Page 54 of Grown

Or maybe he had a point. Maybe I shouldn’t have been talking to Derrick. Girlfriends aren’t supposed to make their boyfriends jealous.

But boyfriends shouldn’t lock their girlfriends up like prisoners.

I grip my dead phone. I don’t want to call Mom. Don’t want to hear the I-told-you-so speech. Plus, I can’t keep calling her whenever I have a problem. She’ll keep treating me like a baby, and if I want freedom, I have to work this out on my own.

The door clicks open. Korey stands at the threshold and gives me a once-over. I jump to my feet, heart pounding. Who am I meeting today?

“Get dressed. We’re going for a ride.”

The moment I leave the room, I rush into the bathroom to drain my bladder then drink three bottles of water. Jessica is sitting on the sofa, watchingKeeping Up with the Kardashians.She doesn’t turn in my direction. I refuse to acknowledge her either as I carry the ice bucket into the bathroom.

After a shower, feeling brand-new, I glare at Melissa, ready to flush her down the toilet. But maybe it’ll make him happy.

“Ready?” Korey says as I emerge from the bathroom. He stands by the door, smiling. The familiar smile I know. My back muscles loosen.

“Where are we going?”

“I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Chapter 37

Where Fairy Tales End

The LA sunset creates a beautiful pink-and-baby-blue sky, dotted with palm trees. I sit passenger side as Korey zooms down the highway.

“Where are we going?” I ask again.

Korey glances in the rearview and sighs.

“You know... you ask a lot of questions. It makes me feel like you don’t trust me.” He glances at me, his voice deadpan. “So? Do you trust me?”

I nod my head like a faithful puppy. “Yes! Yes, you know I do!”

“Then quit all that talking. Enjoy the ride.”

I lean back in my seat as that strange gnawing in my stomach returns, a mixture of fear, hope, and love.

Ten minutes later we pass a sign that makes me shoot up and gasp.

“OMG! Disneyland!”

He smirks. “Told you I’d bring you here one day.”

Korey wears his sunglasses and hoodie to the most magical place on earth. On a Monday evening, with the park near empty, it’s the perfect time to be incognito on Splash Mountain.

Even though I’m at the most magical place on earth, with my dream man, living my dream job, an ache inside me longs for the Littles. I thought my first time at Disney would be with them.

But still, being two kids in a massive playground had its perks. Korey was himself again, and I forced the images of last night out of my mind. Couples fight, then they make up. Mom and Daddy fight. Gab and Jay used to fight all the time.

We walk to a bench, with the perfect angle of the castle, holding a large cotton candy tube, bushes concealing us.

“I haven’t been here in... years,” Korey says, a dizzy smile on his face, and wraps an arm around my waist. “Thank you. For reminding me what it’s like to be a kid again.”

There’s a sadness in his eyes that quickly flutters away. A shot of red then blue burst in the sky. Disney is famous for its evening fireworks show.

Korey grabs my hand and pulls me near the water’s edge. He cups my face with both hands, staring down at me, but I can only see myself in the reflection of his glasses.

Or a version of myself, with Melissa on my head.