Page 40 of Meet Me on Love Street
Jenn smiles. “Let me get the pins. I can hem the dress.” Jenn returns with a pin cushion and kneels to pin the hem. “You probably don’t remember, but I used to sew you dresses when you were a little girl. Let me do this for you, for old times’ sake.”
I do remember. In fact, I almost tear up thinking how lucky I am to have had Jenn in my life since forever. I look in the mirror again. It’s definitely not my normal style, but the dressdoeslook good. And for the first time today, I feel like maybe things will be okay.
When I leave Cosmic that night, I go straight to LOL Park. I need to think, and hopefully a visit to my favorite bench will help push all this negativity out. What Jenn said is true—life has thrown a bunch of curveballs at me, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’ve dealt with stuff way harder than this before… like my parents’ divorce. But this time my mind is going a mile a minute overthinking everything, and I’m stuck in a feeling-sorry-for-myself loop. I even had a whole pity party in Cosmic.
I sit on the bench near the path in the park. The sun is setting much later now, so it’s still bright considering it’s so late. I look in front of me. The green field is absolutely covered with yellow dandelions, and it’s so mesmerizing. With unfocused eyes, I take in the bright yellow dots on the green grass. I should come paint the park at this hour.
Thinking about it now, this whole Love Street struggling thingfeelslike when my parents split. Maybe because when my parents told me they were breaking up, it felt like the rug was pulled out from under me. I had no control, and I was scared. That’s how I’m feeling now. Like I’m about to lose everything I care about again, and I can’t stop it from happening. Add in everyone telling me how wonderful my stepsister is, and it’s no wonder I feel nine years old again. It’s probably why I’m finding it so hard to hang on to my normal optimistic self.
The worst part about everything is that even if I focus on the positives: I have a gorgeous prom dress, we put together a kick-ass proposal for a festival that could save the street, and my stepsister and I are finally getting closer, there’s still one big negative that I cannot ignore. I still don’t have a prom date. The most important night ofmy high school career and I’ll be alone, trying to keep my smile on my face.
“What are you doing here, Sana?” a voice says. It’s Miles. So much for avoiding the guy.
He looks… concerned. And so damn adorable. His T-shirt is the same medium blue as the sky, and he’s in his cords that look so good on him. I smile. “Needed a place to think,” I say. “Why are you here?”
“I just got off work. Grabbing my bike.” He stands in front of me, like he doesn’t know whether he should join me, or keep walking on the path toward the bike racks.
“You’re still locking your bike there?” I ask.
He nods, then sits next to me. “It’s a wonder it hasn’t been stolen yet. I think you were right about thieves puncturing tires. My other tire was hit last week. Thanks to you, I knew how to fix it. Pain in the butt to walk it home flat though.”
“You could’ve fixed it on my balcony,” I say. “Where do you live, anyway?” I’m not sure why I don’t know this, considering how much I’ve seen him in the last month.
He smiles. “In a crappy, tiny room in a basement apartment with six other students. It’s loud and it smells bad, but it’s all I can afford. At least I have my own room—the others are all sharing.”
I cringe. And here I was worried he would think my apartment over the flower shop was too small and shabby looking. I wonder why his parents aren’t helping him get something better. “That’s rough. Is it close by?”
“Not too bad. Half hour walk from here. I usually don’t ride my bike to work because I don’t want it to get stolen. I’ll need that bike when school starts.”
“You can lock your bike on my back balcony,” I offer. I know I’m supposed to keep my distance from him, but he needs help. “Mom won’t mind. It’s safe up there—we have cameras out back.”
He tilts his head, then smiles. “Actually, yeah, that would be great. Thank you.”
“Not a problem at all. Is that why you’re always working on your computer in the bookstore? Because your place sucks?”
He nods. “Reggie lets me stay as long as I need to get quiet work done. He’s actually helping me with my internship applications—he has a ton of corporate experience.”
“Reggie’s a great guy,” I say.
“He’s the best.”
Neither of us says anything for a while. I can tell things are strained between us, which makes me wonder if Sarinadidsay something about me in the Uber ride. I don’t want him to talk about Sarina, but I can’t stand this awkward silence.
“LOL Park is going to look so amazing if we get the festival approval,” I say.
He nods. “Yeah, we’ll have to come weed this field, though.”
I scoff at that suggestion. “Why would we do that? Dandelions are beautiful. Hopefully they are at the seed stage then… Those white wisps in the air are so romantic.”
“Unless you have seasonal allergies.”
I smile at that. We’ve had this argument so many times. He’s called me idealistic, and I’ve called him uptight, and we end up in the same place again and again. I don’t know why, but this time the disagreement feelscomforting. It’slike even though we’re disagreeing, I feel like we bothvalueour different opinions now. I turn to him, still smiling. “Antihistamines exist. Only you could look at that carpet of yellow and green and think it needs to be changed.”
He chuckles at that. We sit silently for a while. I’m hoping he’s trying to appreciate the dandelions in front of us.
Finally, he turns to me. “You okay, Sana? You’re… quiet.”
I shrug. “Not used to that, are you? I’m just in a tiny funk. I know it’s shocking, but even Sana Merali has bad moods.”
