Page 75 of Promise Me Sunshine

“Wow. Your dad is everybody’s dad. Surrogate father to everybody who stops in. What’s that like?”

She shrugs. “I liked growing up there.”

“All the books and wisdom you could ever need.”

A lifted eyebrow: “The wisdom gets a little stale after a while.”

We both can’t help but laugh.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Miles?” she asks.

I stop laughing. “You interested in him?”

She shrugs. “Sure.”

“Oh. Well, there’s no deal to speak of between us.”

“Friends?” she asks.

“Yeah…” Why doesn’t that seem like the right word? “More like…Dr. Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s monster.” I point to him and then to myself.

She laughs in confusion. “Explain.”

“Well…He’s sort of taken it upon himself to…bring me back to life. Any day now he’s going to hook me up to electricity.It’s alive!” I do the accent and everything.

“You’re not alive?” she asks, one eyebrow raised.

“My best friend died this year. It’s been…pretty hard.” I scrub two palms into my eyes, suddenly exhausted. “Miles is helping me do this, like, bucket list thing? It’s supposed to bring me back to life, I guess. That’s why Miles pushed Jericho and me to go to the concert together. He thinks I should try to make some friends.”

I look up at her and it’s hard to interpret her expression. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. Anyways, yeah, you’ve got the green light from me. Pursue away.” I gesture toward Miles.

“No.” She shakes her head discerningly. “No, I don’t think I will. Bringing someone to life seems like a delicate operation. I better not get mixed up in it.”

My shoulders lower an inch and I’m suddenly much less exhausted. “Hey, what do you think they’re doing in there? A crossword puzzle?” I lean forward and knock loudly on the bathroom door. No answer. “Are you sure it’s not just locked from the inside?”

“I saw somebody go in.” She shifts from one foot to the other again.

“Hold on.” I duck into the ladies’ room and back out. “No presh. But it’s empty.”

She pauses.

“I’m happy to block the door for you if you want,” I offer.

Rica blinks, considers me, and then nods. I stand outside the door. Two minutes later, Rica emerges. We head back to the table, lively with conversation. They seem to be having aheated argument about dog breeds. I think debate might be Jeffy’s love language.

“Hey, so,” Miles says, his cheeks going a little pink when he gets everyone’s attention. “Does anybody like camping? Because, um, Lenny and I were thinking of going on a camping trip.”

My eyes grow round at this non sequitur.Number fiveon the list!I mouth to him. And inviting new friends while he’s at it!

Rica looks between Miles and me and then slings an arm around Jeffy’s neck.

“Jeffy’s obsessed with camping, you know.”

“What?” He laughs. “When did I ever say that?”

“Oh, come on. Aren’t you dying to smell the campfire smoke? Watch the embers mingle with the stars? Fall asleep to the sound of frogs? Think of all the poetry you could write.”

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