“You like it?”
Her throat tightened as she blinked fast and nodded. “It’s beautiful.”
He slightly leaned back, proud but tried his best to play it cool. “I been savin’ for it. Wasn’t gonna get you no basic ass promise ring or none of that corny shit. This . . .” He nodded toward the necklace. “This felt right.”
She smiled instinctually, but then her mouth turned upside down, full of something vulnerable. “What’s the occasion?”
Suddenly, she felt it, the shift. A subtle tighten in his posture. His grin dimmed just enough to warn her heart.
He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly unsure. “So, . . . I gotta tell you somethin’.”
Her heart dropped before the words even landed. She didn’t know what he was about to say, but she knew it wouldn’t be good.
“I’m leavin’ tomorrow.”
The words felt like a door slammed shut on her fingers.
“Leavin’?” she echoed. “Where?”
“London. Paris. Couple cities in between,” he said. His eyes lit up again. “Remember that group we were messaging a fewweeks back? Well, they put us on the international leg of the tour. Turns out it was a real thing. It’s big, Prin. Like, really big!”
His excitement bounced off the walls. He was already dreaming ahead of spotlights, foreign cities, standing ovations. She watched his face illuminate with possibilities and saw the boy she loved becoming the star he’d always wanted to be.
Although she looked just as excited and proud on the outside, all she could feel was the necklace that sat in her palm.
“Tomorrow?” she asked through a forced smile.
“Yeah. Real early flight.”
Princess nodded slowly, but her mind spiraled. He gave her this necklace that night and was flying out the very next day. No conversation. No heads-up. Not even a question about how she’d feel.
Zay kept talking, explaining tour details and the artist they’d be opening for . . . how this could change everything. But the sound of his voice faded behind her silence.
He had decided this alone, and she wasn’t part of the plan. She heard him mutter how long he was going to be gone for clearly through the sounds of his voice that she had drowned out.
“Six months?” she asked, her voice small.
“Yeah.” He beamed. “Ayo, this is huge! That UK act is bigger than what we thought it was right now. It’s what we prayed for.”
In that moment, she wasn’t praying. She struggled to process.
“Right,” she said slowly. “Of course.”
He didn’t hear the shift in her tone. He paced around the room, caught up in the dream.
“You drove me to open mics in the middle of snowstorms,” she heard him say as she tuned back in from her thoughts. “You was there when I was sleepin’ in my car after gigs. When it gotrepossessed with all my stuff in it. You knew this was the dream, right?”
She nodded again, lips pressed tight. “Yeah. I did.”
“I knew you’d understand,” he said, walking toward her. He gently lifted the necklace and clasped it around her neck. His fingers brushed her skin, and she felt chills down her back.
“This right here? This is just the beginning. When I get back . . .”
She barely heard the rest and tuned him out again. The chain felt heavier than it looked and was real cold against her chest. She dropped her hands to her sides.
She couldn’t go with him and share this moment together like she imagined she would when the day arrived. Not only had she just graduated from high school and had plans to go to college next semester, but he hadn’t even asked her to come. She continued to smile and listen to him beam, but inside, a little piece of her heart withered and took a chunk of trust that she didn’t realize she wouldn't get back for fifteen years.
Before she knew it, it was morning, and she drove him to the airport in silence. The sky was the pale gray of a Michigan morning, muted and unforgiving. Weeds and wildflowers lined the roads. The city looked half asleep.
