Page 37 of Perfectly Us

“Dad.” I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I’m okay with it.”

“Okay. Just checking.” He takes a sip of coffee. “Mm. You made it strong today.”

“I thought you’d need it.”

He chuckles and squeezes my shoulder. “Thanks, kiddo.”

“Am I ever gonna meet thisfriend?” I turn off the burner on the stove and move the fried eggs to a plate. I add bacon and a biscuit to the top before handing it to him.

“Thank you.” He goes over to the table, and I sit beside him with my plate. “Maybe you’ll meet them someday. What about you? Am I ever going to meet this Alex you keep running off with?”

My stomach does this weird fluttering thing hearing his name. I don’t understand it at all. “Maybe.”

“You should invite him over for dinner sometime.”

Dad doesn’t say it, but I know he’s excited that I made a new friend. Relieved, even. Ever since the stuff happened with me last year, I haven’t spent much time with friends. He’s been worried about me.

“I plan to see him tonight,” I say before eating a piece of bacon. “He’s working but asked me to stop by.”

“He works at the movie theater?”

“Mhm.”

When Dad tilts his head back, taking a drink of coffee, I see discoloration on his neck about the size of a dime, right beneath his jawline.

“Is that a hickey?”

“What?” He nearly chokes on his coffee.

I narrow my eyes at him, trying hard not to laugh. “Must be a good friend.”

He clears his throat and takes another bite. I smile and continue eating. After breakfast, he helps me clean up the kitchen, neither of us mentioning the dime-sized elephant in the room, and then he leaves to run some errands.

It’s almost noon when I look at the time, and I text Alex.

Me:I hope you have a good day at work.

What possessed me to text him? I don’t know. But something majorly shifted with me over the past few weeks. It happened so suddenly. One day, I was thinking about Alex, and it was like a lightning bolt to the chest. Okay, maybe not as drastic as that, but it was strong.

I found myself wanting to be around him even more, wanting to get closer to him. Even touch him, like the night by the lake when our fingers brushed together. I can still feel the pressure of his hand on mine, how much I liked it.

I thought my heart would explode.

Alex:Thx! It’s gonna be crazy busy. I just know it haha you still coming tonight????

I smile at the line of question marks. Even through text Alex’s personality shines bright.

Me:Yep. I’ll be there.

I spend the day gaming on my laptop before showering and spending way too long in front of my closet deciding what to wear. I eventually go with dark-wash jeans and a simple blue tee, then do my best to tame my shaggy hair.

Around 6:00 p.m., I head to the movie theater. The parking lot is full from the four-o’clock set, but the lobby is empty when I walk inside. The movies haven’t let out yet, so everyone’s still inside the auditoriums.

“Alex,” a girl calls from behind the concession stand, getting soda from the machine. I think her name is Jasmine. “Will you change out the Diet Coke? I’m getting nothin’ but carbonation.”

“Yep!”

I smile at his voice. Not wanting to interrupt his work, I plop down on the couch in the lobby. It sits beside the arcade, so I hear various sounds and music from the machines. Popcorn’s being popped in the back. The smell of it wafts into the lobby.