“The rabbits would like you.”
I smile and nod.
CARTER
I’m staring at the coffee cup like it’s a foreign object. Sophie brought me coffee. It’s no big deal. But it is.
She loves me.
It’s not the coffee. Or the fact that she’s brushing my mom’s hair.
It’s not the notes she drops for me on the way home from school. Or the way she waits for me on the swing.
It’s all of those things.
And more.
Sophie walks into the kitchen and eyes me curiously. I look dumb because I’m standing there, staring at my coffee cup, not doing anything.
She smiles at me with her pretty face and my heart pumps faster.
She knows all about me. And still she loves me.
Moments pass between us without words.
“I love you.” I blurt out.
I didn’t mean to say it, but I don’t regret it. My face is hot and my hands are numb from all the blood rushing to my chest.
Her smile doesn’t falter, she’s looking right at me.
“I know,” she says.
And we stand like that, staring at each other, for countless seconds. The silence is heavy, but in a safe way. Sophie opens her mouth as if to respond but my mother’s voice cuts through our moment.
“Carter! I think there’s one in here!”
We break our gaze and I exhale. Slowly I say, “I gotta go check on her.”
Sophie nods and takes a step toward me. She puts her hand in mine and squeezes. Then she leaves.
I stretch my neck and silently walk into the living room to help my mother, my heart still pounding.
SOPHIE
CARTER JAX LOVES ME. CARTER JAX LOVES ME. I know he loves me. And hearing him say it out loud makes my heart leap.
I walk to school, bouncing, because I can’t seem to keep my feet on the ground.
I didn’t say it back.
Why didn’t I say it back?
I love him. More than anything. Why didn’t I just tell him that?
I’m an idiot.
I’m an idiot with bouncing feet.
The school day drags on. It’s seriously the longest day in the history of school. I’m impatient to get out. I’m going to run home and…do what, exactly?
Pound on Carter’s door and declare my love?
No, I’ll wait until the swing. I’ll wait until we’re swinging away our troubles and then I’ll tell him.
School finally ends, and I hurry home. I do homework and make dinner and wait impatiently for bedtime. But it takes forever to get the Littles in bed.
Chloe’s asking for a drink of water every fifteen minutes, Abram’s whining about watching more TV and Michael’s throwing a fit about how he’s almost a ‘grown up’.
“Listen, Michael, if you’re referring to yourself as a ‘grown up’, then you’re still totally a kid. ‘Grown ups’ call themselves adults.”
My words are lost on Michael, so he storms into his room and shoves his earphones in.
I’m hurrying down the hall so I can get to the swing early when the phone rings. It’s Carter.
“Hey, Sophie.”
“Hey.” I know what he’s going to say. He only calls for one reason.
“My mom’s freaking out so I gotta stay here tonight….sorry.” He sounds sorry.
My heart falls because I had this great proclaim-my-love plan. “I’m sorry.” I say. What I want to say is ‘I love you’. But I don’t. Because I’m a coward. “Can I help you at all?”
I can hear him smile. “No. But thanks.”
We hang up and I feel lost. I pace around my house for an hour because my heart isn’t settled. Something’s wrong.
I’m wrong.
I feel…off.
I’m sad.
I’m sad because the boy next door loves me and he doesn’t know that I love him.
I try to calm myself down and come up with a plan to trot over there in the morning with ‘I love Carter Jax’ written on my forehead.
I turn out the lights and climb into my bed. My bed faces my window on purpose. I can see right into Carter’s room. I always leave my window open because it makes me feel closer to him.
It seems like hours before I see Carter enter his room. He stares at my window. He can’t see me, he doesn’t know I’m
I smile and nod.
CARTER
I’m staring at the coffee cup like it’s a foreign object. Sophie brought me coffee. It’s no big deal. But it is.
She loves me.
It’s not the coffee. Or the fact that she’s brushing my mom’s hair.
It’s not the notes she drops for me on the way home from school. Or the way she waits for me on the swing.
It’s all of those things.
And more.
Sophie walks into the kitchen and eyes me curiously. I look dumb because I’m standing there, staring at my coffee cup, not doing anything.
She smiles at me with her pretty face and my heart pumps faster.
She knows all about me. And still she loves me.
Moments pass between us without words.
“I love you.” I blurt out.
I didn’t mean to say it, but I don’t regret it. My face is hot and my hands are numb from all the blood rushing to my chest.
Her smile doesn’t falter, she’s looking right at me.
“I know,” she says.
And we stand like that, staring at each other, for countless seconds. The silence is heavy, but in a safe way. Sophie opens her mouth as if to respond but my mother’s voice cuts through our moment.
“Carter! I think there’s one in here!”
We break our gaze and I exhale. Slowly I say, “I gotta go check on her.”
Sophie nods and takes a step toward me. She puts her hand in mine and squeezes. Then she leaves.
I stretch my neck and silently walk into the living room to help my mother, my heart still pounding.
SOPHIE
CARTER JAX LOVES ME. CARTER JAX LOVES ME. I know he loves me. And hearing him say it out loud makes my heart leap.
I walk to school, bouncing, because I can’t seem to keep my feet on the ground.
I didn’t say it back.
Why didn’t I say it back?
I love him. More than anything. Why didn’t I just tell him that?
I’m an idiot.
I’m an idiot with bouncing feet.
The school day drags on. It’s seriously the longest day in the history of school. I’m impatient to get out. I’m going to run home and…do what, exactly?
Pound on Carter’s door and declare my love?
No, I’ll wait until the swing. I’ll wait until we’re swinging away our troubles and then I’ll tell him.
School finally ends, and I hurry home. I do homework and make dinner and wait impatiently for bedtime. But it takes forever to get the Littles in bed.
Chloe’s asking for a drink of water every fifteen minutes, Abram’s whining about watching more TV and Michael’s throwing a fit about how he’s almost a ‘grown up’.
“Listen, Michael, if you’re referring to yourself as a ‘grown up’, then you’re still totally a kid. ‘Grown ups’ call themselves adults.”
My words are lost on Michael, so he storms into his room and shoves his earphones in.
I’m hurrying down the hall so I can get to the swing early when the phone rings. It’s Carter.
“Hey, Sophie.”
“Hey.” I know what he’s going to say. He only calls for one reason.
“My mom’s freaking out so I gotta stay here tonight….sorry.” He sounds sorry.
My heart falls because I had this great proclaim-my-love plan. “I’m sorry.” I say. What I want to say is ‘I love you’. But I don’t. Because I’m a coward. “Can I help you at all?”
I can hear him smile. “No. But thanks.”
We hang up and I feel lost. I pace around my house for an hour because my heart isn’t settled. Something’s wrong.
I’m wrong.
I feel…off.
I’m sad.
I’m sad because the boy next door loves me and he doesn’t know that I love him.
I try to calm myself down and come up with a plan to trot over there in the morning with ‘I love Carter Jax’ written on my forehead.
I turn out the lights and climb into my bed. My bed faces my window on purpose. I can see right into Carter’s room. I always leave my window open because it makes me feel closer to him.
It seems like hours before I see Carter enter his room. He stares at my window. He can’t see me, he doesn’t know I’m
Similar Books
