Page 44 of Something Rad
“You did. And I answered–”
“Oh, come on, Cooper,” I say. “That didn’t count.”
“I’m just playing your game by your rules,Summers.”
“Fine, go,” I grumble.
“Why were you so touchy about me bringing up your family business earlier?”
“Pass,” I say, shaking my head.
“Pass?” Cooper asks, throwing her arms in the air. “You can’t pass!”
“Ask a different question then,” I tell her.
“Fine,” she says, crossing her arms. She turns away from me, pacing back and forth a few times, seeming to think very hard about something. “Okay,” she finally says, turning back to me. “What is your greatest dream?”
“What…” I trail off, tilting my head. “What kind of question is that?”
“What do you dream of?” Cooper repeats.
“When?” I ask.
“You know, in life,” she says, waving a hand around her. “Where do you see yourself in ten years?”
My mouth falls open. “I have never once thought that far into the future, Cooper.”
She raises a brow at me, looking me up and down several times. “Seriously? Even with your family’s practice–”
“Seriously. And that’s two questions–”
“That wasnottwo!” she cries.
“Itwas–”
“The second one was a question of confirmation. Not an actual question–”
“Fine, whatever,” I say, holding up my hands. “What are you always writing in that little red journal you carry around?”
Cooper’s cheeks immediately turn a darker shade of pink, and she sinks back slightly into the bookshelf. “Pass,” she says.
“I thought we couldn’t pass?”
“Well, you did anyways,” she says. “Ask a different question.”
I roll my lips into my mouth. There’s about a million things my brain is shouting at me to ask her, but I’m still stuck on the bizarre question she just asked me. “Fine, Cooper. What’syourgreatest dream?”
Her lips part, and then she closes them again. She glances away from me several times, then starts to shake her head. “Pass–”
“Okay, you definitely can’t passtwice. And especially not on a question you asked me first–”
“I’m pretty sure you’re just making the rules up as we go,” she huffs.
“Well, it’s my game,” I say. “Spill it, Cooper.”
She shakes her head again. “I– I’m not sure…I don’t know how to put it into words.”
I glance down, seeing her wringing her hands. My brows pull together, trying to understand why this question out of all of them makes her so nervous. And why it’s so serious to begin with. “Try,” I say.
