Page 37 of The Do-Over

As he insisted on putting it on me, I said nothing, dreading the rash that would cover my skin within hours. Because I’d told Josh an entire story—last week—about how silver made me break out. Yes, people sometimes forgot things, but it had been a long story that included a trip to the ER and he’d commented on how if we’d been dating at that time, he would’ve smuggled in a pizza for me to eat.

So now he was buying me silver?

I pushed that down, though, for the sake of a perfect day, and watched him open the watchband. He loved it—I knew he would—and it made him wrap his arms around me and kiss me big on the lips, school hallway be damned.

When he pulled back and looked down at me, I grinned. Cleared my throat. Then I took the deepest of breaths, looked at his brown eyes, and said, “I love—”

“Not yet!” He held up a finger and said, “Not another word until you hear my poem.”

I closed my mouth, a little shaken. Had he known what I was about to say? He was giving me a huge smile, so I didn’t think so.

He read me the poem he’d written, saying I fit into his poems like the perfect rhyme, and he wrapped me up in a big hug. It was beautiful, like all his poetry, and afterward I smiled through the hallways as I headed for Chris’s car.Love is not what is, but what isn’t. My ears aren’t happy when she isn’t speaking; my fingers bereft when her skin is absent.

I hadn’t had a chance to say it—I love you—but I was okay with that. He’d used the word “love” in his poem about me, so that was almost like he’d said it first, and I could still tell him when he called me later that night.

When I got outside and the cold hit me in the face, I heard the horn before I saw Chris. That goofy smart-ass was honking to the tune of “We Will Rock You,” and I was crying from laughter by the time I reached his car.

“Could youbeany slower?” he yelled out the window.

“I’m sure I could,” I yelled back, laughing even harder when I reached for the door handle and it was locked. “Let me in!”

“Fine.” He hit unlock and said, “But only because I need ten bucks for gas.”

“Typical.” I got in his car and closed the door, and as I slammed it shut, I saw Nick Stark one row over, messing with his truck’s engine. I rolled down the window and yelled in his direction, “Do you need help?”

His eyes raised from the motor of his car to my face and I was instantly warm. He was doing that sarcastic half-smile thing when he yelled, “No offense, but I’m a sixteen-year-old guy. It isn’t really safe for me to talk to strangers.”

I laughed and yelled, “We’re not strangers, Nick Stark.”

His half-smile went wide and whole. “That’s right—we’re partners.”

I laughed again and I heard Chris make a noise. I ignored it and said, “Seriously, though—do you need help? Or a ride?”

“What am I—your Uber now?” Chris muttered.

“No, but thanks,” Nick said. “She’s actually running now so I’m good.”

“Well, okay, then.” Why was I disappointed? “See you.”

He gave me a look that was suspended—frozen—before life went back to full speed.

“Hey, hon.” My dad came out of the kitchen with a dish towel over his shoulder. “How was school?”

I smiled and set down my bag. I had already taken off Josh’s bracelet on the ride home and shoved it deep in a pocket of my backpack so I wouldn’t have to think about it. To my dad, I said, “Good. Hey—can I talk to you for a quick second?”

“I have to stir my sauce, but sure.”

I followed him into the kitchen and climbed onto one of the counter stools. He was making spaghetti and meatballs—Grandma Max’s recipe—and it smelled amazing.

“What’s up?”

I reached out and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. “Mom told me about the promotion.” A lie, of course, but I was getting ahead of this.

“Christ—are you kidding me?” My dad’s shoulders dropped and he looked pissed. “I told her I wanted to talk to you first—”

“No—it’s okay.” I took a bite of the apple and said, “She misunderstood something I said and thought I already knew.”

“Oh.” He closed his mouth and stirred his sauce, looking deep in thought. My dad was one of those dads who maintained a younger vibe; like, he had all of his hair and hadn’t gotten soft yet. Thatbeing said, there were a few gray hairs in his temples that hinted at his true age.

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