“I got your text.”
“Sophie, I—”
“My turn, remember!” Sophie let out a shallow breath, her stomach knotting. She hadn’t known she would ever say these words, let alone say them tonight. “My mother says love is never a mistake.”
“I think I like your mother,” Jesse murmured.
“She's pretty awesome.” Sophie smiled fondly at the framed family photo on her dresser. “Maybe one day you'll get to meet her.”
Jesse’s voice came over the line so softly that even with her freaky hearing, Sophie had to strain to hear the words at first.His incredulous voice was full of relief. “I didn’t blow it. I didn’t blow it, did I? Not completely?”
“Not at all. I don’t know how you meant it, exactly, but... I love you, too.” To her credit, her voice didn’t crack, although she thought the plastic case on her phone might have sustained a bit of damage from her clenching fingers. “I love that I met you. I love when we’re together.”
“Love that, too,” Jesse whispered.
After half a minute’s silence, Sophie asked, “Are you okay?”
“I— This might sound dumb to you—”
“I don’t think you’re dumb, so no, it won’t,” Sophie reassured.
“I told you, I don’t plan — didn’t plan on being with anyone romantically, at least not more than a date or two. I thought I’d stopped meeting people I would love. I never expected to say those words again.”
How sad. How incredibly sad. Yet hadn’t she lain awake at night wondering if she would ever find love? If she would always be alone? What would happen to her after her parents died? Who would be her family and her friends then? Life had seemed like an empty, dark corridor.
If she’d thought for a moment that Jesse sounded like a man nearing the end of his life instead of someone in his prime, she dismissed it. Her condition had often made her wonder why she was in this life at all.
“You have me. You can say them again.”
“I love you, Sophie.”
“Jesse!”
In the background, Sophie heard a woman’s voice.
“Coming, Mom.”
“That’s your mother?”
“Yeah, she needs my help getting something off a high shelf. I can call back?”
“Sure, when you want to. I have to go help make pie crust.”
“Okay. um. Well. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
“L-love you.” He blurted out the last words and hung up.
Sophie smiled.
I’m in love.
EVERYTHING IS BETTERwhen you’re in love. Food tastes better, scents are sweeter, everything is suddenly interesting, stored up for discussing and sharing later. Normally using the holidays as a welcome relief from the stress of being stared at in school, Sophie would use any break as a chance to hibernate. Not this year.
“I want to go out on Black Friday. I want to get Jesse a Flyers jersey,” Sophie announced during Thanksgiving dinner.
“With what money?” Sophie’s father demanded.
