Page 12 of Picking Daisies on Sundays

Instead, I avoided eye contact with Levi as he faced Mandy.

“When did this happen?!” My mom asked with a smile on her face, but not nearly as loud as Mandy, obviously questioning the circumstances of this situation.

But Levi and I hadn’t planned this far, and she knew that my ability to lie on the spot wasn’t the strongest. Fortunately for me though, lying about liking Levi wasn’t a lie at all. And Levi also knew how to act in on-the-spot situations.

“We ran into each other a few weeks ago at the bar down the street and started catching up,” Levi said effortlessly. “And then I invited her as my date to the wedding. Today is the first day of the pre-wedding events, but I’ll make sure to have her home right after—”

“No, no, no. As long as you keep her safe, she can stay out for as long as she wants,” Mandy squealed, like I was sixteen rather than twenty-two, with a smile bright enough to charge a solar panel. But it reminded me of how Levi and Ididhave to ask about curfews when we made plans in high school. I took it as my chance to rush us out before they could say anything else about my unrequited, embarrassing love life.

Leaping forward, I gave them each a kiss on the cheek, and

grabbed the hem of Levi’s shirt to drag him out.

5

Neck stiff, legs weak, eyes set on what we could’ve looked like

if you hadn’t left

I watched Levi’s left hand rest on the bottom of the steering wheel and his right extend over the shifter; his knees almost hitting the wheel because they were so long.

“I’d have you drive if I had any confidence that you’d been practicing while in the city,” he said with a child-like smile on his face, referring to the way he wasn’t made to fit into such a low car.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a bad driver,” I said defensively. Why would I drive when there was the subway and taxis? Ihadn’tdriven a car since moving into the city four years ago. But that was beside the point. Levi laughed as if he could read my exact thoughts. “At least I’m not a hoarder!” I shouted in defense.

For effect, I turned in the passenger’s seat to wave at the abundance of books in the back seat, all stacked up like an unsteady, makeshift bookcase.

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t try comparing my choice of storage to your lack of human ability to drive,” Levi said.

“Icandrive, I just can’t drivewell. There’s a difference and I

have the license to prove it.”

“I have no idea why though!”

But when he saw the unbothered look on my face, he came up with an example. “Do you remember the time you had to drive us to Junior Prom because I had a broken wrist? You saw a ladybug on the dashboard—screamed—and then took out half of the mailboxes on the street,” Levi repeated, erupting in laughter at the look of shock on my face that he remembered. I hated ladybugs after accidently eating one as a kid, finding a polka dotted wing in my teeth.

I instantly covered my face in embarrassment,howcould I forget that day? Levi had held my face as I sobbed (because I just wrecked his passenger-side mirror), worried that I was hurt, not even concerned about his car. Along with the fact that one of those mailboxes was Cora Messing’s; the girl he was dating at the time and going to Junior Prom with.

Cora not only gave him an earful about the demolished mailbox the next day, but for deciding not to go to prom because of how worked up I was. I felt horrible that he missed prom, but I also secretly hated Cora. She used to go out of her way to step on the toes of my leather shoes when talking to me.

“Don’t remind me, I felt so horrible that night,” I said shaking my head thinking about how much I cried that day. The tears were partly from the fact that I was going to have to watch Levi dance with another girl at prom. I also didn’t exactly look so good in comparison to Cora after proving that I couldn’t even drive.

“Ifelt horrible that night!” Levi urged with a hand against his chest, evidently trying to make me feel less embarrassed. “I knew you hated driving, but I thought if I was in the car with you, you’d feel more comfortable. But I shouldn’t have pushed you, and then I made you miss prom too,God,” Levi groaned, rubbing his jaw.

I struggled not to focus on the curve of his jaw and the way his tongue slipped out to lick his lips.

“My dress looked so bad that night anyways, if anything, you

saved me from embarrassing pictures and having to deal with Jared Miller trying to kiss me.” I shivered at the thought, thinking about the goatee he was trying to grow and the pink dress I had tried designing.

Levi laughed in response to my verbal shiver. “There wasn’t a guy at that school that deserved you,” he said, briefly glancing at me before returning to the road.

Every cell on my skin warmed at his small look and sweet sentence. Gabe’s statement returned to my head, making me wonder if maybe Levi cared about me now.

Changing the topic before I could say anything I’d regret, “I can’t believe you still keep books in your car.”

“Well, actually, I’m a TA now,” he spoke with an introverted smile.