Page 41 of All of You

She pants and stares up at me, brow furrowed. The humidity makes her tank cling to her chest. A stray hair falls in front of her face. She blows it away before I can move it for her.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. Sorry if it came off that way.”

She worries her pouty bottom lip and I want to pull it out from between her teeth with my thumb…suck it between my lips. I shake the thought from my head and release her. She rubs her arm where I held it and sighs.

“Langdon! Where are you?” Viv yells across the greenhouse.

“Duty calls,” I say and offer a half-assed smile. Delia nods and I go off to find Viv. I gotta talk to her anyway.

Vivianna’s wedged between three huge boxes of fertilizer, trying to move them to the greenhouse.

“Woah there. Hold up. I’ll get them.”

“Bout time,” she huffs. I can’t help but chuckle. “Hey Viv, I know my uh, debts paid after today but, could you use the extra help still?”

Viv stands, hands massaging her lower back as she bends backward to stretch. “I wasn’t planning on it. But I’m not sure Delia could move these boxes on her own either.” She considers me for a moment. “This isn’t some lovesick puppylove move is it?” she asks.

Wide eyed I stumble over my words. “Uh. What? Ha. I mean. No.”

Viv nods, a small smirk on her face. “So it is. You only get one chance to get the girl, Langdon. Don’t fudge it up. You can work Wednesdays and Fridays after school. That’s all I can do.” She swats me on the arm and winks at me. “Haul those out and unpack them. Shoo!”

Swallowing hard I try not show my utter embarrassment. I grab the first box and carry it into the greenhouse. If I can’t be friends with her at school at least I can here.

Twenty One

Delia

Ilock up the shop before slinging my bag over my shoulder. Main Street is winding down for the evening even though it’s only six o’clock. Just the restaurants and theater remain open. Mom isn’t here yet so I lean against the light post and wait. These are the moments I wish I had a cell phone. Mom’s not usually more than a couple of minutes late and my gut starts to bubble with anxiety. She would have called the shop to let me know if she was running behind.

From the corner of my eye I see Langdon’s truck pull up to the intersection of Main. I don’t bother looking over. He pulls onto the street, slows to a stop in front of me and rolls his window down.Jesus, Mom of all the days to be a no-show.

“Need a ride?” he asks.

“Convenient, no one around to see us together,” I snap.

He puts his hands up in surrender. “Delia, please. I’m tryinghere.”

I soften at his earnest tone. “Yeah. Ok.”

“You can try calling her from my phone if you want.”

I shake my head and glance at the clock on his dash. “No, she would have been here by now.”

I round the hood and climb into the passenger seat of the truck. We don’t speak for a long while. The silence is brutal. But the tension between us… deadly.

“So about before,” he starts.

I hold my palm out to him. “Don’t. It’s fine.”

“I wasn’t trying to be a dick. Saturday, I mean.” He looks over at me sheepishly.

“So you weretryingyesterday and today? Cool.” I cross my arms over my chest.

“God, you’re infuriating,” he sighs.

We’re alone. I could just crawl over to him, plant my hands and lips on him and ask for a do-over. It’d be so easy. He shifts in his seat. Drops of rain fall all over our awkward silence, driving me crazy but I’m too stubborn to break it. The wipers streak back and forth until the blinker clicks and we’re turning on to Lands End. He pulls up to the camper except… there’s no camper.

“Um. What should I do? I don’t want to leave you in the rain.” He looks around as confused as I am.