Page 10

Chapter 10

Grace

Mr.Adler had gotten his treatment in Philadelphia, so I knew asking Ev to go into the city would be asking a lot of him. That’s why I didn’t actually ask. The Philly Phanatic was zooming toward his place of business, despite everything about Ev’s body language begging me to abort mission. His interlaced fingers were so pale that I had to resist the urge to pry them apart so their color would return. I’m sorry, but I’m doing this for your own good, I wanted to say. I think it’s time.

His dad would not want him turning his back on a city that had once brought so much joy. My favorite memories were Saturdays in elementary school. Mr.Adler would pack Ev, Isa, James, and me into his Bronco and drive us into the city. Our parents offered to come along, but he waved his hand. These day trips were his thing. “What are we going to do?” Isa would always ask, and Mr.Adler would always reply, “What aren’t we going to do?”

We went to the zoo.

We went to Phillies games when the Mets were in town.

We even went on a ghost tour.

And we ate cheesesteaks… a lot of cheesesteaks.

Thanks to Isa’s backseat driving, the misery that was Les Mis, and wondering if Ev had chosen that Taylor Swift song on purpose (he couldn’t have, could he?), I couldn’t quite pinpoint when his mood came back to life, but I felt something in me loosen when he started dancing in his seat. He tried fist-pumping to Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love,” and I smiled at the three chevron friendship bracelets on his wrist—one from thirteen-year-old Margot, one from nine-year-old Abigail, and one from me. They were fading, but still tied. We’d made them this summer. “Please come over.” I could still hear Ev’s drained voice over the phone. “I’m babysitting again and just need help. Margot’s locked herself in her room, and Abigail…” He sighed. “Abigail has been talking about beekeeping and showing me videos for the last two hours.”

“Don’t worry, I’m coming,” I’d told him, and soon arrived at the Adlers’ with a beach bag full of activities. Ev had collapsed on the couch while I dug out the colorful bracelet-making thread. He loved his sisters fiercely, but also needed a break. Margot was full of middle school angst, and Abigail could be a lot when she got going with one of her obsessions.

I’d stayed until almost midnight; Mrs.Adler had gone on a weekend spa getaway with my mom and Mrs.Cruz. After dinner, dessert, more beekeeping videos, and bedtime stories, Ev and I spread out on the family room sectional. There was plenty of room between us, but then suddenly there was not. Had I scrambled over to his side of the couch? Or had he scrambled over to mine? I couldn’t tell you, but it ended with me on his lap, hugging him while he cried into my neck. His T-shirt was soft and smelled like the Adler household’s familiar spring-scented laundry detergent. “Don’t ask,” he whispered. “Please don’t ask.”

I ran my hand through his beautiful dark hair, not needing to ask. I knew—I knew that today his grief over losing his dad had snuck up on him, and had totally and completely wrecked him. “I miss him too,” I whispered. “I miss him so much.”

And then that’s when I almost did it, that’s when I almost made my mistake: I almost kissed him.

Ev tilted back his head and looked at me with his red-rimmed and raw amber eyes. My heart nearly broke; I wanted to kiss him. I desperately wanted to kiss him. Not because he was falling apart, but because he was Everett Adler. My oldest friend, my always crush, my everything.

I let myself picture it.

I admit, I did. I imagined it and my heart heaved at such a hypnotic thought: the feel of Ev’s lips against mine, the feel of my lips against Ev’s. What could possibly be better?

Ev coughed and mumbled something about a glass of water after I awkwardly slid off his lap and crawled back to my side of the family room couch.

God, what would Isa do if she knew I’d wanted to kiss her ex-boyfriend, let alone knew that I was here right now? Her SAT bootcamp had pretty much lasted the entire day, but I’d had to dodge some texts. Thanks for the drink, G! she’d messaged after I Venmo-ed her money for a surprise Starbucks treat-yourself drink. Tall matcha latte with two pumps of vanilla.

It would be complete betrayal. Pretending not to be friends with Ev already made me feel so guilty, and anything more would smother me. I couldn’t keep that a secret from Isa. She was my best friend. If I didn’t have her, nothing would make sense.

But would you want to? I wished I could say to Ev. If we could be together, would you want to?

Yes, I wished he’d say back. I really want to.

Nothing was said, though. Ev returned from the kitchen and offered me a lemon seltzer before we went back to watching TV.

“Ride?” he asked a while later, walking me out to my car.

“Or die,” I answered, eyes prickling as I hugged him goodbye.

And so a line was drawn, but it couldn’t have been more fine. Isa, I had to keep reminding myself whenever I was alone with Ev and tempted to see if our friendship could be more. You can’t hurt Isa.

Because sometimes I suspected the reason she didn’t want to be in the same room with him was because she still lovedhim.

Miraculously, Isa and Ev cheered when Philadelphia’s skyline came into view. And yeah, yeah, I know most people might think It’s no New York, but again, it was pretty special to us. Mr.Adler had made sure we knew how much there was to love about it, and soon we wouldn’t have the luxury of driving into the city on a whim. Isa would be at Brown, while California’s Pepperdine University was calling my name, and Ev would be at Vanderbilt in the Bachelorette Weekend Capital of the World (otherwise known as Nashville). James, because he was James, was headed to Boston University. “Why there?” I’d asked, and he’d shrugged.

Don’t get me wrong, BU was a fantastic school, but it was like my brother had carelessly flipped through the Fiske Guide to Colleges brick of a book and randomly chosen one. I’d always pictured him studying music, but maybe that was just me. BU offered a ton of majors, so I had a feeling James had no idea what he wanted to do.

And he wasn’t alone, because neither did I. I knew I wanted to play tennis, but that was about it. “Don’t stress about it now,” Ev always said. “We’ll figure it out when we get there.”

Meanwhile, Isa had already decided on a finance major and engineering minor. I sometimes wondered if Wall Street whiz Mrs.Cruz had chosen those, because as good as Isa was with numbers, she moaned and groaned whenever she had a math test.

“Okay, blindfolds!” I now exclaimed. My Waze app had just told me to exit the highway in one thousand feet.

“Blindfolds?” Ev said. “Where are we going to get blindfolds?”

“And why?” Isa asked. “We already know we’re in Philly.”

“But you don’t know our exact destination, ” I countered, flipping the blinker and smiling to myself. “The blindfolds are in my purse.”

We hadn’t had any bandanas at home, so Isa pulled two sleeping masks from my small shoulder bag. Both were silky and black and read OUT OF OFFICE across the front. Ev rolled his eyes. “You think you’re so clever,” he said.

“Yes.” I smirked. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

He responded by reaching over and tapping my nose with two fingers. Cute as a button! our moms would say when I was little.

I blushed, and quickly glanced in the rearview mirror to see that Isa had already put on her mask. “You won’t be getting this back,” she said as I took the exit ramp. “It’s cute and comfortable, so I’m keeping it.”

“Thank Etsy, not me,” I replied, then made an ahem noise until Ev put his on, too. He complied and leaned back in his seat, folding his arms over his chest. Thrilled, clearly. “You can keep yours, too, Ev.”

“Really?” he said drily. “Because I didn’t dare hope!”

Deadpan didn’t mean dimples, but I poked his cheek anyway. A spark of something crackled against my fingertip, and I pressed it to my lips. With their masks, no one could see me.

Although Ev smiled, like maybe he knew.

I followed Waze’s directions for a few more minutes before taking a hand off the wheel to close the app, not wanting my British navigator to announce our final destination. We’d reached the general area, so there were now street signs to guide me. “Score!” I shouted after turning onto ChestnutStreet.

“What?” Isa asked. “What is it?”

“I found a great parking spot,” I said. “It’s on the same street as—”

Isa cut me off, aghast. “The street? We’re parking on the street ? Why not in a garage? The car will be safer in a garage.”She sighed. “No damage, Grace. No scratches, bruises, or dents. Remember?”

“Yes, every word,” I told her. “But this is a safe street, Isa. Trust me.” The car behind me honked its horn, telling us to move it or lose it. “This spot is perfect.”

Provided I can parallel park this spacecraft, I didn’t add, half hoping I’d imminently learn that the Tesla could self–parallel park. Because parallel parking under pressure? Not one of my strengths.

Isa hesitated.

The car honked again.

“Fine,” she conceded. “Go ahead. It’s…fine.”

Her soft voice certainly didn’t sound fine, but we had neither the time nor space to go back and forth. I needed to park the Tesla—or let the Tesla park itself—before I lost my nerve.

“I can do it,” Ev said, correctly guessing the conundrum. “Provided I’m allowed to take off the mask?”

“Never,” I told him, even though he’d learned to drive in his mom’s SUV. He could probably do this while masked. But no—for the sake of the surprise, this was my responsibility.

Five minutes later, I let out a deep breath. “Well done, Madam President,” Ev said, politely applauding me as Isa released a long sigh to match mine. The Tesla had beeped at me more than once. “Well done indeed.”

I laughed. They couldn’t see a damn thing.

“Check the glove compartment, Everett,” Isa said. “My parents always keep change on hand for meters.”

“Oh, we don’t need any,” I told them before Ev could blindly fumble for the latch. “It’s all electronic.” James had mentioned the meterUP parking app the last time he’d come into the city for a concert. Basically all you did was create an account, type in the meter’s zone number, set a time frame, and boom! You were good to go. “We can even add time remotely,” I said after confirming our spot. “So we won’t get ticketed or towed or anything.”

“Damn,” Ev said. “Why couldn’t we have invented this?”

Isa frowned, excitement evaporated. “The car could get keyed.”

I turned and gave her a look, even though she was still masked. “It won’t get keyed.”

“But—”

“Grace, I think we’ll need your help to get out,” Ev swiftly cut in, unbuckling his seat belt. “Considering you sort of have us in a hostage situation.”

“You paint such a pretty picture,” I replied, but Isa made no moves to do anything. Even after I had opened Ev’s door and steered him onto the sidewalk, her belt stayed buckled.

Ugh. I’d monumentally underestimated her dedication to protecting the Tesla.

“All right, listen,” I said at last, “I know this car is important, Isa. I know how important it is to your parents, and I’m so grateful that you’re letting me drive it today.” I eyed the surrounding parking spots. “I’m also very confident that nothing will happen to it, because it is in good company here. There’s a minivan with a Proud Parent of an 8th Grade Honor Student bumper sticker, and a big Dodge Ram that just screams ‘Don’t fuck with me!’?”

Off to the side, Ev chuckled.

“They will be the best of friends,” I continued. “They will love and look out for one another, in both peacetime and in times of peril, in both sickness and in health—”

“Okay, okay, shut up.” Isa unclicked her seat belt with exasperation. “I’m coming.” Together we maneuvered her out of the car, and then I watched her smooth her skirt, straighten her cardigan, and tighten her ponytail for luck. She even readjusted her OUT OF OFFICE mask.

The next step was getting my friends in position for the big reveal. “Please take my hands, children,” I said as I reached for theirs. On my right, Isa’s small palm was warm and sent a surge of sisterly affection through me, while on my left, Ev’s calloused and caring fingers made my entire arm go numb.

Eyelids fluttering shut, I was suddenly in a dreamy daze. Ev and I had held hands as kids, but I couldn’t remember this ever happening…

“Are we ready, G?” Isa asked.

“Yes!” I said, my voice catching. Had anyone noticed? “Just follow my lead.”

They nodded, but it was easier said than done since no one was in sync. Isa tottered in the heels that she insisted never hurt her feet, and while Ev was the most natural of athletes, he kept tripping over himself. He was six foot two, and today wore a white T-shirt under an unbuttoned light blue chambray, along with a pair of olive-colored chinos and his tan desert boots.

And to top it off, his favorite Mets baseball cap.

Uh-oh, I realized. We were deep in Phillies territory now, so hometown fans would not take kindly to his hat…especially since the rival baseball teams were playing each other later today.

Although before I could snatch it off Ev’s head, I had to direct my two ducklings around a crowd of tourists. They were standing stock-still, solely focused on studying their maps. Isa stumbled, and my stomach lurched, hoping she hadn’t sprained an ankle. “We’re almost there,” I told them. “Just a little bit farther…”

And ah, here we were! Standing in the middle of a rambling green lawn, surrounded by blossoming spring trees and staring at one of the most beautiful buildings I’d ever seen. Simple but stunning. It was classic Georgian-style architecture with its redbrick facade, white-framed rectangular windows, other little details that I couldn’t remember the names of, and a bell tower and tall steeple. Nearby, an American flag billowed in the breeze.

“Okay,” I said, letting go of Isa’s and Ev’s hands. “You can take off your blindfolds in three…two… one !”

The sleeping masks were whipped off in a heartbeat, and both my friends’ jaws dropped…but not in awe. “Really?” Isa and Ev said, with identical inflections. Their brows knitted together. “This is it ?”