“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
He lets go of my shoulder and turns to face me fully. “Are you still okay with me asking Danica out?” I know he’s asking because of what happened with X and me.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I say. Still, I have to ask: “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“There’s only ever been one thing on my graduation bucket list.”
“And she’s it?”
“She’s it.”
“What if she says no?”
“Then she says no.” He ruffles his own hair. “But what if she says yes?”
I hope she says yes. I hope she doesn’t break his heart, but it’shis heart to break. As much as I’d like to, I can’t protect thepeople I love from pain. And besides, Martin’s braver thanIam. He’ll take the pain with the joy. He thinks it’s worthit.
He kisses me on the forehead again. “Let’s go find Sophie and Cassidy before our parents swoop in,” he says.
We spot Cassidy standing by the stage scowling. Her parents are next to her, chatting up Principal Singh.
I overhear her mom thank him for all he’s done for her littlegirl.
Cassidy scowls harder. Her mom has no idea if Principal Singh did anything at all for “her little girl.”
Martin and I pull her into a hug a couple of feet away.
“They came,” Martin says, meaning her parents.
Cassidy shrugs like it’s no big deal, but I can see that she’s relieved they’re here. “They got in last night.”
“I’m glad,” I say, since she’s not going to.
“They leave again in the morning,” she says. Then she takes a deep breath. “I think I’m going to go with them. Japan, Korea, China. Might be fun,” she says.
I smile too bright at her.
“I’m sorry about the road trip, Evie,” she says. “I know how much you wanted to do that.”
I wave her off. “Listen, I’d go to Asia with my superrich parents too.”
We hug. I know it’s the last time we’ll be this way together.When she gets back from Asia, she’ll be different. We all willbe.
We find Sophie surrounded by her parents and her sisters. She’s holding a bouquet of pink roses and still wearing her graduation cap.
Just like we did with Cassidy, we abduct her for a hug.
“Can’t believe this day is finally here,” I say.
“Me neither,” she says with a sniffle.
Martin hands her his handkerchief. “No crying,” he says. “We still have summer.”
She wipes her tears but then sniffles some more. “Olivia asked me out,” she says.
