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A single tear escapes the corner of my eye and rolls down my cheek. I’m not crying, I don’t even know what this is or why all those amazing sparkly feelings from a moment ago have left me feeling so flat.
“Oh, Malia.” Summer sighs. “What’s wrong?”
“I really like him, Sum.”
“Oh, Mal,”
“Don’t call me that,” I snap. It’s too close to Cove’s Mai-Tai. “I just want to feel normal. I want to go out on a proper date with him, outside of this room.”
“I wish I could help you.”
“You…could,” I hedge.
“How?”
A plan quickly forms in my mind; a Cinderella-like vision of one night of freedom, of dancing, of laughing, of kissing and maybe even of something more.
“Give me a night off. Let me go out with him and see what happens. Trust me, for one night, to give myself my own medication. Or even let me go one night without it.”
“I don’t know, MT.”
“Please. Just one date. If it’s a disaster, I’ll-I’ll let him go,” I say, swallowing past the bitter taste that promise leaves in my mouth.
I don’t want to let Cove go, but if Summer will do this, give me one night of normality, then I’ll damn well make sure nothing goes wrong so that giving him up doesn’t have to become an option.
Sum 41’s ‘In Too Deep’ begins to play and even Summer raises a brow at the irony of the track.
“I’ll think about it, Malia.”
“Thank you!” I cry, rushing over to hug her.
“Wow. It really means that much to you?”
“You have no idea!”
“I think I do. You’re not normally a hugger.” She laughs, making me blush. It’s true. I don’t know what came over me. “Okay. How about, I agree to let you take a reduced number of your meds for one night so that you can go out on a date with Cove—”
“Thank you!” I jump up and down on the spot and clap my hands together, delight making me laugh and feel lighter than I have in a while.
“IF!” My face falls and I stop jumping. “If you also agree to leave your room and come out somewhere with me.”
“Where?” I ask, reluctantly.
“I want you to meet my boyfriends.”
“You can bring them over to say hello.”
Summer shakes her head. “No. I want us to go out together. All of us. They want to meet you, and I’d like to do that somewhere other than your bedroom.”
I really, really don’t want to agree to this, but I can see my Cinderella vision slipping through my fingers like sand.
“Can’t we—” I begin, but Summer cuts me off with a shake of her head.
“No, MT. That’s the offer. Take it or leave it.”
I sigh. “Fine.”
“Great! I’ll speak to the guys and get it arranged.” She beams at me like I just made her day. Don’t know how that’s possible when my stomach feels like it’s been knotted around a bag of rocks.
Summer hands me my tablets and scoops everything back into her bag while I take them with the drink on my bedside table. When I’m done, Summer gives me a dazzling smile and then laughs.
“Besides, I don’t think we’d all fit in here, and your room smells like almost-sex.”
