Prologue
We’d barely pulled into Kairo’s parents’ driveway before the noise hit us. Music, laughter, and cheers all blended into one big welcome-home parade. It felt like the whole neighborhood had been waiting just for us.
“Finally!” somebody shouted as we got out of the car, and then came a wave of claps and camera flashes. You would’ve thought we were pulling up to our wedding, not our high school graduation party.
Thank God our parents were good friends and decided to host it together, because separating us that day would’ve been impossible. We’d been glued at the hip since elementary school. Same church, same schools, same circle of friends. Somewhere between science fairs and football games, that friendship turned into something more. By sophomore year, he was the smart, popular football player everyone loved, and I was co-captain of the cheer team, pretending not to be obsessed with him.Everything about us felt easy, like the world made sense as long as we were together.
The house looked beautiful. Both of our moms had gone all out. Balloons, banners, food tables that stretched from the kitchen to the backyard. Mama G never did anything halfway, and my mom wasn’t a short stepper either. You could tell neither one of them spared a dime on that day.
The graduation ceremony was packed, and no one got all the pictures they wanted. So, every cousin, auntie, and family friend was grabbing us left and right—smiling, snapping photos, shouting our names.
At first, it was fun. But after about twenty minutes, I could feel my cheeks starting to cramp from smiling so much. The heat, the noise, it was all too much.
Kairo must’ve noticed, because he leaned in and whispered against my ear, “You good? Wanna sneak off for a second?”
I nodded quickly. “Yeah, I gotta pee anyway.”
“Go on up to my room. I’ll be there in a minute to change too.”
I kissed him on the cheek, my lip gloss leaving a faint shimmer on his skin, then slipped away through the crowd.
As I climbed the stairs, all I could think was how lucky we were. How good everything felt. How sure I was that nothing could ever change us.
His room door was cracked like it always was, that faint smell of his cologne lingering in the air. I grabbed my purse from the bed and rushed straight into his bathroom.
Earlier that day, while we were sitting through the graduation speeches, I’d felt a small cramp in my stomach and figured my period was finally coming. It had been a few days late, but with finals and college cheer tryouts, my body was all over the place. Still, I didn’t want to risk it. Especially not in my white dress.
I kicked the bathroom door closed, tossed my purse on the counter, and hurried to pull my clothes down. But when I looked… nothing.
I froze for a second, staring at myself in the mirror. It had never been this late before. Ever.
That’s when my heart started to race. I opened my purse again and pulled out the small pink box that had been sitting at the bottom of it all week. My bestfriend, Coffee, had given it to me days ago, rolling her eyes and saying,“Girl, just take it. You’ve been stressing me out.”I never did. I was sure my period would show up like it always did.
But it hadn’t.
My hands trembled as I unwrapped the test and sat down. It only took a few seconds. I set the stick face down on the counter, pulled my clothes back up, and turned on the faucet to wash my hands. My heart was pounding so loud I could barely hear the water running.
I didn’t even look at it.
I took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped back into Kairo’s room.
The moment I did, the door on the other side swung open. Kairo walked in, still grinning from all the attention downstairs, his graduation cap hanging from his fingers.
He looked so proud and so sure of everything.
He smiled as soon as he saw me, that wide, boyish grin that always made me forget whatever I was worried about. He walked over and wrapped his arms around me.
“I still can’t believe we’re really done,” he said, laughing into my hair. “I can’t wait to go off to college together. This next chapter’s gonna be crazy.”
He pulled back just enough to look at me, that excitement in his eyes making my stomach twist even more. “Oh, and guesswhat? I think I convinced your dad to let us get an apartment off campus. We just gotta make sure we have two bedrooms.”
I laughed a little, shaking my head. “Yeah right.”
He grinned wider. “He said it himself! I mean, I didn’t promise him we’d use both rooms.”
I swatted at him playfully, and for a second, it felt normal again like always. But then his smile softened, and he searched my face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly. “I know you said you were cramping earlier. Did you start? I’ve got some extra clothes if you need them.”
