Page 12 of The Art of Us

For the first time in weeks, Ireland let herself feel her feelings.

It was okay to miss him.

It was okay to hope he was okay.

It was okay to be mad at him.

It was okay to feel betrayed.

It was all okay.

And maybe it was allgoing to beokay.

She looked down at her pizza plate and tried to wipe at her eyes without being noticeable about it. Her first time out with people her age and she was getting all crybaby on them? How embarrassing. She didn’t want to look ridiculous in front of these guys—especially not Bailey, who was a little terrifying.

The band finished their set and Cooper grabbed his jacket and hurried off without returning to the table. Asha and Bailey came back with Kal, but they didn’t bother to sit down again.

“We’ve got to get going,” Bailey said. “Asha’s taking me home and apparently has relatives in town she wants to see.” She made a face as if seeing relatives was the worst thing she could imagine.

Asha kissed her fingers and tapped them to Kal’s cheek. “Be good, Superman. See you in school.”

Bailey gave a half-hearted wave and followed Asha out of the restaurant.

“Looks like it’s just us,” Kal said.

Maybe Ireland should have been nervous to be alone with a guy who was heart-stutteringly good-looking, but she was too mesmerized by the fact that the group had left nearly two full pizzas. She wondered what was going to happen to all that pizza. Would Kal take it with him? Would he let her take some of it? She swallowed and forced her attention back to him. He’d asked her a question. She had to consider a moment before she remembered what it was. Right—he’d asked her how she liked the songs.

“They were really great. Did Asha write those as well?”

“The first two were covers. I wrote the last one.”

Ireland felt like one of those animated characters with her eyes bulging out of her head and her jaw hitting the table. “You? Seriously?”

“Yeah. I was going through some stuff this last year, and writing it out helped me.” He watched her a moment longer before picking his pizza up off its plate. He looked at her and then her pizza as if indicating she should pick hers up too, which she did. “Cheers,” he said and tapped his pizza to hers. He took a bite while continuing to look at her.

She didn’t need any more encouragement than that. After finishing that piece she ate a second and a third. Kal didn’t make a big deal about the fact that she was packing away calories like a bear going into hibernation. She was glad about that since she felt a kinship with any creature who had to figure out how to make meals last.

“So you and Asha ...” She trailed off, not really sure how tofinish her thought out loud without being more awkward than she already was.

He waited, but when it became apparent that she had decided not to continue, he said, “We’re just friends. She was the one who put up flyers for a lead vocalist in the band and she was the one who heard my audition. She’s got a gift with lyrics and the guitar but has trouble finding pitch with her voice. She was the first friend I made in Arcata.”

Ireland felt like an idiot for acting like some jealous shrew and hurried with a follow-up question to (she hoped) make him forget her first. “Why does she call you Superman?”

Kal smirked. “Well, it’s kinda my name. My dad wanted to name me Kal-El, but my mom said no.”

“Wait. I don’t get it. But your name is—”

“Kalvin Ellis, which was as close as my mom would let my dad get to naming me after an alien from Krypton. My dad actually calls me Kal-El. Honestly, sometimes my mom does too. When Asha found out, she just started calling me Superman. She thinks it’s funny.”

Ireland smiled. It was funny. And sweet, too.

Kal’s parents and life sounded so normal. Not like hers. As if reading her thoughts, he asked, “What about you?”

“Me?”

“Why are you named Ireland?”

She shrugged. She had no idea. “My mom just liked it, I guess.”

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