Okay, she looks exactly like her then, too.
“What’s the verdict?” I ask as she scrambles in the backseat. “Are you incorrigible yet, or are they giving you an eighteenth chance?”
“They don’t tell me anything. It was just a lecture on how the rules are there for a reason.” Her mocking verbal caricature of the principal is so on-point, I hide a smile.
Lilac appears in the doorway, then she’s swallowed into the building again. I’ve been in a meeting with the principal—before the school decided that only the court-appointed guardian could attend—and he loves to think of things at the last minute. It results in a dance where freedom is dangled, then snatched away again, until frustration bubbles up from the most even-tempered person.
And neither of us is that.
“Buckle up,” I say as Sierra sprawls in the back seat.
“We’re not even close to moving,” she complains, following my directions. “Lily’s probably stuck in there for another hour.”
I hope not.
My hand goes into my jacket pocket, and I rub my thumb over the velveteen ring box. It’s been stored in there for three days waiting for the right moment and I’ve never been more of a nervous wreck.
If it doesn’t happen soon, I’ll have to engineer an occasion for the proposal. A thought that fills me with even more trepidation.
A planned scenario means I won’t be able to change my mind. It means my girl will almost definitely know what’s up, leaving me without the element of surprise to push her into saying yes.
I’m sure that’ll be the answer anyway, just… not ahundredpercent sure. That’s never stopped me from doing anything in the past, but this feels different. I claimed Lilac as mine a long time ago but asking her to confirm it?
Well. That might end with a different answer.
The ruthless streak that I love in her could wound me just as easily as anyone else.
This time, when Lilac appears in the doorway, she makes it all the way out. One brief glance back as the principal calls something, but her feet never turn.
Even from this distance, I can see she’s done with his bullshit.
“Home schooling,” she says the moment she’s close enough to kiss. “That’s the answer.” She turns around to squeeze Sierra’s knee. “Either that or we send you down the mines.”
“Definitely the mines,” the smart-aleck snaps back. “Some of us aren’t built for academic greatness.”
“That’s because you don’t apply yourself,” Lilac says, then claps a hand across her mouth, eyes opening wide in horror. “Where the fuck did that come from?”
“Language,” Sierra chirrups with delight. “And it’s nice to see the principal is influencing someone.”
“That’s what you get for dragging me into a meeting every other week.”
They lock eyes in the rear-view mirror, neither wanting to admit defeat first.
I shake my head, giving the jewellery box in my pocket one last pat before I point the car towards home.
Maybe tomorrow will present a better opportunity.
Or maybe I’ll just try my luck when she’s asleep.
* * *
LILAC
Two days later, I pull my light jacket close around my body while standing at the gate, eyes cast for my expected visitor. Not that she’s late—yet—but I wanted to ensure I was waiting when she arrives; a position that I now wish I’d been more relaxed about, considering the chill bite to the air.
With summer already started, the day should carry a lot more heat, but the weather has taunted us lately, depositing one low after another until I have to carry three layers with me because I never know what the temperature is going to be.
Something I never worried about until I had a small person living with me.
