SUBJECT: Re: Re: Bad
And you would be my favorite customer.
—Karla
31Karla
I missed Ash every day after he moved to North Carolina. I wondered if this was how Dad felt when Ellie moved away when they were teenagers. It felt like losing the sunlight. But we did our best to stay in contact. Plus, his parents set it up where he’d come stay with his father during the summers, so I’d get to see him a bit more. I was thankful for that. I wasn’t ready for him to be completely out of my life.
Dad switched me to a homeschooling program, which helped me a lot. I couldn’t bring myself to go back to school and interact with the people who made my life a living hell. Ellie helped with the homeschooling, too, making sure I was never alone at home.
I was grateful for how everyone surrounded me with love, letting me know that my struggles weren’t something that I had to shoulder on my own.
Still, I missed Ash.
It felt as if he and I were floating in the in-between of being friends and being something more. I wanted to know what more would look like for the both of us, and he said he wanted to know, too. We decided it was best to talk about it in person when he came up to visit his father for spring break.
Whenever I thought about that talk, the one taking us from friends to more, I’d get a new wave of butterflies.
I’d love to be Ash’s girl. Not only because I adored him, but I knew that he adored me, too. The good, the bad, and thescars. I didn’t have to pretend to be anything other than me with him. And that was the best feeling in the world.
I was counting down the days until his visit.
***
One night, when I had a bad flare up, Ash called me as I sat in the bathtub trying to soak away the pain, and he read me chapters from the novel I was currently reading after downloading it on his library app.
He started reading to me twice a week whenever I took my baths.
With ease, he was becoming my favorite bedtime story.
***
On a random Saturday in March, I got a box delivered to the house. It had Ash’s name on it. I quickly opened it up and then found a Post-it note sitting on top of a wrapped-up box. The note read: FaceTime me when you get this before opening the box.
I FaceTimed him right away.
“Oh, hey you,” Ash said with a smile. Gosh, he looked so handsome. I loved when we did video calls. Whenever I could see him, I loved it.
“Hey. What is this?” I asked.
“A gift.”
“It’s not a holiday or a birthday,” I said, confused.
“It’s a Saturday-in-March gift,” he replied. “Open your Saturday-in-March gift.”
My cheeks heated up from his sweet grin. Gosh, his lips looked so... kissable. I wondered what kissing was like. Iread about it in books, but I wanted reality. I wondered what it would be like to kiss a boy like Ash.
I opened the box, and I gasped as I pulled out a vinyl record. Diana Ross and The Supremes, the greatest hits album. Mom’s favorite.
“Ash...” I murmured, as tears filled my eyes.
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
His sweet grin stayed in place as he effortlessly said, “I love you, too.”
