Page 43 of More For Me

I pat my pockets then open my purse, looking for something I can use as a ring. “Here,” Bodhi says, handing me the twist tie from his popcorn bag. I laugh as I take it, managing to twist it into a circle while the photographer takes care of the next person in line. By the time we’re up, I have a passable imitation of a ring.

When I drop to my knee, it’s all I can do to keep from ruining it by laughing. Maybe Bodhi should have been the actor, not Fox. He’s perfect. He covers his mouth, then his heart, then jumps up and down like a school girl, all while the photographer clicks away.

We get a bit of applause, but not as much as the couple before. I think people aren’t quite sure what to make of us. Probably because I’m laughing my head off by the time I rise to my feet.

We thank the photographer and walk off. “I cannot wait to see these pictures. You were such a freaking ham.”

He shrugs. “I figure I may as well live up to my reputation as a ridiculous, overly-sentimental teenage girl.”

We walk around for a while as we wait for the pictures to show up in Bodhi’s account. The next time he checks his phone, Bodhi starts laughing. “You ready for this?” he asks, angling the screen in front of me.

We look ridiculous. I’m clearly struggling to keep a straight face and Bodhi is so over the top in his reactions. Screw the caricature—this one is going over the fireplace.

“Ready to send it?” he asks, eyes bright.

Something seems to catch in my chest at that. Of course we’re going to send it, that’s the whole point of all of this. Out of all the pictures we sent to mess with my cousins and sisters, nothing could top this.

But there’s a weird hesitation in my brain. Part of me doesn’t want to send this picture. It feels wrong to bring anyone else into that moment. Part of me wants to keep it, just for us.

“Everly?” he asks, looking over at me, his fingers paused above the keyboard on the screen “You okay?”

“Of course,” I say, trying to shake off the weird feeling. “What should we write?”

His grin is downright evil. I need to remember this for future reference—Bodhi might act like Mister Nice Guy, but the man is pretty diabolical when it comes to pranks. “How’s this?”

I watch as he types.You guys are never going to believe what we did! This might seem sudden, but we realized today that you’ve all been right all along. YOLO, right?

I snort. “Does anyone even say YOLO anymore?”

Bodhi shrugs. “That’s what makes it funny.” He looks at me. “Good?”

“Send it.”

He attaches the three best pictures from our “engagement” session and sends the text. Within seconds his screen starts to fill with responses.

River:WTF

Will:This is a joke, right?

Lyric:Not funny.

Rose:Are you joking??

Santana:You didn’t seriously do this? OMG Mom and Dad are going to kill you!

I grab the phone from him to respond.

Everly:Mom and Dad might be mad, but don’t worry. Once we tell them that you are all responsible for making us realize what we wanted, I’m sure they’ll be fine.

I hand him the phone.“Let’s leave them to sit with that for a while.”

“Good call.” He slips his phone into his pocket and starts to gather our trash. “Where to next?”

I grin. “Space Mountain. I think we have a record to break.”

* * *

We ignorethe increasingly panicked group texts for the rest of the afternoon. Of course I check in with CeCe and Vega but when they press me about the photos I just respond that I’ll tell them all the happy details when I see them.