Page 63 of Something Like Fate

“Thanks, Lo,” he said. “I didn’t always love Halloween, actually. It was always a pissing contest with my brothers. Always a huge battle to get the most candy. Lots of stealing and fighting over the best ones, a lot of Kit Kat robbery. Anyway, in third grade, my dad helped me make this Transformers costume out of boxes from the garage. It was so cool, because if I crouched down, the boxes would actually fold and transform.”

“That is really awesome,” I said, closing my eyes to picture nine-year-old Teller.

“The kids at school thought I was like, the second coming of Christ or something. Suddenly, they all wanted to be my friend. Not that I usually love attention, but it was nice. Just for that day.”

“I love that. Okay, I’ll forgive Halloween. Even if fall sucks.”

“Don’t girls love fall? Isn’t that a thing? Pumpkin spice lattes, cozy sweaters, changing leaves and all that?”

I shook my head vehemently. “I’m the Scrooge of fall. I mean, why would I want to celebrate death and decay? It’s morbid, if you ask me.” I loved my summer routine. Soaking up the sun in my backyard before a Cinema shift. The guarantee of seeing Teller almost every afternoon and evening. And it was all coming to an end. The Cinema didn’t need both of us during the school year since business was pretty dead. Tellerwould work at his mom’s coffee shop, but I would pick up some shifts here and there.

“The Cinema isn’t gonna be the same without you,” I said.

“You’ll be perfectly fine without me. I trained you well.” He pauses, before adding, “I’m glad you started working there, for what it’s worth.”

“Really?” I asked, flattered. This was the closest to a compliment he’d ever given me.

“Yeah,” he said. “Who else would help me unclog the toilets?”

I pelted him in the chest with a Raisinet. “Seriously, though. I’ll miss you.”

He raised a brow. “Really? Haven’t I annoyed you enough?”

I shrugged. “No more than I annoy you. Anyway, you’ll be my only friend at school.”

“You’ll make tons of friends and forget all about me,” he said. I couldn’t tell if this was disappointing or a total relief to him.

“Of course I won’t.” The idea seemed absurd. I’d spent more time with him than anyone else all summer, including Dad and my aunts. On the two days a week we didn’t work together (Sundays and Mondays, The Cinema was closed), I missed hanging out with him. I wasn’t sure whether things were going to change once school started. At least at The Cinema, we were forced to spend time together. But if we were going to stay friends at school, we’d have to actually make the effort.

I was also scared for Teller to know me outside of work. At The Cinema, I was just me. I didn’t have to be the weird, quirky girl with a dead mom like I was at my old school.

When I confessed I thought he’d ditch me, he gave me a sideways look and said, “Lo, I’m in the computer science club at school. I don’t exactly have a lineup of friends.” He was being dramatic. He wasn’t the massive loser he thought he was. Sure, he wasn’t at all the parties or the center of attention in the cafeteria, but he was generally well liked. He had a small group of friends—guys and girls—who were on the nerdier side but weren’t totally on the fringes of the social landscape. Still, Teller never really felt like he belonged anywhere.

“Well, good. Because I wasn’t going to let you go anyways. You’re my best friend.”

The moment that statement slipped past my lips, I held my breath, desperate to take it back. Teller wasmybest friend, sure. I’d told him more about me than I’d told anyone else. Different as he was, he was a good listener. He listened when I told him what it was like not to have a mom. He didn’t look at me with pity. He just acknowledged my feelings.

Most of all, I didn’t have to do anything to impress him. But what if I wasn’t his?

Instead of looking at me like the weirdo I was, he just grinned with eyes trained on the road ahead.

“Am Iyourbest friend?” I ventured.

A moment of silence went by before he finally answered, “Yes. Why?”

I reined in my smile. Best to play it cool. “Well, I wasn’t sure. But thank goodness. It would have been embarrassing if you’d said no.”

He just smirked. “Why are you so shocked?”

“I figured I annoy the crap out of you.”

“Oh, you definitely annoy me,” he said with a laugh. “But you’re the only person I can be around for long periods of time without wanting to submerge myself in the nearest body of water.”

“That is the highest compliment.”

He studied my face for a beat. “As yourbestfriend, I should probably tell you ...” His voice trailed as he pointed to my mouth with a wry smile.

I slapped my hand over my mouth, mortified. “What? Do I have something in my teeth?”

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