Page 41

Her eyes scanned the card, reading each line. “Oh,” she said when she was done. “That’s actually...”

“Amazing,” I said.

“Very,” she agreed. “Jack?”

I nodded.

“He wrote that?”

“I mean, unless he had AI do it or something, but I’m pretty sure he wrote it.”

“That boy loves you so much.”

“Does he? Is this a love poem or a friendship poem?”

“You didn’ttalkto him after?” she asked, as frustrated as I felt.

“He left, and you know Mr. Collins. We’re talking tonight.”

“What are you going to say?”

“Everything... I hope.”

Chapter 16

“How was school?” Mom asked, poking her head into my room as I was getting ready for the party. I met her eyes in the mirror in front of me, capping the eyeliner in my hand. She had a nervous look on her face like she knew how hard Valentine’s Day might be for me.

Having had two major relationships in my life blow up on Valentine’s Day, maybe I really should’ve just deposited myself in bed with a blanket over my head and waited for it to pass. Maybe Fate would make this year terrible as well. Maybe she was still trying to punish me for attempting to change the meaning of the day in my small little corner of the world. It hadn’t worked anyway, so Fate needed to leave me alone.

“It was fine. Good actually. I talked to Jack.” Talked, in the loosest sense of the word. We had made contact. After a year, that felt huge.

My mom must’ve agreed because she stepped all the way into my room, her expression changing to wary hopefulness. “And?” This last year, my mom and I had grown closer. I asked for her time more often. She offered it more freely.

“And it was good. Nice. We’re going to the same party tonight where we can talk more.”

She smiled. “You’ve missed him.”

I nodded, unable able to speak. My emotions were just below the surface, threatening to spill over and ruin my makeup. “What about you? Big plans for tonight?”

“A glass of wine, a rom-com.”

“That sounds nice. Except exchange the wine for a Coke.”

“You’re not invited.” She winked.

“Rude.”

“It’s okay to be scared, but don’t let that keep you from doing things.”

“I know,” I said with a sigh. “I won’t. I have to face whatever is going to happen tonight.”

“I’m proud of you. And whatever happens, try to have fun, okay?”

I nodded and as she started to leave, I said, “Hey Mom, are you happy? Like truly happy?”

She smiled at me. “Nobody is happy all the time. But yes, kid, I’m very happy. We made the right choice.”

“I’m glad. You seem happy. So does Dad.” I still didn’t see my dad as much—not all things worked out for the better—but when I did, he seemed lighter.