Page 58 of Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling

“You are old, ma’am!” Andre says with a playful grin, and Ms. Tyler laughs and bumps him with her hip. “Now you better be quiet! I can’t take you down in front of your family.”

“Yep, I know! And I’m ’bout to take full advantage of that!” He throws his head back with a single “Ha!”

“Come find us when you need us,” Ms. Tyler says, giving Delilah a quick peck on the forehead. And then they make their way over to the picnic benches, laughing and slapping each other’s shoulders the whole way.

“They are really cool,” I say.

“Yeah, they are.” Delilah is looking after them, twisting her lips to the side, and it’s clear there’s something else there. But I don’t want to pry and make her feel uncomfortable. No... I need to change the vibe, stat.

I pull out my phone and pretend to be dialing, complete with old-school beeping sound effects.

“What are you doing?” she asks, looking at me now.

“Just calling TMZ.” I put the phone up to my ear. “Hello? TMZ? I’d like to report a celebrity sighting.”

“Oh my god, stop,” she says, but the clouds on her face have cleared and the sides of her lips are slowly turning up.

“Yeah, I just saw Delilah. You know, Delilah Cole, lead singer of Fun Gi? The girl that’s been the subject of about a million adoring TikToks and has taken the music world by storm.”

“It’s not even big like that—”

“We’re at Scherer Park, off Long Beach Boulevard. That’s S-C-H—”

She giggles, trying to grab my phone away from me, and when her rough fingers brush my arm, I swear an electric pulse goes through my whole body and nearly stops my heart. I want to stop fighting and pull her in close and bury my face in her flowery-smelling curls.

And those vibes must be, like, wafting off me, because all of a sudden she stops and pulls away. I might as well have hired one of those little airplanes to carry an “I LIKE YOU DELILAH” sign across the sky. Goddamn it.

“You know it’s not like that,” she repeats quietly. She tucks her hair behind her ears self-consciously, glancing at the ground.

“Okay, all right. I’m just playing.” I clear my throat and will my speeding heart to slow down again so it doesn’t give away anymore just how much a touch to my arm destroyed me. “But it must feel pretty great, right? Everyone islovingyou.”

“The band,” she corrects me.

“Yeah, the band. But mostly you. That’s why people care. It’s not like Fun Gi was blowing up on their own before you.”

She sighs heavily and then twists her lips to the side. Which is... not the reaction I was expecting.

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“It’s... it’s nothing.” She blinks a few times and brushes a finger under her right eye all quick.

I glance over at the barbecue, where Al Green is blasting from someone’s Bluetooth speakers and everyone is already talking loudly and filling up plates from the five tables full of aluminum trays. I don’t know what’s going on with Delilah, but I know that’s not what she needs.

“Do you—uh, do you want to go talk?” I nod over at a bench a few yards away.

“Oh, no... it’s fine,” she murmurs, trying to do another covert wiping of her eyes. “I don’t want to take you away from your family.”

My family—as in my parents, who are probably grateful I’m not embarrassing them in front of everyone? Or my brother and cousin Jerry, who are definitely waiting around to roast me? “I’d much rather talk to you.”

She nods. “Okay.”

We don’t speak as we walk across the grass. It’s covered in a carpet of slimy purple jacaranda flowers, so the only sounds are our squishy steps and Delilah’s sniffles. And I’m racking my brain trying to figure out what I did or said to make her so upset. I mean,I was just complimenting her band and all the hype they’ve been getting lately. That seems like pretty safe territory.

“Did something happen? Did I say something wrong?” I ask as soon as we sit down.

“No. No, no.” She sighs again and studies the ground. “I’m just... in my feelings today, I guess. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize for your feelings.”

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