Page 42 of The Afterthought

"Will you curl mine too?" She looks a little nervous to ask.

"Absolutely. I can show you how if you want. It's super easy." I motion for her to come over and sit on the toilet so I can start curling once the wand gets hot.

"My mom used to do it for me," she says quietly. "I really miss her."

"I'm so sorry. Do you want to tell me a bit about her while I do your hair?"

"Are you sure you want to hear about her?" She eyes me with a bit of disbelief.

"Of course I do. She raised a strong but stubborn kid. You can talk to me about her whenever you want. I wish I had a close relationship with my mom. Hearing about yours is refreshing."

"When you never know whether the day will be your last or not, you learn to let the little things go and enjoy the moment. My mom was sick my entire life. We made sure to never regret a single day we got together because we knew time wasn't on our side." She takes a deep breath. "I've had this sort of resentment towards you since finding out about you. I thought that you had things so much better than me. You got to have two parents. Even if our father died, you still were able to make those memories with him."

She's right about that, and it makes me feel guilty. I got to experience a decent childhood for the first 10 years of my life before our father died.

She settles in, telling me a story about a weekend camping trip that she and her mother went on a few years ago. They thought it was going to be a great idea to get out and unplug, but they quickly realized that neither one of them knew anything about camping. They spent a few hours trying to set up a campsite before giving up and driving to the nearest town to get a hotel. What started as camping ended as a girl's night at a hotel, doing their nails and facials.

I watch the way she smiles at the memory, and I make a mental note to try and do something like this with her. Not camping, that’s her experience with her mom, but maybe a girl's day where we could go get our nails done. There is still so much that we don't know about each other, so any little bonding experience will be worth it.

She stands and looks in the mirror. "You definitely have to teach me how to do this. It's so cute! Thank you! You need to hurry and do yours so we’re not late."

I laugh and throw a few curls into my hair before running my fingers through them to comb them out. My roots have grown more than I would like. I need to make a point to grab some dye this week to freshen it all up or make an appointment somewhere. I feel so much better when my hair has its bright orange hue. It makes me feel powerful. I can't explain why.

After I unplug everything and tell Chloe it's time to get going, I grab my keys, and we slip into the car. The drive isn't too long—this town isn't big enough for anywhere to be more than a 10-minute drive—but I find myself feeling a bit nervous. The last time I was at the movies was with Greyson, and I don’t know what being there without him will feel like.

The theater comes into view, and I quickly pay the attendant before driving around the lot to try and find a spot. The movie Chloe picked was some kind of action thriller that I've never heard of. This theater always plays a mixture of older and newer movies. This one was released maybe fifteen years ago. I go to park in a row toward the front, but Chloe stops me.

"We should go to the back. This is too close."

"Those spots are always taken. We should have gotten here sooner if you wanted one of them.” The back spots are always taken first because that's where all of the teenagers go to make out with each other, where nobody can see.

"Can you just check?" she persists.

"Sure," I concede.

When I drive through the back row, I'm shocked to find an open spot. I quickly back my car into it and look over at Chloe to find a smug look on her face. She is so much like me sometimes. I swear it's like I'm having a conversation with myself.

"Fine, you were right."

"I know," she says, laughing as she pulls open the car door.

"The movie should start soon. Did you want to run to the concession stand first?"

"No, I think we should go over here." She grabs my hand and pulls me over to the car parked next to us. I try to stop her, but she's strong for such a little thing.

When I catch sight of the people in front of us, I'm rendered speechless. I take in the setup that I haven't seen since I was eighteen. A large blanket is laid out on the ground with a massive pile of pillows towards the front of the car. They look similar to how others have theirs placed, but it's the bright orange color of these pillows that tells me these belong to Grey. There is a small cooler, which I'm sure is filled with a variety of different drinks because he always wanted to make sure I had options. On top of the cooler is a pack of blueberry muffins.

My heart wants to explode in my chest. I turn to look at Chloe, and she has a huge grin on her face. A guy is standing next to her, and I eye him up and down. He is young with a bit of blonde stubble on his face. He leans down to whisper in her ear, and she looks up at him adoringly. This must be Matt.

The sound of someone clearing their throat has me turning back around. Greyson is standing there in front of me with an iced latte in hand and a pleading look in his eyes.

"Hey, little shadow. What do you think about a date night?"

My heart slams. This might be one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. I want to tell him no. I want to push him away to protect myself, but I can't, so I nod. He closes the distance between us and pulls me close enough to lean in and drop a kiss on the tip of my nose.

"Just a chance," he says, and I nod again.

"One chance," I whisper, and he bends down to give me a chaste kiss on the lips. I pull back and turn to look back at Chloe. "You worked with him to set this up?"

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