Page 133 of 16 Forever

“Carter,” I say. Thank god he’s still standing there.

“Yeah?”

“Would you call me tomorrow? If you... You know.”

“Maggie,” he says. “If I turn seventeen, you will be the first person I call as soon as I open my eyes.”

I take in Carter’s smile. His shaggy hair. His crossed arms.

I won’t forget this.

“Thanks, Coco.”

“You got it, Maguel.”

I hold his photos tight as I walk away for real, refusing to entertain any of the five hundred voices in my head screaming at me to turn back and look at him just one last time.

Carter

Lincoln is the first one to see me when I walk back inside.

“Hey,” he says, getting up from the table. “Are you okay?”

I look at him, feeling the familiar tight throat, the tears welling up.

I shake my head.

And I let the tears fall.

I let all of them fall.

Lincoln rushes over and puts his arms around me.

I can’t see, I’m crying so hard.

Then Mom is there too, and Dad, all of them, forming a circle around me.

And then Bodhi’s in there too, which is maybe embarrassing, for him to see me losing it like this, but he doesn’t seem to care.

“I don’t want to forget everything again,” I say in between sobs. “I don’t want to go back to the beginning of sixteen.”

“We know,” Dad says. “We know.”

“I want you to tell me everything this time, okay? I know it might hurt, I know it might be confusing and painful and all the things, but that’s what I want, all right?”

“We will,” Mom says. “We’ll tell you everything.”

“Promise,” Lincoln says.

“Okay,” I say, catching my breath. “That’s good.” I wipe my nose with my sleeve, run the palms of my hands down my face. “You guys?”

“Yeah?” Dad says.

“This really is a horrible prank.”

“It’s just not our thing, Carter,” Mom says, smiling through her tears. “You know that.”

Maggie