Page 111 of Light Up My Life

“Or a homework assignment,” Fiona chimed in. “Is he going to have to piece together all the words he finds into coherent sentences?”

“Neither of you are understanding the power of an inside joke,” I said with a huff from where I lay on the carpet writing words on card stock. “And no, he doesn’t have to find all the mice. Just enough to make my sentences. And I’ll text him a map.”

“It’s kind of going to suck if you go through all this work and he doesn’t do it,” Marcus said.

“He will,” I said. I had to trust that Ryan would do it. That was my problem all along—not trusting him. Letting other people, not his actions, shape my opinion of him.

But I trusted him. I trusted that we fit. We were right for each other, even with the forbidden part gone.

Fiona stood from my bed and attempted to read the words spread out on the floor. “I’m walking with my mask off. Will you come to wrong night with me. So sorry?”

I leveled her with a stare. “They will be in order. You’re reading them out of order on purpose.”

She laughed. “I’m just imagining what the other people might read as they’re driving.”

“Wait, what’s it really supposed to say?” Marcus asked, rolling the chair across the room so he could see better.

“I was wrong. I should have taken my mask off. Will you come to walking night with me? I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’ll be holding the last three cards.” The last point on the map I was going to send him would lead him to me.

“You should have taken your mask off?” Marcus asked. “Is that some kind of metaphor?”

“No, she means literally,” Fiona said. “When Mrs. O’Leary was screaming at her to take her mask off at the country club. It was very dramatic.”

“You definitely shouldn’t have taken your mask off!” Marcus said.

“Shhh,” I said, pushing myself off the floor and collecting the cards in order. “This is romantic. This is an I would do anything for you, even throw myself at the feet of the enemy moment.”

“Oh, okay. Got it,” Marcus said. “Do you even remember where all the mice are?”

“Most of them. And I’m going to need to talk to each home owner so they don’t take the cards down before Ryan sees them. So it might take a while to find the ones willing to agree to that.”

“We’d better get going then,” Marcus said.

“For sure,” Fiona said.

“Are you two coming with me?” I asked.

“Of course,” Fiona said.

“I mean, obviously,” Marcus said.

My eyes stung with sudden emotion. “I love you guys,” I said and pulled them both into a hug.

It was getting late, the sun creeping down the sky. It had taken most of the day to place the cards and make the map he’d need to follow. Now I was sitting on the platform of the slide at the park, the one across the street from the town square. The slide where Ryan and I had our original conversation about how we would ask each other to a dance if we could be more open with our relationship. Where I’d told him I’d use the mice, and he told me he’d put his questions up in lights. And now here I was waiting to see if he still thought it was romantic, if he still wanted any kind of relationship with me.

The town square was bustling with activity. Chairs were going up for the big announcement of the winner at the end of walking night, when the bronze Santa statue would be awarded. Vendors were setting up tables and carts, and music was playing from the speakers. Mrs. O’Leary was already there, bouncing from one thing to another.

I’d only texted the map to Ryan an hour ago. He probably couldn’t drop everything and follow it the second I sent it to him. It was Christmas Eve after all.

Or maybe he just didn’t want to do it.

Marcus and Fiona hadn’t come to the park with me. They were going to wait at my house and text me a heads-up when Ryan got in his car to start the course. They hadn’t texted me yet. Soon the streets would be closed off, and Ryan wouldn’t be able to drive. He’d have to walk it. That would take him even longer. I was getting cold even though I was wearing several layers. Maybe he’d gone somewhere with his parents and left the car in the driveway. He hadn’t responded to my text.

I shuffled the cards I held, putting Sorry behind So and then I’m in the middle of the two, then rearranging them again. My family was walking the streets in an hour. I was hoping Ryan and I could walk with them, but I’d sit here all night if I needed to.

Incoming, incoming! A text from Marcus flashed across my screen.

He left? He’s in his car? I responded back.