“What does it say?”
“It says,How’s your peach?” He glanced up.
“Oh, son,” his grandfather said with pity. “Even I know what the peach emoji stands for.”
Jas’s eyes widened as realization dawned. “Oh, uh.” His phone dinged again and he snorted. “Okay, this makes more sense.I meant, how’s your grandpa?”
“She’s asking aboutmypeach?”
“Ew.” Jas made a face. “No.”
Andrés sniffed. “You don’t have to saynolike that.”
He kept reading. “Sorry, peach for peach farm.There, that’s cleared up.”
He typed out his reply.My grandpa faked the whole thing to get me to come home because he was scared I wouldn’t come to his ceremony. I’ll be back tomorrow.
RHIANNON READJAS’Sreply out loud. “Well, his grandfather sounds like he’s a few peaches short of a—”
“He’s very sweet,” Katrina said repressively.
“Okay, so respond.” Jia nudged her.
“What should I say back?”
“Whatever you want.”
Katrina thought about it for a minute. “I miss you.”
“Wait, that’s way too vulnerable,” Rhiannon yelped.
Katrina cringed. “I hit send again.”
“Katrina!” Rhiannon swiped the phone out of her hand. “We gotta work on this. You have a real problem with premature transmissions.”
I miss you.
Jas sucked in a deep breath.
“What did she send now? More butts?” his grandfather demanded.
Gurjit leaned over and looked at his phone before Jas could hide it. “Aw. She says she misses him.” His mustache jumped in delight. “Jas! This is so sweet. When do I get to meet her?”
“She is very sweet. Think carefully about what to say in reply, son. You have to woo her,” his grandpa warned.
Gurjit scoffed at Andrés. “Let the boy write whatever’s in his heart.”
Jas tapped the phone against his leg. “I can’t tell her what’s in my heart.”
“Why not?”
“Because... we kissed for the first time like a minute ago. It’s too soon.”
“So you have strong feelings for her! Listen, when you know, you know,” Gurjit said dreamily.
“I changed my mind,” Andrés counseled. “Tell her how you feel. If you don’t you’ll regret it. There’s lots of things I regret not saying to your grandma.”
“Are there things you regret saying?”
