First Crush, My Forever

Chapter 82

  By the time I park on campus, I'm cutting it close. Coffee in one hand, hoodie half-zipped, hair still damp and up in a bun. I jog across the lot, half-awake, and stop short when I see the sign taped to the door:

  CLASS CANCELED.

  Cool.

  I just stand there for a second, staring at it. Going home doesn't sound great. Dani's at work. KK's at pre-K. All I'd be doing is sitting in the quiet, and lately, that quiet's been loud as hell.

  Dani still hasn't heard a word from Nora or John since the weekend. It's weighing on her. I can see it in the way she holds herself, tense, like she's bracing for something that might never come. I've been trying to give her space, be patient, hold her close when I can. But I also want to give her something solid. Something good. Something that's just about us.

  I finish the rest of my coffee which is now lukewarm and bitter and head back to my car.

  The high school isn't far so I go there. I park in the back, in the same lot I used to years ago. These halls are familiar, but everything about the way I move through them has changed. I'm not a student anymore, not some kid wandering between lockers. I'm something else now. Grown, or trying to be.

  The front office staff doesn't even flinch when I walk in. I head straight for Mama's office and knock twice before easing the door open.

  Mama looks up from her laptop. Mom's in the chair across from her, legs crossed, sipping from a mug that probably has cinnamon tea in it. They both smile when they see me.

  "Well hey, stranger," Mama says, standing to pull me into a hug. "What brings you here?"

  "Class was canceled," I say, dropping into the seat next to Mom. "Didn't feel like going home."

  "You okay?" Mom asks, studying me like she already knows the answer.

  "Yeah. Just got some stuff on my mind."

  They wait. They know me well enough to know I don't show up just to chat.

  "I'm ready to buy the ring," I say. "I want to propose. Not eventually. I mean like... this week."

  They both pause. Even though Mama and I talked about it before, they still blink like I've knocked the wind out of the room.

  "I've known for a while," I go on. "But with everything Dani's dealing with, all the silence and stress and wondering if Chris's parents are going to show up out of nowhere, I want to give her something real. Something that has nothing to do with any of them. Just her. Just us. No baggage. Just love. I don't think I can keep waiting, I would marry her right now in this office if I could."

  Mama smiles and leans back in her chair, thoughtful. "You want one of us to come with you?"

  "If possible," I say. "Preferably both of you. I don't want to do this part alone. I want to get it right."

  Mama smiles and glances at Mom before looking back at me. "When your mom proposed to me, she picked out the perfect ring. Nothing flashy. I don't like all that anyway. But it was beautiful. It was... me. When she got down on one knee, I didn't even care what she said next. I was already crying."

  Mom grins. "You always cry at the good parts."

  "Yeah, well," Mama says, still looking at me, "it matters. The way you love someone. The way you show it."

  "I also knew what she'd want before she did," Mom says, nudging her foot gently toward Mama's.

  "That's what I want to find," I say. "Something that fits Dani. She's not fancy, but she notices everything. It has to mean something. It has to be beautiful and feel like her."