“Oh—no, no.” What had I been thinking about? Just that she was… attentive. I don’t know why it was so embarrassing. “I was just wondering if… I heard there’s going to be a little crafter’s market happening on Sunday,” I said. “I heard your candles were really popular there, but I’m wondering if you’re, um…”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” she said, looking away.
“I think it could be nice,” I said. I needed to stop talking. I didn’t know why I always got like this, locked in on running my mouth and all I could do was panic as it went off without mybrain in tow. “You know, these are really nice, and I know people like them—”
“Alyssa—”
“And you’re payingsomuch attention for Nayla’s,” I said. “I mean, you know her favorite scent and you’re working so hard to balance it out to make her a nice gift. That’s what really makes it special, right? The… care… compassion. The attentiveness.”
She stared at me. I withered a little.
“I just think it’d be really nice to see you while I’m there,” I said. “And I’d love to get one for myself. I mean, if that would be okay.”
She sighed, looking down. “I don’t know why,” she said quietly.
“Oh—I mean, it’s because I love them. I mean, candles are really nice. And yours are so—”
“Not that,” she said, a smile ghosting over her features. “Don’t know why I’ve been so… fixated on getting one right for Nayla when she doesn’t even want to talk to me anymore.”
“Oh…” I softened. “I mean, it’s obvious, right?”
“Because I’m hardheaded and can’t let it go?”
“Yeesh, did you really expect me to say that?”
She laughed. “Maybe not in quite those words…”
I shrugged. “It’s because you care, isn’t it? I mean, the reason it hurt you in the first place to feel ostracized was because it was from people you care about. Even now, you can’t help caring.”
She snorted, looking away, a hand over her face. “Didn’t think the thing I was going to get brought up on was my big old heart. Just caring too damn much.”
“Jade… you clearly care a lot. You stepped up to make sure Cat wasn’t alone because you care about her. You’ve done this for me because you care. You were giving Daniela a chancetalking to her because you care. And you’re making a candle for Nayla because you care.”
“Peach is an annoying scent,” she muttered.
“You can’t get out of this by pinning it on peach.”
“Seriously, where do you get off like this, anyway?” she said through a short, exasperated sigh, pushing up to her feet and walking to the window. My stomach dropped, and I followed along anxiously behind her. My mind tumbled into panic, trying to figure out how to fix it, but she leaned against the window and said, “You just walk into town and make friends with everyone right away, everybody here loves you immediately, and you could use it to just schmooze with the in crowd and be as cool and popular as you like, but instead you’re coming out to track me down and telling me how much I care about people.”
“Sorry.” My voice quivered. “Do you want me to leave you alone?”
“No, I’m—” She massaged her temple. “I’m sorry. I’m not making much sense. I just… respectfully speaking, don’t you have better things to be doing than dealing with my bullshit? I’ve been an ass to you half this time, too.”
I blinked, slowly, as my racing heartbeat came back down. “I like talking to you,” I said, finally. “There’s nothing more to it than that. I like… being around you.”
She looked away sharply. “I… question your judgment.”
“Hey,” I laughed. “My judgment is perfectly sound, ma’am!”
“Uh-huh.” She sighed, turning around and giving me a weary smile as she leaned back against the glass. “You’re awfully hard to say no to.”
“Oh. I am?”
“Yeah. I’ll go to the market,” she said. “I guess what’s the harm if I’m leaving this place soon enough anyway? Might as well see if I can put a couple extra dollars in my pocket.”
I felt my chest swell, and I let out a breath of relief, my heart warming. “Really? I’ll get to see you there?”
“Ha… I’m sure I’ll just be one of many people competing for your attention, Ms. Popular.”
