Page 95 of A Vicious Rumor

"Only if you keep playing the game," he said with a laugh.

I groaned. "Fine. Do you have any Jacks?"

"Go fish!" he said, all too chipper about it. I picked up another card and paired it off to the side.

"So, will you help me?"

"Tell me what you did wrong first," he said. "And give me your fours."

"Go fish," I said before sighing. "I pushed her away this summer. I thought I was doing it to keep her safe, but she almost got hurt because of me anyways. All that's over now, and I want her back. But, she won't talk to me. I just want to tell her how I feel."

"Maybe you don't deserve to tell her how you feel whenever you feel like it," Ronny said. "Keep playing the game!"

"Got any tens?" I asked before adding, "and what do you mean?"

Ronny tossed me a card. "I mean, it's always been on your terms this whole time, hasn't it? You lured her in this summer. You pushed her away. Now you want her back. What about her? What about what she's feeling? What about what she wants?"

"She says she doesn't want to talk to me? How do I just let someone like her go?"

"Got any queens?"

"None," I said, frustrated. "I want to respect her wishes, but I can't just give up on her."

Ronny put his cards down and looked at me dead on. "You know, I like that about you. You got moxie."

"What?"

"Moxie. It means determination. It also means nerve, which I'd say you got more than enough of," he said with a chuckle.

"My dad said I should do some grand gesture to try and win her back."

Ronny scrunched his face. "Eh, not really her style. She's not into all the glitz and glamour." He looked down at the two bracelets on my wrist. "You know, when she first started volunteering here, I was pretty upset about my situation. I was a pill to deal with and none of the other volunteers would even come close to me.

"But Lily was different. She didn't care that I was cold to her. She just kept showing up until I eventually got used to her. Then one day she didn't show up, and I realized I missed her.

"The next time she stopped by I asked her why she kept coming to visit me, even when I'd made it very clear I didn't want to be bothered with her. You know what she told me?"

I shook my head.

He smiled. "She told me that she could tell I was hurting, and that she wanted to help put me back together." He nodded at my bracelet. "She did that for you, didn't she?"

I nodded.

"Yeah. That's her thing. She cares so much for everyone. What matters the most to her is helping people heal, but in ways that make them stronger. Just like that bracelet of yours."

We sat in silence for a moment as I processed everything he'd just said.

"Anyways, don't listen to an old man's ramblings. Just give me your nines."

I looked up and realized what I needed to do. "Thank you, Ronny," I said. "I know what I need to do now.

I stood up from the table and put my hand out. He shook it and smiled. "Be good to her."

I nodded. "She's the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Me too," Ronny said.

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