Page 24 of A Novel Love Story

So I did. The camera app immediately quit. I tried again. Same thing. “Huh. And I guess your Wi-Fi is perpetually out? And there’s never any cell service?”

“Oh no, everyone has cell service here, and the Wi-Fi is perfectly fine. For everyone except you, I suspect, since you don’t belong here.”

“So you lied to me.”

He shrugged. “Would you have believed me otherwise?”

“No,” I admitted, and unrolled my utensils from my napkin, and looked down at my breakfast for lunch. Pru and I had tried to make the Honey Surprise a hundred times at home, until we’d perfected the art of French toast and the perfect golden-crisp pancake, but nothing prepared me for the fluffiness, the buttery sweetness, the crispy crunch of my first bite.

It was so good, I moaned.

Anders choked on a fry, and chased it with the rest of his tea. By the wrinkle of disgust on his face, the combination tasted terrible. “Can younot?” he whispered to me, coughing.

“Have youtastedthis? It’s delicious. You should have what I’m having.”

“I don’t eat sweet things.”

“You’re missing out. What do they put in this stuff? It’ssogood.”

“Butter, flour, and love, or so the sign says,” he replied, motioning to the slogan painted on the back wall of the restaurant.

I rolled my eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And after we finish, I’ll escort you to your car, and you’ll be on your way. Youwillbe on your way.”

“Oh,” I said distractedly, shoving another bite of honey-covered pancake into my mouth, “most definitely.”

8

Sweet as Whole

TO BE ABSOLUTELY FAIR,Iwasplanning on telling him about my car after lunch. Probably. But then we passed Sweeties and I couldn’tnotstop in and buy a bag of honey taffy. Locally sourced from Gemma Shah’s honeybees. I thought I’d see Gemma at the counter, but she must’ve been out to lunch. Maya Shah, her younger sister, was there instead. Sleek dark bob, tongue stud, black-painted nails to match her eyeshadow, striking against her warm brown skin. Olivia’s favorite character and crush-haver of Lyssa Greene. She could shoot a fly out of a tree with a compound bow from fifty feet away.

“Andie!” Maya greeted, throwing up her hands. “Well, isn’t this a surprise. I thought you were allergic to me, you never stop by.”

“I don’t like sweets,” he replied tiredly, as if he’d had to repeat that fact a thousand times already.

“Well, we all have our flaws,” Maya said, and turned to me. “I hope you have better taste?”

“Much better,” I agreed, and sampled every single bit of candy in the place.Anders brooded over the lollipops, looking more and more like he was planning on tying me up and carrying me over to my car, as I chatted with Maya about flavors and bees. She was bubbly and sharp, like a bubble gum with razor blades inside.

“Ready to go?” Anders asked as I said goodbye to Maya.

“Oh, comeon, Anders,” I said, and opened the bag of taffy I’d purchased. “Everything is here. Everything! I can’tnotsee it.”

In reply, he sighed.

“Fine. You can leave, you know, if I’m boring you.”

“I wouldn’t say boring. See you, Maya,” he added and held the door open for me. I rolled my eyes as I stepped into the sunshine, and he followed.

I unwrapped a taffy and popped it into my mouth. The sweetness about knocked me to my knees. “Oh mygod,” I said as I tried to chew the honey-flavored candy, “it’s actually sticking to my teeth! Like in the books! I can’t believe it!” A laugh bubbled up from somewhere so deep in me, I didn’t think I could sound that bright.

My chest was filled with a fuzzy Pop Rocks feeling. I hadn’t felt it in so long, I’d forgotten what it felt like.

The realization hit me like a train.

I washappy.

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