Page 33 of The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean

“And we graduated. And everyone is about to go their own way.”

Isa nodded again.

Mandy was feeling a little more sober now—or the brain fog wasn’t as thick. “Well, let’s go tell them.”

Isa shook her head. “But what if it ruins everything?”

Mandy stood up. “You’re leaving for Boston in a few months. So who cares?” She offered her hands to help Isa up, and Isa accepted. “I’ll be right there with you. You can do it.”

“I don’t know if I can.” Isa visibly trembled, so Mandy wrapped her arms around her.

“Come on. You’re, like, the toughest girl I know.” Mandy rubbed Isa’s back. “Who took down Valerie Kellogg as debate team captain? And who stood up to Santiago Dominguez when he was being a total douche?”

“Butthisis different.”

Mandy looked straight into Isa’s eyes. “You are an amazing person. Any girl would be a fool if they didn’t immediately kiss you after you told them you liked them. You can do this.”

Isa slowly nodded.

“Good, let’s—” Mandy tried to pull Isa forward, but she didn’t move.

“It’s you,” Isa said. “The girl I’m hard-core crushing on is you.”

Mandy heard the words coming out of Isa’s mouth, but for a moment Mandy thought she had imagined them. She was really high, so it was possible she was hallucinating or daydreaming or something. But Isa—her Isa—stared at Mandy with those amazing dark brown eyes and kept a hold of her hand even though Mandy hadn’t said anything yet. Isa’s finger stroked Mandy’s knuckles, sending tingles up her arm. If Mandy said she had never thought about this moment happening, she’d be a liar. She dreamed about it sometimes when she lay awake at night—a blissful fantasy she never shared with anyone, and now it was coming true.

Isa licked her lips. “Say some—”

Mandy’s mouth crashed into Isa’s.

Mandy was no fool.

As their lips met, it was like a million sensations all wrapped up in one. Fireworks, and first drops on roller coaster rides, andcatching air on a ski jump, or riding your first wave. Mandy’s heart beat faster than it ever had before. Or was that Isa’s heart Mandy felt as they pressed against each other?

When they finally broke apart, nothing had changed around them, and yet everything was different. The air was more temperate, the stars were blazing, and the crickets practically cheered. Graduation meant the beginning of new things, and this was the best new thing that could ever have happened.

Mandy loved Isa—she always had—but that night it seemed to transform into something brighter, stronger, if that were even possible. “I love you for real.”

Isa tucked a stray hair behind Mandy’s ear. “I love you for real back.”

Chapter Seventeen

March 1993

Mandy swung her feetback and forth as she sat on a stool at the kitchen island after school, having some juice and a new kind of animal crackers Mom had picked up earlier that day for her—which tasted more like cookies, but Mandy wasn’t going to say anything. “During free time we didn’t get to play in the dress-up corner because Brandon and his friends hogged it.” She rolled her eyes.

“Well, maybe you’ll get your chance tomorrow,” Mom said before taking a sip from her coffee mug. “Sharing is caring. Isn’t that what you always say?”

Mandy frowned. “I guess.” Mom didn’t understand. She and Isa had a plan today that involved dressing up like princesses, and Brandon and his friends absolutely did not share even though Mandy asked them repeatedly.

Mom set her mug down with a clink against the stone countertop. “I know what you need,” she said. “Mommy-daughter date night.”

Mandy practically bounced out of her seat. “Tonight?”

“Yep. Daddy had to take a work trip, so that just leaves you and me. And I think we may need to get dressed up for it. What do you say?”

Mandy was already off her stool. “I’m going to wear my pink dress,” she called out as she ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Mommy-daughter date night was Mandy’s favorite. Not because Daddy wasn’t home but because they could do whatever they wanted. Like once they had dessertbeforedinner. Another time they went and had a real tea party with little sandwiches that didn’t have any crusts on them. And another time they went to a place with big giant chairs, and someone painted their nails. Mandy watched as the lady put little dots of white paint on her toes and turned them into flowers—it was so cool. Mommy-daughter date night always meant something fun.

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