‘I read your interview with your mum,’ he says, looking down at me.
‘And that’s what you’re being so weird about? My writing?’
‘No!’ he says. ‘It was great. One of the best interviews I’ve read. Writer, you can write.’ He bites his lip. ‘No, what happened was,I read your article about your mum, and so much clicked for me when I read it. Your mum was brave, Selena. She did what she wanted to, because it was the right thing for her. She didn’t let anyone tell her what to do or not to do. And yeah, it made life harder, but it was clearly worth it.’
I see the nervousness in his eyes. ‘It really struck a nerve with you,’ I say softly.
‘It did. I’ve been telling you to go put yourself out there, and you have with your writing. Meanwhile, I’ve been refusing to stand up to my dad because I was afraid. But your article showed me it’s worth doing the scary thing if it’s the right thing. And after you told me you wanted to be with me, well the truth is I want that too and I don’t want to fight it any more. So I did what had to be done.’
My heart is in my mouth.
‘So what did you do?’
‘I told Dad I wasn’t going back to the US, whether he liked it or not. That I’ve been accepted into some great universities here and I want to stay near Mum and Daze. There’s nothing left for me in the States.’ His hand grazes my cheek. ‘But there’re things for me here.’
‘What are you saying?’ I whisper.
‘Selena Pia,’ he says, touching a strand of my hair. ‘I think you’re brilliant, funny, smart, but yet have the ability to do some dumb things sometimes. I think you’re one of the most human people I’ve ever met. And I think it’s time to stop overthinking things.’ He leans down and I look up at him, and it feels totally right.
I don’t know how this will turn out. But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that we can’t be scared of doing things because we don’t know what will happen next.
‘We’ve got to try, right?’
He smiles at me, and in that moment all I see is those green-brown eyes before he closes the gap between us with a kiss.
We stand there for what feels like forever, until the crowd goes silent around us. We break away, turn towards the stage.
The lights go up. The show begins.
And the best night of my life so far starts.
But I know there might be better ones in the future.
