breath but loud enough to hear.

The rain starts coming down a little faster, like someone has nudged the sky’s shower handle.

“Carter,” Maggie says, somehow more panicky than ever, not calmed at all by my openhearted attempt to take control of the situation. “Please. Don’t say anything else. Just go. You heard— We have a photographer, okay?”

“That keyboard should not be out here,” Maggie’s dad says, wandering up to our circle.

“I’ve been saying that this whole time!” Misty shouts, havingreturned from dropping off the bass drum. “Come on, come on!” She and Maggie’s dad crab-walk the keyboard over to the canopy.

“Here’s the thing,” I say. I need to cut to the chase if I want to win over Maggie’s family. “I completely get why you wouldn’t want Maggie dating me again.”

“Again?” Vivian says.

“Maggie tried not to date me this time! She really did. But somehow we were drawn together again.”

“Ohmigod,” Vivian says.

“I know, I know.” I put up a hand toward Vivian, which is meant to be calming, but she mostly looks like she wants to punch me. Must try harder. Must persuade better. “Here’s what I’m starting to realize, though: Maybe connection is connection, whether you ultimately remember it or not, you know?

“So maybe it’s not a waste for me and Maggie to have this time together. Maybe it can still be a beautiful thing, to be with someone you like being with, to laugh with them, to confide in them, to see them for who they are and know they’re seeing you for who you are too. Even if it ends, or reboots or whatever, maybe it’s all still worth it. You know?”

There’s a nightmare of a pause as everyone stares at me.

Finally, Ron breaks the silence.

“I have no idea what specifically you’re talking about,” he says, “but I love the sentiment.”

No else seems even slightly won over by my speech. Vivian and Maggie’s mom both seem kind of shocked, and they’re not even looking at me anymore. They’re looking at Maggie.

“Last point to make,” I say, trying to adjust my cummerbund lower because it’s a suffocating accessory with a ridiculous name,“and then I’ll stop talking, I swear. It’s possible Iwon’terase on my next birthday. This loop may have started because of the way I broke up with Layla Banerjee the night before, but I apologized to her—”

“STOP TALKING!” Maggie shouts.

I look over, and she’s soaked. I can’t tell if she’s shaking with anger or from the cold. Possibly both.

“I told you not to come here, and I told you to stop, but you wouldn’t and you didn’t, and I don’t know why you won’t stop talking!”

“You’re dating Carter,” Vivian says, now also holding a white umbrella.

“I was trying not to date him, I swear!” Maggie says, suddenly sobbing. “Vivvy, I’m sorry!”