“Wait, this isn’t your first kiss in general, is it?”
“No, I’ve kissed a few guys.” Not any in the last year, but enough before a year ago that I wasn’t worried about my ability.
“Good. So is there a close place you can pull him away to? A quiet, romantic place, preferably?”
“The broom closet?”
She was adding more details to her drawing. “Not a broom closet.”
“I was kidding.”
She looked up to see my expression. “Right. I always forget how sarcastic you are.”
“It’s a gift.”
“You have a different place in mind then?”
I had a different place in mind. The sitting area overlooking the ocean. It was closed in by trees and shrubbery, and as long as it wasn’t occupied by other guests, it would be an amazing spot for a first kiss. “I have the place.”
“Then the rest should be easy.”
I let out a single forced breath. “So easy. He’ll be in love with me before the night is over.”
“Plus, you’ll have sold all five of your paintings that night. It will really just be the best night of your entire life.”
“This is starting to sound more and more like a play.”
“Exactly.” She held up her finished drawing, like this summarized everything we’d talked about. And for some reason it felt like it did. I smiled, a surge of confidence jolting through me. Cooper and I were going to be together. It was fate.
TWENTY-SEVEN
I was tired. I’d spent the last four days at the museum with inventory and clearing and storing art and everything else we had to do to prepare for the show. And I’d spent every night with Lacey going over our game plan.
She’d taken me to pick the perfect dress—red, sleeveless, just above my knee, high waistline, with pleats and pockets—and we’d researched hairstyles. And most importantly, I hadn’t seen Cooper since Lacey and I had come up with the plan. I had a headache, but I was pretty sure it was from worry and not from my detox.
It was Friday night. The show was in two days. We were in Lacey’s room going over the final details of how Sunday would play out. I was sitting on her bed, which had more pillows than existed in my entire house.
She was surveying a shoe rack that took up one entire wall of her walk-in closet.
“What size shoe do you wear?”
“Eight.”
She pursed her lips. “You think you can squeeze into a seven and a half for the night? Because these are perfect.” She held up the shoes in her right hand. They were black peep-toe heels with red bottoms.
“I’ll be on my feet for at least four hours.”
“So that’s a no?”
“That’s a big no.”
“Fine. But you need to pick out cute heels. None of your comfy flats.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll go tomorrow.”
“Good. I wish I could go with you. I wish I could see this all play out. Maybe I should skip my latest LA audition.”
“You’re kidding, right? You should not skip the audition. You need to go and you need to get that part like I know you are capable of doing.”
She gave me a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
I smiled.
“You’re good at giving pep talks, not so good at taking them.”
“Hey, I’m about to kiss Cooper my-best-friend-in-the-whole-world Wells on Sunday. Pretty sure I’ve taken an innocent pep talk to the extreme.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call my scheming an innocent pep talk, but I know what you’re saying. And you will be great. I know you can do it, even if I can’t be there.”
“I can. I will.” I put my fist halfheartedly in the air. “Ouch. My shoulder is sore.”
“From what?”
“We’ve been moving a lot of paintings around at the museum.”
She tapped her lips with her fingers. “I’ve been thinking. Is it too late to paint a special painting for Cooper? Something that would mean something to him that you could include in your display?”
“The show is in two days!”
“So that’s a no?”
I laughed. “Do you normally say things and people just make them happen?”
She looked up in thought. “Not all the time. But enough to spoil me. We’re good for each other, I think. You bring me down to earth and I make you dream big.”
Maybe she was right. Because she did have me dreaming big. She had me thinking that in two nights, I could make Cooper mine. “I actually already have a painting for him. I revamped a painting of him on his quad. I haven’t shown him the new version yet. I think he’ll love it. I was going to gift it to him after the show if it didn’t sell.”
“Perfect. Look at that. I said something, and it happened.”
I picked up one of her hundred pillows and threw it at her.
She caught it and twirled around like it was her new dance partner. Then she plopped it on the floor and sat on top of it. “So what are you going to do about his girlfriend? If she shows up to the museum with him, I mean.”
My smile melted off my face. “They’re not together,” I said, repeating what he’d told me. “They’ve only been out a few times. I don’t think he’ll bring her.”
“Okay, but if he does, you must steal him away from her to your secret location.”
“That will be awkward.”
“Remember, Cooper should’ve been yours a year ago. She is stealing him away from you. Think about the first time she met him. He was with you, and she didn’t have any problem flirting with him.”
“True.”
“Say it like you believe it.”
“True!”
A knock sounded at Lacey’s closed door.
“Come in,” she called.
Her dad poked his head in.
“Hello, Bill,” Lacey said.
“Hey, your mother and I are going to run to the store. You brother and sister are watching television. Can you just keep an ear out for them?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Thanks.” He left, leaving the door open this time.
“You call him Bill. Is that an I treat my dad like my peer thing or is that a my dad and I are distant and therefore I must call him by his first name thing?”
“That’s a he’s my stepdad thing.”
“Oh. That makes sense. Not sure why I didn’t think of that one first.”
She laughed.
“Is that why your brother and sister are so much younger than you?”
“Yep. Half siblings.”
“Got it. And your not-stepdad?”
“You mean my actual dad?”
“Yes.”
She threw the pillow back at me and I caught it. “He’s around. Since I’m seventeen now, I kind of get to pick when I see him. It used to be they had fifty-fifty custody. But it’s so hard to pack up my life for half a week. So now we mostly do meals together once a week, or I’ll stay with him for three weeks here and there.”
“Does he live close?”
“About an hour. And he’s not super enthusiastic about my career choice.”
“Acting? Why?”
“He thinks I’m too young. Wants me to grow up a little first.”
“But your mom is fine with it?”
“Very. The consummate stage mom. And it’s what I love to do, so I’m glad at least one of them has supported me. It’s hard to be taken seriously as an artist. You know.”
“I do. I’m lucky neither of my parents have given me grief about art.”
“You are.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I freed it. It was a text from Cooper.
I’m sick. Come take care of me.
I held up my phone for Lacey to see.
“Tell him no. You’ve lasted four days. He’s going to ruin our plans. No seeing him until Sunday.”
I texted back: I’m sure your mom is doing a perfect job of taking care of you.
Parents are out of town.
C
an’t Iris take care of you?
I’m on death’s door. Please.
“Gah!” I grunted in frustration. “He said he’s on death’s door.”
“Abby,” she said in a warning tone.
“I know, but what if he’s really sick and all alone?”
“He has Iris, remember?”
“That will just further their relationship if she’s there to take care of him while he’s sick. The fact that he’s texting me says a lot, right?”
“It does. It says our plan is going to work.”
“So I’ll just go check on him.”
Lacey leveled me with a cold stare. “You’re going to go no matter what I say, aren’t you?”
“He’s my friend.”
“I know. Get out of here. Hopefully he’s incoherent and our plan will still work.”
I smiled. “Thanks for everything.”
She hugged me. “Text me Sunday night with a detailed report.”
“I will.”
She swiped up the heels she’d dropped at the foot of her bed. “Take these just in case you can’t find any. Sacrifice is the start of any great relationship.” She smiled. “Yes, you can put that on a T-shirt.”
I took the shoes and ran out of the house. My heart was pounding. I’d let Cooper talk me into coming over so easily because I missed him.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Amelia let me in when I got to Cooper’s house.
“Where is he?”
She pointed to the hall.
I dropped my bag by the front door and made my way to his room. I knocked softly on his door. “Hey, it’s me.”
He just groaned.
“You were well enough to text ten minutes ago. Have you deteriorated that much since then?” I walked into his room. The only light came from a small desk lamp, so it took my eyes a bit to adjust. He lay on his bed, his breathing labored. I put my hand on his forehead. It was burning up.
“Wait, you’re really sick?” I had kind of thought he might be faking it a little or overplaying it to get me over. “You have a bad fever. Have you taken any medicine for this?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“Maybe.” His lips were dry and cracked, and his words came out as a whisper.
“How long have you been like this? For longer than today?”
“What?”
“I’ll be right back.” I searched for his sister and found her eating ice cream in front of the television. “Has Cooper taken anything for his fever?”
“No. He got home about three hours ago and went straight to his room. I tried to wake him up to ask him if Mom left us any money for dinner, but he told me he was sleeping.”
“So this just started today?”
“I think.”
“Okay. I have money if you want to order a pizza or something.”
“Thanks!” She ran to the phone and I went to the medicine cupboard. I found a bottle of NyQuil. I also wet a rag. With my offerings in hand, I went back to his room.
“Hey, sickie, sit up for a sec. I need you to take some medicine.”
“Abby?”
“Yes.”
“What are you doing here?”
“You texted me. Now come on, sit up.” I helped him sit up. He took the medicine and lay back down on his side. I placed the wet washrag on the back of his neck, where he felt the hottest. “How did this happen?”
“Dunno,” he mumbled.
“If I make you some soup will you eat it?”
“Not hungry.”
“What do you need?” I flipped the rag to the other side.
“Just stay with me.”
“Okay. I can do that, but if you get me sick I won’t be happy. I have a big show in two days.”
He smiled a little and I crawled into bed next to him, sitting against the headboard instead of lying down.
His arm immediately went over my lap and his forehead found my hip. I could feel the heat radiating off him. I hoped the medicine helped soon, because I didn’t like seeing him like this. I moved the rag from his neck to his temple and lightly ran it along his face.
“You’ve been gone this week,” he said.
“Just busy.”
“It’s annoying.”
I smiled and pushed his hair off his forehead.
“I’m cold,” he said with a shiver.
“You’re actually very hot.”
“I know.” One side of his mouth attempted a smile.
“Wow, even incoherent you can still pull out the jokes.”
He let out what he probably thought was a small laugh but was really more of a moan.
The cloth was now warm and I moved stand up so I could rewet it, but his grip around me tightened.
“I just need to make this cold again, and get you some crushed ice to chew on, okay?”
“Don’t leave.”
“I won’t leave. I’ll be right back.” I pried his arm off my waist.
Amelia was in the kitchen when I got there. “Did you order pizza?”
“Yes, a little while ago. They said thirty minutes or less.”
I pulled a twenty out of my bag and handed it to her.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “Is Cooper going to be okay?”
“Yes, he’ll be fine. He just has a fever. I’m sure it will be gone by tomorrow.”
“Okay. I’ll wait for the pizza guy.”
“Come get me when he comes, okay? Don’t answer the door by yourself.”
“I am fourteen, you know.”
I gave her a hard stare.
“Okay, okay.”
With ice and newly cooled rag, I went back to Cooper’s room. He appeared to have gone back to sleep.
I laid the rag across his forehead and set the ice on his nightstand. I sat down next to him again. It was rare that I got to stare at Cooper for long uninterrupted moments like this. But as I sat next to him, his arm around me again, his eyes closed, I couldn’t help it. He had long blond eyelashes that curled up. His nose had a knot in it from where he broke it falling off his quad when he was a kid. His lips, which were normally soft and full, were dried and cracked. Man, did I love this boy so much.
His head was still on fire, and I was worried. I picked up some ice and ran it along his lips. Tingles spread from the back of my neck all the way down my arms. No. What was wrong with me? I dropped the ice back in the cup, clenched my hands into fists, and forced them to my sides. I sat like that for a long time, listening to him breathe, willing his body to heal.
The doorbell rang and I slipped out of Cooper’s hold and stepped out of his room. It was a good excuse for a break.
The pizza guy was in the open door by the time I got there, giving Amelia some change.
“I thought I told you to wait for me,” I said to her.
“Oops,” she said, taking the pizza and shutting the door. “Sorry.”
I hip-checked her.
“You want some?”
“What kind?”
“Pepperoni and mushrooms.”
“Sure.”
She put the pizza on the table and pulled two plates from the cupboard. “I heard the fish painting is going to be in the show. I knew it would work.”
“I’m happy it did.”
“Do you think Cooper will let me come to the art show?”
“Yes. Of course. You’re all invited. Your parents can come too. It’s Sunday night.”
“My parents are out of town.”
“Oh, right. Well, tag along with Cooper. He’s bringing my mom for me too.” My plans for the night involved me taking Cooper outside anyway, away from everyone, to the overlook. Was I still going to be able to do that? Was he going to be well enough?
She took a big bite of pizza. “He’ll have to come get me at my friend’s house. My mom arranged for me to spend Sunday over there.”
“Where’d your parents go, anyway?” I asked, sitting down.
“M
y dad took my mom on some anniversary cruise trip for the weekend.”
“Fun.”
“She called. She’s seasick.”
“Oh. That’s not so fun.” I slid a slice of pizza out of the box and onto the plate that now sat in front of me. “And where was Cooper today?” I tried to ask casually, like I didn’t care. It was weird not knowing what he’d been up to this week.
“I guess he took Ris to some fish spa?” She said it like she didn’t know what that was.
“He did what?” I asked, mad that he wouldn’t do that with me but had stolen the idea to do with her.
“I know. Weird, right?”
“Yeah . . . weird.” I took a couple of deep breaths. I was not going to get mad. “Do you like her?” I asked.
Amelia shrugged. “She’s okay. She bakes a lot.”
“Yeah, she told me she liked to bake. That’s cool.”
Amelia leaned forward and lowered her voice, like Iris was in the next room. “She needs a bit more practice.”
A laugh burst out of me before I could stop it. Amelia’s cheeks went pink.
We each ate two slices of pizza before I threw my napkin on my plate and pushed myself away from the table. “I better go check on your brother.”
“He’s a baby.”
“Most of the time, yes.”
“Did he call you to come over here?”
“He texted me.”
“Huh,” she said with a small nod.
“What?”
“Nothing . . . he’s just a baby.”
I could tell I wasn’t going to get what she was really thinking out of her, so I left. Cooper’s shoulder rose and fell in a steady rhythm as I stared at him from the door. I let myself inside and gently placed my hand to his forehead. His head felt a lot cooler and I took a breath of relief. Hopefully this was just some twenty-four-hour bug.
I walked slowly around his room, looking at the things on his walls. I’d been in his room a million times before, so I’d seen them all a million times before, but I hadn’t really looked at them in a while. He had lots of pictures. For his birthday a couple of years ago, I’d bought him a Polaroid camera, the one that immediately spits out a low-quality picture. And there were tons of those, like a border, at eye level around his room. His eye level, not mine, so I had to stand on my tiptoes to look at them. So many were of him and me in various places over the years—beach, Taco Bell, dunes, school. There were some of the four of us too—Cooper, Justin, Rachel, and me. But they were mostly of just the two of us.