He grabbed my hands from across the table. “P, don’t fall apart over this, okay?”
Like a little girl?I thought. “I’m not going to. You sure think a lot of yourself.”
“I just mean don’t read into this too much.” He pointed to the tattoo bandage.
I breezed past his comment. “Are you coming to my finals performance in three weeks? I think my parents and Keeks are actually gonna be there.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
We were staring into each other’s eyes. I thought about our blind kiss and how his lips felt on mine. I sighed. “You can bring Lottie if you want. We should all be friends, you know? So you and I can see each other more outside of our one-off study sessions.”
“I agree, but I think she’s jealous of you.”
“Why?”
“I love you for not knowing why.”Did he just say I love you?It wasn’t quite the real thing but it was something.
Several moments of silence passed between us. He was the only person I could unselfconsciously look at in silence for that length of time.
“I love you, Gavin.”
His mouth dropped open like he was going to say something, and then he shut it. My eyes filled with tears.
We were still clutching hands over the table, staring. “I love you too, Penny.” He smiled, a small, tight, humble, and loving smile. An expression I’ll never forget.
“All right, let’s go, dork.” I pulled him out of the booth while simultaneously wiping tears from my eyes.
THREE WEEKS CAMEand went, just like the snow had come and gone. It was the end of college for me. I had passed my written finals and only had my dance recital left, which would officially allow me to get my degree. Everything was looking up, and the future seemed promising. Ling was going to med school in California in the fall, but we still had the summer in Fort Collins. Gavin was going to take one more class over the summer for his English degree and then he would be on the job hunt, like me.
I saw him a lot in those three weeks; I actually spent a few nights out with him, Ling, and Lottie, like we were on a freaking double date. Lottie was pretty dull, in my opinion, but then again, maybe I was just jealous.
On the night of my performance, I saw Joey outside the auditorium arguing with Doug. “What’s going on?”
Joey turned to me, fuming. “I failed the fucking written.”
“What?”
“Calm down,” Doug said. “I’m going to let him retake it.”
“He’s the best dancer in this program,” I argued, though it wasn’t totally true.
Joey was just shaking his head.
“Come on, let’s go warm up,” I said to him.
He followed me to the backstage door. I stopped on the sidewalk when I saw my family walking up. Kiki had the biggest grin on her face. I think she was relieved not to be the center of attention, for once.
“I’ll be there in a minute, Joey. Don’t sweat it, man. We’ll show him onstage.”
He didn’t respond. Instead he shot me a pouty look. I hugged my dad, who was practically jumping out of his shoes. “Hey guys!” I patted Kiki’s head. “You should be able to get great seats. You’re pretty early.”
“Your dad insisted on getting here an hour early, even though Kiki had to miss a piano lesson,” my mom said.
Jesus.Can’t I have just one night?
“I’m just excited to see my girl dance,” my dad chimed in, breaking the awkward moment. “Your mother is, too.”
“Awh, thanks, Dad.” I gave him another hug and then hugged my mom awkwardly and thanked her for coming. I was still annoyed by her comment but she was here. That was all that mattered.
