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“I am too.” His lips brushed my cheek, sending goosebumps down my arms.
The music changed to an upbeat song, and I searched the edges of the gym for Sadie. I expected to see her at one of the tables or maybe sitting in one of the chairs lining the wall. Instead, I saw her stepping away from Diego’s friend Terrell.
Biting back my shock, I waved her over. “Let’s dance!”
To my surprise, she came my way without any begging or pleading. At first, Sadie rocked back and forth, out of rhythm, her cheeks a bright pink. But eventually, she let go, a smile lifting her lips and the music making her swing her arms and hips. I didn’t have much more rhythm than her, but Diego had enough for all three of us.
He smiled and laughed and danced, and it was like we were enveloped in his bubble. As the song ended, Diego took my hand. “Come here. I want to show you something.”
Confused, I followed him off the dance floor. “Where are we going?”
We reached the corner of the gym, and he held up a finger. “In three, two...”
A loud crash sounded on the opposite side of the gym, confetti raining down from the ceiling. The chaperone standing on this side of the dance floor jogged over to find the source, but I could already tell.
Terrell and Xander held massive confetti poppers and sported matching devilish grins.
I playfully hit his chest. “You’re sneaky!”
“I just know what I want,” he teased, pulling me down the stairs into the locker room where Sadie and I always ate lunch. It was completely dark, and I was about to search the walls for the light switch when his phone light came on.
“I have something to show you,” he said.
Confused, I followed him through the locker room to the opposite wall lined with lockers. He reached one and said, “Hold this light, will you?”
I nodded, holding the phone so the light shone on the combination. When he opened it, my mouth fell open. The entire floor-to-head-height locker had been filled to the brim with every kind of snack and drink we could wish for. I stared at a pink machine on the bottom shelf. “Is that...”
“A mini fridge?” he finished. “It’s battery powered too. The battery pack will last a week. I bought an extra so you can change it out.”
I reached out, touching a bag of chips. It was like a little convenience store for Sadie and me.
“Diego, this is.... amazing,” I said, lowering his phone to a concrete bench so it cast a dim glow around the room. “How did you even get in here to do it?”
A light shined in his eyes. “Had some help.”
He’d put so much effort into this... for me. “You didn’t have to do all this.”
He took my hands, lifting them so our palms pressed together. There was the most adorable smile on his face as he said, “I know this is your special place with Sadie. I wanted to make it even better.”
My heart completely melted, and I moved my hands from his to frame his face, drawing him down for a kiss.
So much of my life for the last three years had been about my dad, my mom, making their lives run smoothly. Diego had given me so much more than a stash of snacks.
He’d given me something just for me. Not because I needed it, but because he wanted to make my life better. If only he knew he already had.
Forty-Four
Diego
GettingCoach Ripley to give me a locker in girls’ locker room, using my surf lesson money to buy the snacks and a battery-powered refrigerator, having Kenzie stand guard so I could do it all without anyone coming in—it was all worth it. Just to see April smile like that.
It had been like she smiled with her entire heart, the light shining from her eyes and pouring through her lips. She kissed me like I’d given her so much more than what I had. And I kissed her back because I wanted her to know how special she was. How real this was to me. She wasn’t like any other girl, and these feelings I had? They were like nothing I’d felt before.
Finally, I could understand how my sister could pour her feelings out for a famous pop star on stage, despite backlash from the media and all his fans. I could see what kept my parents together through twenty-four years and five children. I could see myself dreaming of the future in ways I never had before.
April had done that for me.
This little gift? It was nothing in comparison.
