“Her mom was making content of her in the hospital before her cast was even on. She thought she was gonna get the whole summer off, but with her arm all messed up, it was like her mom was working double time to get her back on the content schedule.”
“Okay, yeah I can see why a little bribery came into the equation,” Dad says.
“And now?” Mom asks. She is pissed in that way where she’s trying to act like she’s not pissed but definitely is. I’ve never been grounded or in any real trouble, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. “Why didn’t you tell us you needed help with your accounts?”
“Because you and Miss Kelly kept telling me how I need to grow up and be more confident so she would eventually agree to take me on as an apprentice. Pretty much the only thing I want in the world,” I remind them.
“Okay, okay. We did say that. We deserved that,” Dad says.
“I mean, you weren’t all wrong. I did need to get out there and get my confidence up. Working that party helped a lot and I did have fun. Interviewing Ms.Lara was great. Just, at the time, I was scared, and Saylor isn’t afraid of anything.”
“But now?” Mom says, a little less pissed but definitely not pleased.
“Now, I really care about Saylor, and she doesn’t want to tell anyone about us because she’s afraid Mrs.Ford is going to make a Pride video part two and feature us both this time. And Saylor knows I barely like having my picturetaken, so she’s afraid I’m going to dump her because of her mom.”
Dad blinks and lets out a sigh of his own before scrubbing his beard. Mom looks down at the counter for a few long moments. So long that Dad even turns to look at her to see why she’s so quiet. Finally, she looks up at me.
“Alright. Well, I guess I have to talk to Cristine,” she says, and Dad nods like he thinks she made the right call.
“And say what?” I ask.
“At this moment, I’m not sure. But I’m gonna say something, because it’s a beautiful summer night, we have fancy cookies, and my teenage daughter is sitting here almost in tears when she should be upstairs having a cutesy FaceTime call with her new girlfriend. Neither you nor Saylor should be afraid of what Cristine Ford is gonna post next. That’s no way to live.”
“Amen, sister,” Dad says. My parents do this no-look high five thing they told me they perfected when they started dating.
“What if Saylor dumps me for this?”
“Oh, honey,” Mom says. She comes around the island and gives me the tight hug I realize I’ve been needing all night. “I don’t think she will. I’m almost certain of it, but if she does, she isn’t the girl for you.” I let her words sink in as she leans back and cups my cheeks. “Because you are pretty great, and if you need our help, then we’re gonna help you.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
I grab one more piece of cookie and sit and talk somemore with Mom and Dad. Dad can’t decide if he should try to reverse engineer Ms.Lara’s cookie recipe back in the lab or if he should just go over to the shop to ask how she got the sugar-to-salt ratio so perfect. I’m sure Ms.Lara would be happy to talk about food science with him. It’s foolproof, after all, following the right recipe. If only first relationships were that easy.
37
Saylor
Heaven adjusts my knee a little where it’s resting on her thigh before she goes back to working on her latest flash sheets. Mrs.Yeun asked her to try her hand at some nautical themes, sailboats and anchors. Stuff like that. Heaven’s taking her time, and from where I’m sitting, it all looks pretty good. I’m working on my LEGO succulents very, very slowly.
I’ve been over at the Goo-Campbells’ house almost constantly for the last couple days. Last night Dr.Campbell ordered us pizza, and we finished the last of the Friday the 13th movies. When we woke up, he offered to do our “take public transportation” square with us. So, we took the Culver City blue bus to the LA Metro orange line downtown and got food at Grand Central Market. Sometime after we left, Dr.G went to meet up with my mom for lunch.
When Heaven told me she told her parents about us, I was relieved, but then I cried. I love Heaven’s parents. They are funny and kind. They always make me feel welcome and always have the best snacks in their kitchen. They also treat Heaven like her own person, a princess if you will, not a prop. It makes sense that Heaven’s parents were cool aboutus being girlfriends. Even more warm and welcoming to me after they found out. But that doesn’t change what my mom will do.
Still, when Heaven tells me that her mom will help, all I can do is trust her. I mean, I trust Dr.G with my dental health. Maybe I can trust her with this.
Dr.G came back hours ago, smiling and assuring us everything was fine. I want to believe her, but I know my mom, and I know how moms interact. A good conversation between them doesn’t mean things are good between my mom and me. So, I don’t rush home. Heaven doesn’t seem to mind. She grabs her tablet and digs up the LEGOs we haven’t touched yet, and then she asks me where I left off inLove Island Australia, and we make ourselves comfortable.
When one of my favorite girls finally gets sent home, I think it might be time for me to head that way too. I turn to Heaven. Her hair is pulled back again, half-up, half-down. She’s wearing another bow, but this one is black. It suits her.
“Hey, Cutie.”
She looks up at me with the sweetest look on her face, and no matter what happens with my mom, I’m definitely not letting her go. We have so much bad dancing to do at homecoming.
“Can you drive me home?”
“Sure,” Heaven says, and then she leans over and kisses me. And I like that it’s not a big deal that her mom is on the back deck with the dogs and her dad is upstairs. They know, and neither of them is going to ask us if we want to make a BeeBop about it. We tell her mom we’re leaving. Dr.G givesme a sympathetic smile and tells me I’m welcome in their home anytime. I don’t know if that’s a good thing to say, considering the circumstances. I might be moving in depending on how this conversation goes.
Heaven and I make the quick ride back to my house, and this time I kiss her when she pulls to a stop at the mouth of our walkway.