Page 12 of Only Forever

After Jason left, I called Chloe, eager to tell her what had happened. I had told her I was busy Friday night, but I hadn’t told her I was going out with Jason. I had wanted to be sure of what exactly was going on between us before I said anything to her. She squealed with excitement when I told her everything, practically bursting my eardrums.

“I knew it!” she yelled. “I knew there was something going on between you two!”

“There’s nothing going on between us,” I insisted. “At least, there wasn’t. Until now.”

“That’s whatyouthink,” she crowed. “I told you I would always catch Jason looking at you.”

Chloe had always insisted that Jason was always watching me when I wasn’t looking, but I had written it off as one of her many romantic idealizations. She always read too much into people’s actions, thinking everything was going to turn into a grand romance. But what if, this time, she was right?

Chloe and I talked for a long time, as she played out every possible scenario. And for once, I was avidly interested in all her relationship dissections.

It was nearly dark when we got off the phone. My mom had texted me that she had picked up a pizza for dinner on the way home from work, and I ran downstairs when I heard the front door open.

I set the table for dinner while she got changed, and then we dived into the large supreme pizza with extra cheese.

“Any plans for the rest of the weekend?” my mom asked as she twirled a string of errant cheese around her finger.

“Not really,” I said, wrangling a piece of pepperoni that was trying to slide off my slice. “Do you have to work tomorrow?”

“No, thank goodness.” My mom sighed. “I can’t wait until work dies down.” I watched as she meticulously took the black olives off her slice. She hated olives but aways got them on our pizza because she knew I loved them. “Why don’t we get our nails done tomorrow? Maybe some shopping afterwards, too.”

I nodded excitedly. “That sounds like fun!” I gave her an imploring smile. “And maybe lunch at La Taqueria?”

La Taqueria was my favorite Mexican restaurant, and I was pumped when my mom agreed. This was one of the reasons I wanted to stay home for college. It had been just me and my mom since fourth grade, and not only was she my mom, but she was also my best friend. I knew how hard she had worked since my dad left to give me a good life, but it wasn’t the material things she gave me that I appreciated most, although I was grateful for them. It was her always making time for me, makingsure we spent time doing things together. She always juggled her schedule to make sure I felt important and seen. I had a whole lifetime to live on my own. I just wanted four more years of her and I together.

The rest of the weekend flew by, but I had to admit I frequently checked my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed a call or text. I wondered what time Jason flew out on Sunday, and I wondered when he would call. It was agonizing waiting to hear from him, and when I hadn’t heard from him by Tuesday, I wondered if maybe he had changed his mind and no longer wanted to pursue something with me. Chloe called me from Florida to get an update, and was disappointed when there was none to give.

I thought I would get so much reading done over spring break as I had a stack of books I wanted to get through, but I found my mind wandering, making it hard to concentrate on the words on the page. My thoughts kept drifting back to Jason and the things he had said, our kiss on Friday, and what he was thinking now.

Wednesday afternoon, I had given up trying to read and had turned on the TV, tuning into some mindless reality show where random people lived together and fought over everything. I was watching two girls argue about who spent more time in the bathroom when my phone rang. My heart leapt when I saw Jason’s name on the screen. I made myself wait for the phone to ring a few times before answering it.

“Hello?” I was going for calm, but instead I sounded a bit breathless.

“Hi, Daphne.”

I was surprised that just two words from Jason could give me a thrill. But hearing him say my name, after anticipating his call for days, gave me a little buzz of excitement.

“Hey, Jason,” I said, trying to sound casual. “How’s California?”

“Good,” he replied. “Although, I thought it would be a chill trip since Aunt Josie just had her baby. But instead of just hanging out at home, I’ve been taking my younger cousins everywhere to get them out of my aunt’s hair while she’s taking care of the baby. My mom’s no help because she just wants to stay with my aunt and coo at the baby. And my brother just hides and plays video games.”

I laughed because I could just imagine Jason rolling his eyes over the phone. Despite his protestations, he sounded like he was having just as much fun as his cousins as he told me all the places they’d been dragging him to.

“How’s everything back in Hyattsville?” he asked, after he finished telling me how he had to stop his five year old cousin from trying to climb into the lion pen at the zoo.

“Oh, so exciting,” I said dryly. “I heard Mandy Crier’s dad got into an argument at the tractor supply store because of the price of grass seed.

Jason laughed. “I’m missing out.” His voice turned serious as he continued. “How’s the…thinking going?”

“It’s going,” I said, not wanting to get into it. Jason took the hint, and changed the topic to how his new baby cousin looked like an alien, and he had gotten in trouble for saying so.

Our topics changed organically, and just like last week, I found myself surprised to realize hours had passed.

“My phone’s about to die,” I said regretfully. “And I told my mom I would make dinner tonight, so I should probably get started.”

“Okay,” Jason said, sounding reluctant. “I’ll call you again later this week?”

His last statement was more of a question. “I’d like that,” I said, deciding not to hide my eagerness to hear from him again. I was beginning to admit to myself that I had feelings for Jason,and I had an idea of what my answer would be when he got back home.

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