“Appreciate it.”
“I’ll message you later.” Saylor hops out of the car, waving back at me as she closes the door and walks up the front walkway. I wait until she’s inside and then head back to my house. My cheek is still warm, and in this weird way it’s like Saylor is still in the car as I drive back. She’s a lot to handle, but I realize I don’t mind it.
11
Heaven
“Who wants to do what now?”
I’d laugh at the look of confusion on my dad’s face if I wasn’t still a bit stressed out. I swallow and lean into the edge of the island. Fergie’s by my feet begging for pets, but I can’t multitask right now. I thought I’d have more time to get my thoughts together before I had to tell my parents about the change in plans. But when I got back from dropping Saylor off, Dad pulled in right behind me and my mom was already home from her lunch date with her friends. I had to tell them something sooner than later.
“Saylor and I are gonna do the bingo challenge together,” I say.
“What’s changed since this morning?” Mom asks.
Everything!“I remembered what you said about being nice, and I felt bad because of her arm. She broke it,” I clarify for Dad. “So yeah. I remembered what Mom said about being nice and I figured it wouldn’t be so bad if she tagged along for bingo.”
“That’s very kind of you, princess,” Mom says with a smile, and now I kinda feel bad because she doesn’t know that Saylor literally had to bribe me.
“Do I know this Saylor girl?” Dad asks.
“Um, she’s Jake’s girlfriend’s best friend. We took the winter formal pictures in front of her house,” I say.
“Oh! Was the mom the really intense white woman?”
“That’s her,” Mom and I say at the same time.
“Okay. Well, if you want this to go from solo bingo to buddy bingo, I think that’s a great idea.”
“Saylor’s pretty excited,” I say. “I showed her the board and she wanted in. She thought she was gonna have to spend the whole summer alone on their couch.”
A smug smile spreads out over Dad’s face before he winks at Mom. “You hear that, Mo-Mo? That bingo board is so good, her friends want in on the festivities. I think I might be a genius.”
“You’re very smart, honey. You should be proud,” Mom replies. This is how my parents flirt.
“Gross. So it’s okay if she joins in?”
“Sure. I’ll hit up her parents about the details, but think that’s fine.”
Mom agrees with a smile and a nod. I think she’s really impressed that I agreed to hang out with someone who isn’t Jake or Axel without her having to give me a nudge.
“Okay, cool. Well, I’ll message her and get her mom’s info.”
“I have it, honey,” Mom says.
“Good. Great. Excellent,” I reply. “I’ll be in my room perfecting my own genius.”
“Cool.” Dad gives me a thumbs-up and I head upstairs, convinced this is all going to fall apart. I’m gonna slip upand my parents are gonna know that I’m getting something major out of this arrangement with Saylor. Or worse, I’ll slip up and Saylor will find out I actually had a good time hanging out with her today.
•••
The next morning, the panic has eased a little, helped with a night of intense sketching. I can’t use any of it for Miss Kelly’s assignment, but now I have half the season one cast ofCall the Midwifesketched in sad-clown makeup. After a weird night’s sleep, I wolf down a big breakfast then Dad and I head out to meet up with Jake, his dad, Esther, Axel, and his dad, Mr.Diaz.
It’s actually a perfect day out. The sun is high. It’s hot, but there’s a breeze. The park is packed, but as soon as we step onto the concrete, you can tell the vibes are good. Kids on scooters, older ladies on roller skates. Not a douchey skate bro in sight. The dads have to do their weekly gossiping, so we let my dad get his weekly blessing of the skate out of the way. We bring our boards together and bow our heads.
“To the god of sick skating grooves, bless each and every shred. Keep the rain clouds away and keep each and every one of us out of the ER. Let’s skate!” We break, and I drop my board and kick push my way over to the wave ramp. Axel is right behind me. My mood lifts a little, but about a half hour later, I feel weird again. That’s the only way I can describe it. I keep thinking of this strange bargainI struck with Saylor, and why she came to me. I keep thinking about the angry scratch on her face that brings out the hazel in her eyes.
I keep thinking about those really short shorts, and her lips on my cheek. I keep thinking about the fact that she’s actually gay, and while it shouldn’t mean anything when it comes to me because it’s her own gay business, it feels like it means something, like I’m suddenly allowed to think of her in a certain way, when I’ve never wanted to think about her at all before. Like I have a chance, which I don’t. I don’t want a chance with Saylor Ford. People are gay in proximity to each other all the time and nothing happens between them. I don’t like thinking this much about anything. I don’t need this kind of stress in my life.