“I do not look like that.”
“Oh yes, you do. Like, all the time actually. Some would say constantly.” She took another bite of her pizza. “I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve seen you smile since I’ve known you, and two of those times happened tonight.”
I gave her a mocking smile and realized how awkward it felt when I tried to do it. Maybe I didn’t smile as often as I thought I did. Maybe Molly was onto something.
But why smile when your life is one big dark cloud, pouring rain on you constantly? No rainbow at the end of the storm. No leprechaun holding a pot of gold.
“I’m trying to think back to the first time I met you,” Molly said.
I remembered the exact moment I met her. I’d never forget it.
Jace and I had been friends for a while, and I’d finally convinced my mom to let me stay the night at his house. We ran around the ranch like the wild boys we were, growing up without a care in the world. I was probably twelve or so.
Eventually, Jace and I got bored and came up with the brilliant idea to head to the lake on his property and swim, the summer sun already beating down on us.
After a while, Molly walked up. I didn’t realize she was Jace’s sister at first. She sat on the dock, watching us without saying a word.
“What do you want, Molly?” Jace asked, trying to brush off his annoying little sister.
“Nothing. Just thought I’d let you know there’s a snake in the water,” she said, pointing to a spot between Jace and me.
We both twisted in the water, searching for something slithering along the surface. Then something moved a few inches from us.
We panicked, splashing like idiots, paddling as fast as we could toward shore.
We crawled out of the water, panting, convinced our lives had just been spared.
Molly was still on the dock, laughing so hard she’d dropped down onto all fours.
“That’s not funny, Molly. We could’ve been bitten,” Jace said, scowling at her.
She didn’t listen. She just kept laughing. After another minute, she pointed back to the same spot.
“It’s a piece of rope, you big babies,” she teased, holding up the clear fishing line she’d tied to it to make it move like a snake in the water.
That was the first time Molly McKinley ever teased me.
As you can tell, she basically never stopped.
Molly stood up from her place on the couch. “I’m going to get a drink. Do you want anything?”
“I’ll take a water, please.”
“One glass of water, coming right up.”
I continued eating my pizza with no pineapple when Molly came running back into her living room frantically.
“What?” I asked, worried.
“Where’s the pan of lemon bars that were on the left side of the fridge?”
“Uh…” I pointed at the pan sitting on the coffee table. “Maybe I grabbed the wrong side?”
Molly’s eyes went wide.
“What’s the problem? A lemon bar is a lemon bar, isn’t it?” I laughed awkwardly.
“The pan on the left had weed in them,” she admitted frantically.
