“I don’t know what any of those are.” I did, actually, but I couldn’t admit that Bill’s old car didn’t have a hookup for his phone, so he sometimes played CDs. That vinyl was a thing again and Sarah’s brother had an entire collection.
Perhaps I knew more than she did. We were locked up here together, after all.
“Do you have them now?” I asked.
“That was a long time ago.” Mother picked up the paper towel and held it out. “You clean this while I get a hammer and nails.”
She was going to lock me inside again.
I quickly cleaned the window, already formulating a message to Tucker in my mind.I’m caught, and I’m stuck. But soon I’ll be eighteen, and I’ll walk out of here. I’ll get a job, and we can see each other whenever we want.
Tucker had plans. He was talking to some of Sarah’s friends who were headed to community college and looking for roommates. When he found a place, we’d apply to grocery stores or restaurants nearby that might hire us both. The idea of seeing him any time I liked was the ultimate prize.
I would not mess up so close to freedom.
Mother returned with a hammer and pounded nails into the wood surrounding the window. She clearly had little experience with tools and almost cracked the glass. But when she was done, four crooked, bent nails held the pane in place. She checked, making sure it wouldn’t lift, then left me alone in the room.
I wrote Tucker, saying I couldn’t come.
But the loss of our real-life dates made my need of him stronger, until I couldn’t stand it a minute more. Only a week later, I worked the nails loose, making the holes wide enough that I could slide them in and out.
And I texted asking him to come.
CHAPTER 12
Tucker
I was desperate to see Ava by the time she asked me to visit her. I wanted to tell her my latest news in person. I’d gotten a job. I would work as a grocery bagger at the Shelfmart up the road from my house.
I planned to sock away as much money as possible. I had spoken with the manager, and he assured me that once summer came, they’d be hiring several more people. I was confident that we could get a job for her, too.
To top it off, I’d been looking around for a place for her to stay, and one of Sarah’s friends had found a house to rent after graduation. They were cramming a half-dozen beds in the rooms so they could afford it. I had pictures of the place, her new roommates, and the Shelfmart where I worked. Everything was falling into place.
I parked around the corner from her house that night, holding a pot of yellow daffodils. I crossed behind the line of duplexes until I reached the porch behind Ava’s.
I flattened myself against the wall and texted her to let her know I was there.
The wait was excruciating.
Finally, I heard a rustling and saw her in the window, wiggling the nails out of their spots. I guess she saw me because she smiled.
Worth it. Worth every risk.
With painstaking slowness, she raised the window and leaned out.
“Hi, handsome,” she whispered. She wore pale yellow pajamas, her hair in disarray. My throat tightened at seeing her in this new way, like she was headed to bed.
“Should we recite someRomeo and Juliet?” I’d been reading it in English Lit, and she loved hearing the story.
“Way too tragic,” she said. “Our story has a happy ending.”
I lifted the pot of daffodils.
“Love them,” she said. “Put them on the back porch close to the middle, so Mother will think they belong to Grandma Flowers.”
I did as she asked and came back to her window.
“I’m so happy to see your face,” I said.
