Page 32 of Meet Me on Love Street
We finish the rest of the proposal together, but the vibe between us is different now. I’d thought we were getting closer, or at least on similar wavelengths since we watched the sunset, but now I wonder if I imagined that. Our entire worldviews are different at, like, the molecular level.
“Should we send this to Cara before emailing it to the city councillor?” Miles asks after we’ve gone over the entire document twice.
“Yeah, let me text her.” I grab my phone from the coffeetable and fire off a text to Cara, but she doesn’t answer. Because of course she doesn’t.
“She’s with Hannah, isn’t she?” Miles asks.
“Probably. But don’t you dare say that this proves your point.”
“Why would I say that?”
I sigh, dropping my phone to the couch. “Because you’re going to say that Cara has the lovey-dovey hearts and couple goals kind of love, and it’s making her flake out on her commitments.”
“I wouldn’t have said that.” He looks like he wants to say more but changes his mind.
“What?” I ask.
“I…” He hesitates. “I just wonder if Cara thinks she has the couple goals kind of love.”
Neither of us says anything for a few moments. I have no idea what the answer to that question is. Cara has never told me she’s unhappy. But maybe Miles has seen something I haven’t.
“Question for you,” Miles finally says. “Because we clearly need to understand each other better if we’re going to work together. Haveyouever been in love?”
I exhale, looking down at my lap. The answer is a little embarrassing. “Does it matter if I’ve been in love? I know what I’m drawn to, and I’m not the only one into hearts and romance. Corporate greed can’t be the only reason Valentine’s Day is such a huge holiday. The heart installation will attract people like me to the festival. It doesn’t reallymatterif me and people like me are a bunch of delusional idealists, as long as we spend money here.”
“I don’t think you’re delusional, Sana,” Miles sayssoftly. I look at him. His intense gaze is focused only on me, and it makes my breath catch in my throat. He’s only a foot away from me on the sofa, and his hand is close enough that I could touch it if I wanted to.
And the thing is, I do want to.
I take a slow breath. The air around us seems charged. I may not have been in love before, but Iknowwhat chemistry feels like. Iknowthis fluttering of my stomach, this goose bumpy feeling.
But it’s probably only on my side. Miles called my ideas “frivolous.” He thinks my head’s not in the real world. He’s not feeling anything for me except annoyance. And it’s so monumentally inconvenient that I’ve got these fluttery feelings for someone so different from me.
I turn away quickly. “So… you ready for me to find you another date? I think I know you well enough not to mess it up this time.”
He doesn’t answer right away, and I resist the urge to turn back to him because I’m afraid he’s going to see my stupid attraction all over my face.
“Yeah, let’s do it,” he finally says. “Maybe the third time will be the charm.”
He’s definitely not into me like I’m into him. Which is good. Miles Desai and I are oil and water. We would never work out. We would be more opposite than my mother and father… and look how their relationship turned out.
Maybe finding Miles’s true match is the best way for me to get over these feelings I have for him—because they are making planning this festival very hard for me.
CHAPTER ELEVENTHE FIRST CASUALTY ON LOVE STREET
I work on the mock-up sketches for the proposal in the art room at lunch with Ms. Carothers’s help. When I send them to Miles, he texts back that they’re great, and he’ll put it all together and email the whole proposal to the city councillor’s office that afternoon.
After school I go straight to Kozlaks’ since I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Ina Kozlak struggling with her little store since Mom told me about it. The store has been here forever, long before Mom and I moved to Love Street. The white sign with KOZLAKS’ painted in black block letters is such a landmark in this area.
Inside, it’s a small space with a few shelves of Polish grocery items on one side, a deli counter for cured meats on the other, and a few fridges and freezers with cheeses and frozen pierogies at the back. I go straight to their cookie section and grab a blue bag of heart-shaped chocolate-covered gingerbread. When Miles mentioned chocolate-covered gingerbread at Riverdale Park, I immediately knew exactly where to get some.
I smile at Mrs. Kozlak at the counter, but she doesn’t smile back. She looks… worried. “Mrs. Kozlak,” I say after paying for the cookies, “I don’t know if you know about it, but a bunch of us are trying to put on a streetfestival here on Love Street. Can you think of something your store can feature for the festival? Like something love and romance themed. Mrs. Kotch is doing desserts. Mom’s going to do little love bouquets. LoveBug is—”
“When is festival?”
“It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but we’re aiming for the third weekend of July.”
“We closed,” Mrs. Kozlak says.
