Page 74 of All of You

At the next table over, Hailie reaches over, pulls Niko’s face to hers, and kisses him obscenely—her eyes trained on me the entire time. I almost laugh. Good for him.Finally.

I text Mom after last period and she agrees to pick up Anderson from school so that I can head to Delia’s to drop off her work. She also lets me know what a sweet gesture it is. I nearly blush at her words.

Heath’s truck isn’t in the driveway when I arrive and I wonder if they’re out. I scoop up the pile of papers on the passenger seat and walk up to the door. It’s a chilly afternoon. The wind is whipping and the papers fluttered in my hands. I raise my hand to knock and end up nearly knocking on Delia’s face.

She stands in the doorway, one hand on the door and the other on the frame, wide-eyed.

I lower my hand. “Hey.”

“I’m grounded. Sort of.”

I smile. “Ok. I brought your homework from today.”

She cocks her head and squints at me. “Really?”

I nod and thrust the packets of papers at her.

Taking them she hugs them to her chest. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Everything feels awkward now that I’ve been marinating in all the wrong choices I’ve committed since I met her. “Well, cool. I’ll ah. Go?”

Delia bursts into laughter. “You’re so weird sometimes.”

“So I should stay?”

“Gramps said no friends over for a week,” she says and I’m already looking for a loophole.

What about more than friends? Does that count?

“But he didn’t say no walks in the yard? I’ve been lazy all day, want to take a walk out back?”she asks.

My smile widens. “Yeah.”

“Lemme grab a coat.” She turns, leaving me on the porch at the door. “Oh! I got a phone. It’s not a cool one like yours but I have an actual phone now. Want my number?”

She reappears, grinning, at the door. My eyes wander over her face, the happiness in her eyes, her chest, swimming in Heath’s coat.

“What?” she asks.

“Nothing, you look perfect.”

She smiles big and I can’t tear my eyes from her as we march down the front steps.

“Seriously, what?” she says tucking a wind-struck chunk of hair behind her ear.

“I just want to be alone with that smile,” I say.

Her eyes widen and she looks straight ahead, walking faster as her cheeks tinge red. We walk silently through the yard and into the back field. I want to reach out and take her hand in mine but I shove it in my pocket instead.

“So what did you do today? And how much trouble are you in?” I break the silence once we’re in the field.

Delia picks stray flowers and clumps them together in her hand. “Well, no friends over for a week. And… that’s it really. Oh, and Gramps bought me a phone. Which isn’t punishment but really threw me for a loop. I wasn’t expecting that. Especially after reading Mom’s journal.”

“Wait, what? Your mom left a journal?”

Delia lays down in the tall grass, the tiny bouquet of flowersclutched at her chest. I follow suit and sit next to her.

“Yeah. Well. Not intentionally,” she laughs. “It was sort of hidden in her room. From high school. No one ever cleaned out her room. There are lots of pages missing but the stuff still there, I read. Talks about how she met my dad and getting pregnant and how Gramps and Maeve reacted.”