Page 26 of Pining for You

“Mic. Drop.” Cash performs the motion, looking proud of his boyfriend.

I am astonished. It could… actually work.

“You could run the world with that thing, you know,” I say, pointing to Izaac’s phone.

He gives me that future politician grin as Cash pats his head. “I intend to.”

But then I frown.

“Wait… we’re supposed to have our marathon today,” I say. This might sound like a silly objection, but it’s literally the only tradition we have left this year.

“Are you kidding me?” Izaac says.

“We can watch movies anytime, B,” Cash says.

I pause. I’m about to say that it’s not just about movies, and it’s not an “anytime” kind of thing. It’s a tradition, and a Christmas tradition.

And yet, as much as I want the comfort of our customs, I can’t help that the possibility—even if it’s the slightest one—feels hard to turn down. I mean, after all this time, could this really be it? My chance? Part of having your dreams come true is recognizing the opportunity and seizing it, right?

“Well, there’s still one very important voice we haven’t heard from,” I say, and we all look at Diya.

Diya is the only one who can match Izaac in a debate. They’re both incredibly practical but Izaac’s whole change-the-world, can-do attitude means that at times he is maybe a little overly confident—convinced that with enough grit and determination, anything can be done. Meanwhile, Diya is more risk averse, and prefers things be planned, orderly, and scheduled well before the attempt.

We all wait.

“I mean, risking our presence at the farm tomorrow for the Bazaar and the party would be catastrophic,” she starts.

On one hand, this could shut the new plan down, but on the other, maybe she’s about to back me up on the old plan.

“But… based on Izaac’s calculations, it does seem possible, and…” She pauses. “It could be fun to have an adventure together.”

I look at her, shocked. Diya must be in her feelings thinking about how we’ll be split up next year. That’s the only explanation.

Which, I guess, presents another upside—having a chance to convince Diya that New York is her destiny too.

“Babe?” Izaac asks Cash.

“I mean, true love and cookies are good enough reasons to do anything. Besides, I’d like to see more of Brooklyn,” he says, mouth still full of syrupy pumpkin flapjacks. “Gotta start planning my ’fits for next season!”

“Seriously, I don’t want this to be a distraction for anybody,” I say. “We all have a lot going on and this is our one holiday day together.”

“It’s not a distraction, it’s a quest,” Izaac says, looking at me. “Besides, this could be our last big adventure!”

“It sounds like a movie!” Cash says.

“A real-life rom-com,” Diya adds.

I look at my friends. All of them appear… eager? Excited?

Lately I’ve felt like I can’t give anyone in my life what they want anymore. But right now, it seems like my friends all want this. And even though this means abandoning our last tradition tonight, it does guarantee that I get the whole day with them.

I think about my new project, too. Maybe the universe is giving me this chance to find something extraordinary: a whole city packed full of humans who are probably living out all kinds of magic moments. I just have to turn on the camera and capture them.

It also gives me a good excuse to hold out on Naomi a little longer, which is not nothing.

“Okay,” I say after a moment. “Let’s do it.”

Cash jabs a fist in the air. “Operation Christmas Cookies!”