Page 134 of Falling Backwards
…to figure out my response.
I end up with, “That’s not lame.”
A bit more silence on his end too.Then, “No?”
I shake my head, but of course he doesn’t see it.“No.”
“Boyfriends and girlfriends like each other’s voices, huh?”
“Yes.Or they should, anyway.”
“Right.”
It kind of makes me sad that we’re coming up with an excuse for it to be okay for him to like that about me.
I wonder if it makes him sad too.
My eyes land on the incident log lying on my blanket.The reminder of Kyle nearly makes me shudder.
But I focus on Luke’s soft laughter from moments ago and his words from just now, and I surrender to a much nicer light shiver instead.
I get to my feet.It’s time to put the log away and trade the overhead light for lamplight.
“So what are you up to?”I ask Luke.“What have you done since you got home?”
“Bunch of nothing.Ate some mac and cheese.”
“Yum.”
“Yeah, it was all right.”With an audibly growing smile, he adds, “Maybe we can make it better ourselves.”
I register that I’m smiling with him right as I pass by my mirror and see it.“Maybe so.We should make a list of all the foods we wanna try to make.”
“Sure should.”
After I’ve left the log on my dresser and turned my lamp on low, I switch the overhead light off and crawl back into bed.“Speaking of food, did you enjoy your gummy worms?I forgot to ask.”
More of his soft laughter comes with me as I snuggle under my blanket and against my pillows—and somehow, the warm feeling it brings me also brings chill bumps.
He says, “Actually, I haven’t eaten them yet.”
My jaw drops.I look beside me like he’s there and not on the phone.“Huh?How’s that possible?”As it occurs to me, I frown and ask, “Are they expired?Or was the package open a little bit?I didn’tthinkit was open, but IknowI didn’t check the—”
“No, nah,” he cuts in, chortling.“It’s not because of a safety reason.It’s because once I eat them, they’ll be gone.”
Now I look quizzically at the empty air beside me, and he and I laugh in full at the same time.
“Yeah…?”I ask.
“Yeah, okay, obviously.I know how eating works.”I swear he’s holding up a hand in an,‘I’m not a dumbass,’way.
“Sure,” I reply teasingly.
“It’s just that they’re special, so I don’t wanna treat them like ordinary gummy worms.I wanna appreciate them.”
His meaning settles with me.
Even as I go on grinning, my voice gentles.“They’re special just ’cause I gave them to you?”
