“You don’t think you could do it sooner?”
“I mean, I don’t see how. My old landlord was discounting my rent, so I was able to put a little extra money away, and you’ve been kind enough to let me live here for free, so that’s helping me save, but it’s still slow.”
“Well, you also have all the money you saved from taping your air mattress back together.”
She shakes her head.
“Have you ever thought about starting smaller?”
“Not really,” she says. “I’d rather it take ten years, and I do it right, then try to do it with less money, and fail. I mean, it’s a huge undertaking, and there are so many moving parts and people needed to make something like that work.”
“I get that, but what if you started with an art class, and then eventually grew it to an art camp, and then from thereyou could expand to the overnight camps or whatever you want.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. It’s a good idea, but I don’t even know where I’d do an art class.” She shrugs. “I’m sure that would take money too. I don’t know.”
“You’re scared?”
“What?” She looks at me. “No, I’m scared of heights. I’m not scared of living out my dreams. I’m just a realist, and I know something like this doesn’t happen overnight or with the little bit sitting in my savings account.”
My mind starts racing with ideas of how I might be able to help her. I know she’d never take my money, but there might be another way.
“I’ll figure it out one day,” she says, pushing off the conversation, and I take the hint.
“Did you say you’re scared of heights?” I ask.
“Yeah, ever since my brothers fall, I don’t go up high.”
I internally cringe; of course she’s scared of heights. I should’ve put that together.
“Sorry. I should’ve known.”
“No, don’t be sorry. Sometimes it feels irrational because the bad thing didn’t happen to me. It happened to him, but I’m just so terrified that I’d fall and get hurt too.”
“I think if that had happened to Mitch or Bella, I’d feel the same way.”
“I bet you're not scared of anything.”
“Spiders,” I say, chuckling.
“You—the big, tall, Thor-like man—are scared of spiders?”
“Terrified. Anything creepy crawly really.”
“But they’re small. How could you be scared of something so tiny?”
“Are you saying you’re not scared of spiders?”
“Yes.”
I look at her, shocked, and my face heats.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met another human who isn’tafraid of them. You should’ve seen Jacks and me trying to kill one when he was living here. We ended up trapping it under a bowl and scooting it all the way across the apartment until we got to the door. I swung the door open, and he kicked the bowl outside, and we didn’t bring it in for, like, three days.”
“Men are such babies,” she laughs. “I promise to take care of all the spiders. Just call my name, and I’ll protect you.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
A loud moan comes from the TV, catching both of our attention.
