“One more thing.” He unfolds his arms and fishes something out of his pocket and sets it down on the shoebox.
I pick it up and unfold it; it’s a permission slip.
For outings.
There’s my name, the date and time along with his signature at the bottom.
“See you for dinner on Friday.”
He’s running late.
For the Friday dinner.
The dinner that Leah and I came up with.
Well, Leah came up with it when I went into her office and told her we needed to do something to get Sarah and Arrow back together. And that she had to be the one to do it because if it came from me, my sister would never follow through. She told me that she’d already arranged for it. And that Sarah was flying over this coming weekend.
Leah drove me home from school and Sarah got in a couple of hours ago. And now we’re all waiting for him at the dining table, sitting at the edges of our seats, silent and tense. It’s the same table at which I’ve sat for years. At which I’ve always kept my head down while at the same time, I’ve tried to catch a glimpse of him.
The guy I’m in love with.
Just then the door opens.
It makes a little noise, and suddenly the tension in the air spikes up. Suddenly, I’m flushed and squirmy and both anticipatory and fearful to see him.
Footsteps echo in the silent house and I clench my thighs, my eyes lowered at the table, my hands wringing in my lap.
And then, he’s here. At the threshold.
I haven’t seen him but I can smell him. I can feel his heat. I can feel my body starting to sweat.
A second later I have to look up because there’s the screech of a chair against the hardwood floor.
My sister’s chair.
She’s standing up.
Just like that, I’m thrown back in time as I watch them together. As I watch them looking at each other.
As I watchhimlooking at her.
Like always, he looks at her like no one else exists. His features arrange themselves to be the most stunning they can be. His eyes become the most gorgeous that they can be as well.
And I fall in love with him again.
I fall in love with Arrow again while he’s staring at my sister.
Chapter Twelve
Ithink dinner was a bad idea.
Well, I knew he’d be shocked. I knew that.
But I thought that when he saw Sarah, he’d get over that shock or that initial burst of anger.
But none of that happened.
In fact, I think he got even angrier as the dinner progressed.
