“I don’t like feeling groggy when I wake up.”
“Are you going to be able to sleep on your own?” Because I know I won’t. My mind is racing with everything that’s happened. I’m still having trouble reconciling my friend Rocco with Juniper’s potential psycho father Rocco.
“No,” she says in a dull voice. “I’ll stare at the ceiling and jump every time I seea shadow.”
I shrug. “Your call.” Then I sit down on the couch, right on top of her legs. “I’ll just rest here until you decide.”
She laughs, wiggling her legs. “You’re such a child.”
“Am I?” I say with a grin. I let her continue to muscle her legs back and forth until she finally manages to topple me off of her. I slide to the floor, still smiling. Then I look over my shoulder at her. She’s sitting up now.
“Hey,” she says, her eyes sparkling, her hair somehow extra pink. “I like you.”
“Yeah,” I say as my smile fades into something softer. “I like you too.” These aren’t words I’m used to saying; I don’t have these kinds of conversations. But this thing with Juniper…I’ve fallen into it. Slipped into it, really, with astonishing ease. Maybe because she found her way here first, and I simply held on for dear life while she dragged me along after her.
Her mind is magical, and her heart is strong.
How could I not follow her into whatever rainbow dimension she hurled us toward?
“Go to bed,” I say, reaching up and curling my fingers around hers. “Tomorrow is a new day.”
She nods and swings her legs off the couch. Then she stands up, lifting her arms high over her head as she stretches. It causes her shirt to ride up a few inches, and on her back I can just make out a hint of the tattoo that’s inked over her scar.
What if I hadn’t found her that day, all those years ago, digging through a dumpster for her breakfast? Would we still be sitting here like this? Would we have traveled separate paths?
Or would fate have brought us together in a different way?
“You look like you’re thinking big thoughts down there,” Juniper says, and I realize with a start that I’ve just been sitting here, staring up at her and zoning out.
“Do you believe in fate?” I say. I don’t know where the words come from.
“I believe in people,” she says, like my question isn’t strange at all. She holds her hand out to me, and I take it, letting her pull me to my feet. “I do believe in a higher power of some kind, but mostly I believe that people create their own luck and chances and fortunes.”
“What about soulmates?” I say, because I’m interested to hear her answer.
She smiles at me. “No,” she says. “I tend to think that almost any two people could be happy together if they were both determined enough. But”—she shrugs—“really, what do I know?” Her smile turns mischievous as she reaches up with both hands and pulls my face down to hers. “Why?” she says, planting a kiss on my lips. “Do you think we’re soulmates?”
I grin, prying her vice-like grip off of me. “That’s way above my pay grade.” I kiss her right palm, then her left. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Mmkay,” she says with a little smile. “I probably won’t be up before you leave.”
“That’s fine. Get some sleep.”
She nods, blows me a kiss, and then heads toward the stairs. I watch her until she’s disappeared from my view, a dopey smile on my face the whole time, like a lovesick fool.
I putter around in the kitchen for a bit after that, staring at our refrigerator, which still has all the notes we’ve made on it. That stresses me out, though, so I pace aimlessly instead. I open the fridge, peek in the pantry. Do a lap, then look again. Surprise, surprise, no new foods have magically appeared.
I look several more times anyway. Then, remembering something Juniper said, I pull out my phone.
“Ma,” I say when she answers.
“Oh, don’t call me that,” she says, and Ipicture her waving her hand at me. “You sound like one of thoseNew Jersey Shoresboys.”
“Jersey Shore,” I say, amused.
“Whatever it’s called. Those kids needed a parent or two,” she mutters.
I smile. “That’s actually why I called,” I say.
