Page 63 of The Design of Goodbye
“Is that a competition?”
I nodded, and he listened intently as I explained the rules to him. I didn’t confess my collection was going to be based on four of my mom’s sketches. I was worried he’d tell me it was a terrible idea.
When I was done, I quickly switched the conversation off of me because I was desperate to know more about him. “What about yours?”
“My what?”
“Your future?”
“Oh.” He focused his attention out the window, clearly not interested in the change of topic. “It’s not exciting.”
I kicked him under the table to get him to look at me. “I still want to know.”
“I’m not going to college.” He ate the last of his cookie. “I really want to, but I can’t right now.”
“Why not?” I asked, surprised. “Are you taking a gap year or something?”
“Or something.” He let out a long breath, and it expressed too much—that he had far more worries and struggles than I’d realized. “I need to move out first. I’ll work for a while, save some money...”
“Will you work at The Fresh Market?”
He nodded. “Told you it’s not exciting.”
I rested my elbows on the table. “I betwhenyou go to college, you’re gonna major in math.”
“You’re a good guesser.”
“Then you’ll become a college math professor.”
“That’s the dream.”
“You’ll be a good professor. I have firsthand experience.” I pointed at him. “You already have the glasses. You just need a tweed jacket, and you’d fit right in.”
He laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“By the way,” I said, “thanks for helping us today. We wouldn’t have finished without you.”
His lips curved in a smile. “Welcome.”
Unable to stop myself, I blurted, “I like hanging out with you.”
His hands froze on his empty bag of chips he’d been about to ball up. “I like hanging out with you, too.”
“Why do you look so surprised?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“Because,” he explained, “you’reyou,and I’m just me.”
“Well,just me, you don’t see what I see. You’re pretty great, actually. I think you need to know that.”
He grinned. The corners of his eyes crinkled, and his entire face lit up. I’d never seen him smile like that.
Andohmygodit was breathtaking.
chapter twenty-three
