Page 22 of Embrace

“Fine. Then we’ll meet up after,” I say, taking her phone.

Finally, we grab our things and head out. I’m still showing her potential matches, but she shakes her head every time.

“Hey, that guy looked all cool and broody.”

“I don’t like broody. He’ll just expect me to talk the whole date.”

I hold the door open, letting her walk out. “You’ll be fine. Just imagine I’m right there with you.” She scrutinizes me again, but I’m already racing her down the steps. When she catches up to me, she’s about to say something when my phone rings.

Kiyomi.

My heart sways, and I gesture to Scarlett to give me a second. Kiyomi never calls.

“Hello?” I say over my thumping heartbeat.

No answer.

“Ki?” I can’t hear a thing, only static. The call drops a few minutes later, and the dead tone syncs with my breaths. Then my phone pings with a text.Sorry, butt dial!

I’m staring at my phone when I realize I’ve ended up on the Eco Center lawn. My head feels heavy, and suddenly I need to lie down. With my back flat on the grass, I look up at the clouds, waiting for a rainbow to shine through.

My eyelids droop, and I start to drift to sleep.

“Kian?” That pretty voice comes from above me. “Why are you lying on the grass?”

“Sorry, I meant to come back. It was a butt dial.”

“From who?” Scarlett’s eyes widen. “You don’t have to answer that.”

There’s something about her that makes the words come easy.

“My sister. My mom hasn’t been doing well. She has Alzheimer’s, so they’ve had a lot of doctor’s appointments lately. I thought that’s why she called me.”

“Did you try calling her back?”

I shake my head. “It’s different with Kiyomi. She doesn’t want to tell me this stuff. No one does.”

“I get that,” she says. “I remember when my parents would fight. My dad wasn’t a good guy, and I knew that, but my mom always pretended to keep up this facade. They treat us like we’re just dumb kids.”

“Exactly.”

Scarlett sits on the grass and lies flat on her back beside me. Grass stains be damned. Her gaze travels along the clouds just like mine did, but I find the side of her face much more fascinating. The faintest freckles are like the beginning of rain on a sidewalk.

“My biological dad is in prison.” The words feel unrehearsed, awkward, like she hasn’t said them out loud before. “My stepdad adopted me. He’s the dad I always wanted. Safe and kind.”

Hearing her talk about him reminds me of my dad. A part of me wants to say it, to tell her my dad was like that too.

I wish you could have met him.

I shake the thought away, knowing they play constantly when I meet someone new. Someone my dad would have liked. If only I could crack open my head and play my memories of him like a projector.

“When I saw Kiyomi’s call I thought she was finally asking for my help. I’ve been trying for years, but she never…”

“Lets you in?”

I exhale a heavy breath. “Yeah.”

“Sometimes you have to find your own way in,” she says, then adds more quickly, “My best friend’s like that. When Sierra got injured, she didn’t want me taking a semester online. So I didn’t give her a choice.”