Chapter 12 - LILY REFUSED TO BECOME THE REWARD
For two weeks after the drive-in, I nearly ruined things with Lily by trying too hard not to ruin things with Lily.
I overexplained everything.
I apologized for my family constantly.
I checked whether she was upset every ten minutes.
I tried to prove I was different now.
Finally, she stopped me in the driveway.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
“You are making me exhausted.”
I stared at her.
She crossed her arms.
“I like you.”
“Okay.”
“I really like you.”
“Okay.”
“But I am not the medal you get because you finally stood up to your mother.”
That landed.
“I don’t think you are.”
“A little bit you do.”
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
She was right.
Some part of me had turned Lily into evidence that I had escaped.
The healthy woman.
The independent woman.
The woman Mom didn’t choose.
But Lily was a person.
Not the opposite of Rachel.
Not the cure for Diane.
Lily.
Third-grade teacher.
Terrible singer.
Excellent baker.
Obsessed with old murder mysteries.
Afraid of snakes.
The woman who left cabinet doors open and complained when I closed them before she was finished.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
She pointed at me.
“That one was appropriate.”
I laughed.
Then she stepped closer.
“I want to date you.”
“I want to date you.”
“I don’t want to battle your family every weekend.”
“You won’t.”
“I don’t want your mother used as the villain in every disagreement we ever have.”
I thought about that.
“Fair.”
“And if we ever break up—”
“Optimistic.”
She ignored me.
“—I want it to be because you and I decided something about us. Not because your family interfered, and not because proving them wrong became more important than being honest.”
That was the healthiest threat I had ever received.
I smiled.
“Deal.”
Then Lily looked toward my Impala.
“So.”
“So?”
“We never finished our first date.”
“The movie was terrible.”
“You watched six minutes.”
“I’m intuitive.”
She laughed.
The following Saturday, we went back to Blue Ridge Drive-In.
Same car.
Same back seat.
Phones turned off.
May you like
Nobody followed us.
And when Lily whispered, “The movie can wait,” this time nothing interrupted her.
