I grab my sling bag, hop out of the car, and follow my mom up the walkway. Mom rings the doorbell, and I can just imagine Heaven watching the doorbell camera trying to decide whether she’s gonna let us in. I messaged her last night to let her know I’d be over around lunchtime, but she could have changed her mind. A few moments later the door opens and there’s Heaven. Her hair is pulled back in its usual tight low bun. She’s wearing baggy jeans and an oversized T-shirt that has a queen of hearts card on it, but the queens’ faces are skulls. The whole look is on brand and I kinda love it. My crush? Still going very strong. Just seeing her face makes my heart do a little backflip.
“Hi, Saylor. Hi, Mrs.Ford.” She’s trying to be polite, but she doesn’t smile. My very problematic obsession betrays my self-control and I smile at her.
“Hey.”
“Hi, honey.” Mom says. “I’m gonna let you two get to it, but I just wanted to say thank you for including Saylor. I know it wasn’t a part of your plan, but she’s been really sad since basketball camp got cut short, even if she doesn’t want to tell you that. Her sisters and her friends are all away, which is a total bummer. And she ditched the boyfriend, though that was the right decision. I know you two aren’t close, but I think that’s how all great friendships start.”
Heaven’s eyes widen just a bit and I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that was the worst thing my momcould say right now. I glance up at the window on the third floor, the one Heaven is definitely going to push me out of.
“That’s our goal for the summer, Mom. The friendship to end all friendships,” I say. Heaven doesn’t smile, but her lip twitches a little.
“Uh, my mom said to let you know that we’ll bring Saylor home,” Heaven says.
“Great!” I say. “Mom, I think we got it from here.”
“ ’Kay. I’m gonna head back home and get started on the T-shirts.”
“What?” Heaven asks, clearly stunned.
“You’ll see.” Mom jogs her eyebrows and then heads back down the front steps.
“Should I be worried?” Heaven asks once Mom is back in the car.
“Only a little. She said she wanted to make something to commemorate our summer adventure. I told her we would wear them for one picture and you get to decide if she posts it. We have a few days before she finishes them.”
“Oh, okay. You wanna come in?”
“Yeah, I have so much to show you.” I can’t help but grin. I’ve been waiting all morning to show Heaven the results of all my research. She moves so I can ease by her and head inside. I step out of my Converse by the bench near the front door and ditch them next to Heaven’s worn Vans. I realize after a second the bench is made out of a long skateboard, which is pretty cool. I didn’t notice that the first time, but I keep that enthusiasm over the cool piece of furniture to myself and follow Heaven deeper into her house.
“Did you have fun at the skate park yesterday?” I ask.
“Yeah. It was pretty cool. There was a good breeze, so we were sweating but not dying. After, we were all wishing one of us had a pool, though.”
“Ugh, I’d love to go swimming. The best I can do is sit in the shallow end with a garbage bag around my arm.”
“Maybe when you get your cast off you can ask Bethany to throw a pool party at her house.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“I’m full of ’em,” Heaven says with a shrug.
“I’ll tell you what I did do yesterday. I spent hours looking up different tattoo artists and artists’ accounts. I even found three girls who are apprenticing right now.”
“Do you wanna go up to my room?” she says, and then it’s like she immediately regrets it. That wide-eyed look of regret hits her face and I can tell that she’s blushing.
“Heaven. You flirt.”
“No—no. I mean, all of my portfolio stuff is up in my room. We can go up there and figure out what to post first and then we can figure out what bingo item we want to do first.”
“Let’s do it. Are the dogs here?” I ask. That makes Heaven smile.
“Yeah. The only furniture they’re allowed on is my bed. Come, girls,” she says a little louder, and then like magic I hear that jingling sound again. Fergie and Di come trotting into the room. They both come right over to me and let me scratch their soft doggy heads.
“They are so cute.”
“They know it too. Come on.”
I happily follow Heaven through the kitchen, not at all prepared for what is waiting when we reach the stairs. There are dozens, and I mean dozens, of pictures of Heaven since kindergarten lining the wall going up the stairs. Like the most adorable pictures I’ve ever seen. Heaven with pigtails. Heaven smiling so big you can see her missing front teeth. Heaven wearing pink! She glances back at me, and it takes the collective effort of every molecule in my body not to ask her a million questions. Like when she traded in her clear love for pink and purple and unicorns for this all-black style.
