Page 92 of Breadwinner
“You seem pretty familiar with her, too,” Nell pointed out.
“Only because Lily and Wren watch her videos religiously, and, as a parent, I make sure to familiarize myself with the typesof digital content my kid consumes. It’s a little weird, if you ask me. I don’t fully understand why the girls like watching someone else play a video game.”
With a few clicks of the remote, Sarah pulled upMamma Mia!
“I can see the appeal,” Nell said thoughtfully, taking a bite of her food, “especially if someone is really into the game. Plus, the added opportunity for that creator to monetize their platform? Don’t knock nontraditional ways of making money.”
“I didn’t know this was a passion of yours,” Sarah teased, as she hit play on the movie.
“You want to talk about hidden passions? When were you going to tell me you’re a huge ABBA fan?” Nell nudged her foot against Sarah’s thigh playfully as she settled back into the couch.
“You’re not? Everyone loves ABBA.”
“I’m impartial at best,” Nell deadpanned.
“C’mon! No one goes harder for ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’ than the lesbians.”
“If you say so . . .”
The opening song began to play, and Nell groaned. Sarah smiled because, little known to Nell, she was about to turn this movie night into a sing-along just for her.
For someone who claimed not to be a fan, Nell knew all the words to every song as the two of them belted their hearts out, breathless and barefoot and laughing in her family room, as they jumped around acting out each musical number, and when it was over—when the movie had ended and they had cleaned up the takeout containers—Sarah couldn’t help the smile she wore. This had been her best birthday ever.
EIGHTEEN
NELL
Unfamiliar quiet met Nell as her eyes fluttered open to a ceiling she didn’t recognize. It was smooth and white, faintly shadowed by the muted gray light that pushed its way through sheer curtains.
Her senses sharpened as sleep slowly left her. She could hear the sound of water lapping against a shore somewhere nearby. For a second, she lay perfectly still, her mind still trying to shake off the fuzziness of sleep.
She was at Sarah’s house.
In Sarah’s room.
In Sarah’s bed.
The memory of the night before unspooled in her mind, her thoughts coming into focus. Thai takeout,Mamma Mia!, a lot of singing, and she and Sarah talking well into the early hours of the morning until Nell had drifted off to sleep.
She shifted, and the crinkle of sheets that smelled faintly of clean linen and vanilla in an undeniably Sarah way rustled around her. Nell loved it. She took comfort in it as she took a deep breath in, letting Sarah’s scent fill her. The nightstand next to her had a neat stack of books set beside a slim black frame with a photo of Sarah and Lily on a beach somewhere, the windblowing their hair around as they laughed, frozen in time mid-motion. Nell studied the photo for a moment, appreciating how happy and free Sarah looked.
A faint shuffle of footsteps broke the stillness—several sets, actually, now that Nell was more awake and listening. The footsteps moved through the house in uneven rhythms. Low voices followed, softened by the walls to the point where she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. She sank deeper into the pillows, trying and failing to catch a few more minutes of sleep, but then the door opened and closed in one quiet motion as Sarah reentered the room.
She slipped inside, closing the door with a carefulness meant for Nell’s benefit. Sarah was trying not to wake her. Too late. Nell watched Sarah, with her tousled hair and her sweater with her sleeves pushed up, revealing her toned forearms, her cheeks still faintly flushed.
“I’m awake,” Nell said quietly, drawing Sarah’s eyes to hers.
“Sorry,” Sarah whispered, as she crossed the room toward the bed. “Lily and Kelly both needed to stop by this morning. I thought we were going to have the morning to ourselves...”
Nell pushed herself up on one elbow. “It’s okay that I’m here, though, right?” she asked, suddenly worried she may have overstepped when she showed up unannounced the day before.
Sarah looked at her with those sparkling eyes. “Yes, of course it’s okay. It’s just that my worlds are kind of colliding this morning before I had a chance to prepare for it. As a rule, Beth and I would usually talk before someone stayed over, especially if there was a chance Lily would be around.” She trailed off like she was skirting too close to a topic she wasn’t ready to unpack yet.
Nell didn’t press her for more. She knew Sarah would talk to her when she was ready. She always did. Still, that pricklingsensation was beginning to spread through her at the thought of what Sarah might have to say to her.
Nell shifted in the bed, leaning against the headboard. “So, what’s the plan?” She tilted her head to the hall behind the closed door Sarah was still leaning against. “Are you planning on hiding me away here until the coast is clear?”
Sarah’s laugh softened the mood between them. “They should be gone in the next few minutes. Lily needs to get to practice, and Kelly is flying back east for a few days to visit our brother Ryan. Give it ten minutes, and we should be good.”