“No. No more insults. No more nastiness. No more revenge. You can
harbor private doubts but be the Summer I know and love. The Summer
who is happy for me because I’m happy.”
Someone behind them a few rows back let out a long, impatient sigh.
Arabella wasn’t sure if it was because they’d been listening in and didn’t
like what they were hearing, or because they were still annoyed about the
popcorn, or maybe they were just sighing because it was hot, and they were
tired and lazy feeling on the weekend. Arabella refused to turn around. She
did move her head just a fraction so she could make sure Summer wasn’t
going to grab for both the bags of popcorn and spill them over her head.
Arabella didn’t know if she was horrified or wildly exuberant and crazy
ecstatic. Dating. It was real. They were real. They were really doing this.
This was their first real date, and while June looked calm enough when
Arabella snuck a glance at her, she could see a flash of thinly masked
excitement on her face too.
“Summer?” June asked. “Introduce yourself. Let’s have a new beginning
and a fresh start.”
Summer rolled her eyes. “No. I’m not doing that. That’s stupid.”
“Alright, then, I hope you can put on a smile, suck back the bad thoughts,
and say a few nice things, even if it’s about the weather, or about puppies,
or about how delicious this popcorn is.”
“If you’d give it back to me, maybe I could comment on it.”
“Can I trust you not to fling it all over anyone again?”
“That was an accident. You shouldn’t surprise me like that.”
“Okay. Here.” June passed over the half-empty popcorn bag. Summer
mumbled something as she took it. “Oh look. They’re getting ready to
start.”
“How very convenient,” Summer muttered. She did make an effort to
smile, and it was clear there was no underestimating the power of
friendship. “Fine. I’ll be nice because I love you. You know that. But don’t