Page 56 of Life and Death

She leaned forward and smiled through the windshield. Now Jeremy’s eyes bugged out.

“Oh, hi . . . Edythe,” Allen said.

She waved at him with two fingers, and he swallowed loudly.

“Uh, hey,” Jeremy said in her direction; then he stared at me—I must have looked odd, my one hand locked on the frame of the open door, but I wasn’t letting go. “So . . . the movie’s already started, I think.”

“Sorry about that,” I said.

He checked his watch. “It’s probably still just running previews. Did you . . .” He eyed my hand on the car. “. . . still want to come?”

I hesitated, glancing at Edythe.

“Would you like to come . . . Edythe?” Allen asked politely, though he had a little trouble getting her name out.

Edythe opened her door and stepped out, shaking her long hair back from her face. She leaned on the frame and threw her dimples at them. Jeremy’s mouth fell open.

“I’ve already seen this one, but thank you, Allen,” she said.

Allen blinked and seemed to forget how to speak. It made me feel a little better for always being so stupid around her. Who could help it?

Edythe glanced over at me. “On a scale of one to ten, how much do you want to see this movie now?” she murmured.

Negative five thousand, I thought. “Er, not that much,” I whispered back.

She smiled directly at Jeremy now. “Will it ruin your night if I make Beau take me to dinner?” she asked.

Jeremy just shook his head. He hadn’t remembered how to close his mouth yet.

“Thanks,” she told him, dimpling again. “I’ll give Beau a ride home.”

She slid back inside.

“Get in the car, Beau,” she said.

Allen and Jeremy stared. I shrugged quickly and then ducked into the passenger seat.

“Thehell?” I heard Jeremy breathe as I slammed my door.

I didn’t get another look at their reactions. She was already racing away.

“Did you really want dinner?” I asked her.

She looked at me questioningly. Was she thinking what I was thinking—that I’d never actually seen her eat anything?

“I thought you might,” she finally said.

“I’m good,” I told her.

“If you’d rather go home . . .”

“No, no,” I said too quickly. “I can do dinner. I just mean it doesn’t have to be that. Whatever you’d like.”

She smiled and stopped the car. We were parked right in front of an Italian place.

My palms started to sweat a little as I jumped out of the car, hurrying to hold the restaurant’s door for her. I’d never really been on a date like this—a realdatedate. I’d gotten roped into some group things back in Phoenix, but I could honestly say that I hadn’t cared one way or another if I ever saw any of those girls again. This was different. I nearly had a panic attack anytime I thought this girl might disappear.

She smiled at me as she walked past, and my heart did this weird double-beat thing.