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“Disappointed?” There wasn’t judgment in his tone, just curiosity.
“Not at all.” If anything, it made me feel better. It made him feel normal, attainable—it eased my mind about the future. I didn’t know what the future would bring, but I knew for certain I didn’t want our time to end on Monday. I said, “Let’s take yours.”
We climbed inside, and I breathed in the woodsy, citrusy smell that sparked memories of when we’d first met. I pulled Miso out of her sling. She tried to wriggle her way down to the floor, but I caught her. She accepted her defeat and curled up in my lap.
“My mom helped me afford the car,” Oscar said. “She didn’t have much, but everything she had, she put toward me.”
“That’s super sweet. Sounds like you have a good relationship with her, and you’re remembering more about her.”
“I do,” he said.
I squeezed his hand. “That’s great.”
I wanted to meet her, to get a better feel of what had made Oscar into the man he was, but I couldn’t ask that. I couldn’t ask if he wanted to find her or if he knew where she was. All of that belonged outside of our bubble, to the Oscar of the past and future, not to my Oscar of the now.
I offered directions, and Oscar began driving. There wasn’t too much of the city that I’d explored so far, since I still hadn’t been here all that long, but it hadn’t taken long for me to grow attached. We parked on the street and walked into my favorite place in Epiphany, with Miso safely back in her sling.
“Discovery Park,” Oscar said, reading the sign.
“Have you ever been here?” I asked.
“Not that I recall.”
“I got lost when I first came to the city,” I said. “And I found myself here. I immediately fell in love, because of the sense of peace you get walking amongst the flowers. Come on.”
I pulled him along through the hedges and trees, toward the prettiest part of the park.
The world seemed brighter here. Epiphany’s towering skyscrapers felt distant, though they were still visible above the tree line, reflecting the afternoon sun off their glass and silver surfaces. A thick path of green grasses curved amongst massive patches of wildflowers in a rainbow of colors: butter-yellow marigolds, violet-blue periwinkle, towering Barbie pink azaleas. A sense of peace washed over me just from being in my favorite place.
“See those?” I pointed at a patch of ombre blooms that bled bright red into fuchsia and out into a ring of gold.
“Yes,” Oscar said.
“They’re blanket flowers. They’re the only ones my dad can get to grow in his garden back home. They’re heartier than everything else, so when the rest dry up, the blanket flowers survive.”
“You light up when you speak of your father.”
“I miss him dearly. We’re close, or we used to be. It’s been different since I left Cricket Falls. He called me a lot at first, asking questions about the register at the coffee shop and what button he needed to push to reheat his tea in the microwave. But lately, he hasn’t needed me the same way he used to.” Thinking about it made me the tiniest bit homesick.
“It’s important to you to feel needed.”
I snorted. “It’s not like that.”
Oscar’s expression was warm. “You’re kind and giving, and you put your whole heart into saving everyone.”
Did I? It was sweet that he thought so.
I cleared my throat. “Leaving my dad behind was the only hard part about moving away. I mean, yes, I was intimidated by the unknown, but mostly excited, especially since I was taking the leap with my best friend, first to college and then here.”
“How do you feel about the move now?”
“Good-ish. I love being in Epiphany. I’m still nervous though, because who knows if I can actually make it, you know? I’m going to need to find some kind of filler job after this show is over. And then what? What if the Resplendent Theatre never calls?” I shrugged. “Do I wait forever? Keep trying? I mean, I don’t have a real plan B, only the vague fall-back-on-my-degree plan, and that doesn’t include a place to live or any more of a cushion to pay for food or anything.”
“Following your dream is brave.”
“More like insanely stupid, but thank you.”
“Really. You know what you want and you’re going for it. Most people never try, instead settling for whatever hand they’re dealt.”
