Page 50 of The Design of Goodbye
“You know what would make this perfect?” he suggested after he’d consumed five cookies, and I was onto my third. “Peanut butter.”
I rushed to the pantry. After we both dipped a marshmallow-coated cookie into peanut butter, we watched each other as we tried our new creation.
I didn’t even finish chewing before I said, “You’re brilliant.”
He winked. “You’re welcome.”
This was nice, being here with Liam, eating a ridiculously unhealthy snack and not being told it was going to go to my hips or give me a nasty breakout. Since he’d shown up, I hadn’t worried about the pictures, how much my best friend had hurt me, or if I evenhadfriends anymore.
“Don’t tell my dad about my secret stash, okay?” I said. “If he finds out, he’ll eat it all.”
He snorted. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
* * *
An hour later, the garage door opened, and my dad peeked his head in. “Can you kids take a break and come out here?”
A break from math sounded amazing, even if it was to help my dad carry in some groceries. As soon as we walked into the garage, though, I realized my dad’s errand hadn’t been to pick up forgotten ingredients.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I got you new tires,” explained my dad as soon as Liam saw his bike. “The bike shop said your rear tire was in bad shape, too, so they replaced both. You should be good to go for a while.”
It took a moment for Liam to process my dad’s words. “Thank you.” Liam stepped forward and squeezed one of the tires. “These are really nice.” He struggled to find his next words. “Joe, I really appreciate you got these replaced for me, but how much did this all cost? I don’t have—”
“Don’t worry about it,” said my dad, waving him off. “It’s on me.”
“Are you sure?” At my dad’s nod, Liam’s shoulders relaxed, his stress instantly vanishing. “But why?”
“It’s my thank-you for tutoring Madison.”
“I thought that’s why I was staying for dinner.”
“Dinner wasn’t enough.”
“You didn’t need to do this,” said Liam, grateful. “I don’t mind helping her.”
“I wanted to. Plus,” he continued, “you won’t believe what Madison told me this week.”
“What did I tell you?” I asked, terrified this was about to be another embarrassing story.
“She told me her math homeworkkindamade sense.”
“Really?” said Liam, looking proud. “Is that true?”
“Maybe. But,” I mumbled, “Ireallyhate graphing hyperboles.”
Both Liam and my dad let out small bursts of laughter. “You mean hyperbolas?” asked Liam.
“Whatever, Liam. Same thing.”
chapter nineteen
We were playing Lightning Bug Dash.
I’d invented the game when I was seven after chasing lightning bugs in my backyard one humid August night. To play, all lights in the house had to be turned off, and every player carried a lit flashlight. The object of the game was simple: steal all the flashlights and win.
Right now, I was curled on a shelf in my closet—with Thimble taking up far too much of my space—hiding from my dad and Liam. Even if they could see the light from my flashlight, they’d have a hard time crawling up here. And if they could, I’d easily be able to jump out of their reach and make a dash for it.
As I waited, I replayed dinner. It’d gone so well. Having Liam here made everything between my dad and me flow naturally. I hadn’t worried about my dad being mad at me. I hadn’t watched what I said or did in fear I’d do something to make him leave me. I’d, for what felt like the first time in months, kind of felt a little bit like my old self.
