“Got the goods.”
“The lanterns came?”
“Yup.” He grinned. “And the paintandthe glow sticks.”
I laughed. “Right, we can’t forget the glow sticks.”
Nick elbowed me. “Fuck off. The glow sticks arekey.”
He was right, they were. Sage always brought a mess of green and purple and orange glow sticks with her when she visited the Vineyard. One of the photos on my collage was of her and Nick back in middle school. Both with braces, they were decked out in fluorescent necklaces and bracelets and holding up toasted marshmallows. It was the summer I’d realized Nick had feelings for Sage. She was smiling at the camera, but he was smiling at her.
This summer, I thought.This summer the glow sticks and bonfires and s’mores will be back and better than ever, and maybe it won’t be just the three of us…
“You’ve got this,” I told him. “It’s going to happen.”
Nick sighed. “I hope so.”
I nudged his knee. “No, youknowso. She…” I trailed off, not quite sure how to put it. I thought of Sage these past few weeks, the way she acted whenever Nick hung out with us, sat with us at meals. “She glows, Nick,” I murmured. “She glows around you.”
My brother didn’t say anything; he just watched the stage, where Sage sat on the edge with Luke and some other seniors.
“What about you?” he asked eventually, and I saw him nod toward Luke. He didn’t need to voice the next part:Are you going to ask him to yours?
Yes, I thought as I tried to catch Luke’s eye, feeling a twinge when he ignored me—because Luke always knew when I was looking at him. “Stop staring,” he would sometimes say as we studied, not even glancing up from his homework. “Your econ notes might get jealous.”
“Charlie?” Nick said, but I didn’t respond until the lights went down and Jennie assumed her post behind the podium.
“I want to,” I told him. “Ireallywant to.”
Luke was on the phone when I slipped into his room on Saturday. “Yeah, I’m not really hungry yet,” he was saying, “so I’m thinking dinner around seven?”
He was sitting at his command center, studying his laptop screen.
I shut the door and watched as Luke reached up and rubbed his forehead—listening to whatever Sage was saying on the other end—and I sort of smiled when I noticed his Arsenal jersey. He’d been really getting into Premier League soccer lately, now the newest recruit in Nick’s fan club. A bunch of guys always crowded into my brother’s room so they could watch the Sunday games together.
“Cool, see you then.” Luke nodded and looked over at me once he’d hung up.
“Was that Sage?”
“Affirmative,” he responded, and then his computer claimed his attention.
I wrapped my arms around him from behind. “Where’re you guys doing dinner?”
Luke leaned forward to break away. “Humpty Dumplings.”
“Yum.”
“Indeed.” He cleared his throat, still focused on his screen. “You should probably go.”
I ran a hand through his hair. “Nah, there’s time.”
“It’s 5:27.”
“Yeah, then I guess I should,” I agreed, the party at 6:00. “You want to come? Tie my tie for me?”
“Nope,” he said. “I’m good.”
“Okay.” My stomach suddenly felt off. “I guess I’ll see you later, then.”
