Chapter Thirteen

Sunny and Remy go for an unusual walk to the Pharmacy.

As September faded out, October welcomed its way in with the same magnificent wonders that always captivated me year after year, never ceasing to stir my creative side.

Autumn served me as a muse, sparking those areas of my brain which typically remained dormant and uninspired. In addition to this, I found that the Japanese class enhanced those sparks, filling me with so much inspiration and motivation that I constantly had trouble paying full attention in class. Two or three weeks in, I started bringing a sketchbook along, hoping I could somehow spill my ideas without getting caught by Onuma Sensei.

I was learning all sorts of new things, passing the class with flying colors, despite how much time I spent drawing.  Onuma Sensei, however, seemed to be under the impression that any time spent not staring at her or into the text book was time spent not learning. What did she know?

I kept my sketchbook hidden inside my binder where I pretended to be taking notes, and while I listened to her lectures and lessons, taking in every word she said and pondering it carefully, I sketched out some of the ideas that were swimming around in my head.

I wanted to do more than just draw lame, barely funny comic strips. With all of the motivation pumping through me, my dreams were growing bigger and better. I wanted to draw a full length comic book, or maybe a series of short books.

I could envision everything in my head with such clarity. The characters… The places… The plot… It was like something that had been in my mind all along and was finally bursting to come out. But the weight of the class’s homework assignments seemed to take over all of my free time and left me with few opportunities to do more than just sketch some of the characters out, jotting a few of their details down nearby. But even with just that and nothing more, I still found my sketchbook filling up faster than I realized.

By the time Sunny brought up Halloween costumes, asking me if I could sketch some ideas down, I was shocked to discover that there wasn’t a blank page in the entire book.

“You really drew on every single page?” she asked, seizing the book from my hands and flipping through it. “Back and front… Wow, Remy! What are all these drawings, anyway?”

I stole it back, closing the front cover and tucking it back into my book bag.

“Character designs,” I said, bashfully. “It’s not really anything. I should run out and get a new sketch book.”

“Character designs?” Sunny asked, looking up at me from where she sat on my bed.  “Are you going to draw a comic book!?”

“Um… Nothing,” I said. “I might. Maybe. Just… I have to go get that sketchbook. Do you want to come with me?”

Sunny stood up, tossing her long hair over her shoulder.

“Where will you go?” she asked.

Shrugging, I headed for the door.

“I think I’ll swing by the pharmacy down the street,” I said. “They have office supplies and the like. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen sketch pads there before.”

Sunny slipped her shoes on by the front door, smiling at me as she did.

“You know, it’s a pretty nice day,” she said. “If it’s just down the street, maybe we could walk there and enjoy the afternoon.” She pulled on her fuzzy brown sweater, removing an orange scarf from its pocket and draping it around her neck. “You should wear something warm, too,” she said. “It’s chilly out there.”

Frowning, I yanked a hoodie down off my coat tree and tugged it on, disappointed to find that it was still really huge on me. Sunny looked me over, tittering gently, and then surprised me with a gentle hug.

“You’re such a cutie,” she said sweetly, leading me through the door and out onto the catwalk where I turned my key in the lock.

“How do you figure that?” I asked, as we advanced toward the long flight of stairs which led to the parking lot.

“It’s true,” she said, slipping her hand into mine as we began our descent. “You just seem so small sometimes which, to me, is comforting since I’m so much shorter than you. But when you wear things like this hoodie that you’re practically swimming in… It just makes you look so small and cute.”

I chuckled to myself.

“I don’t’ know if cute and small are words than men usually like to be described as,” I told her, “but somehow, coming from you, it feels a lot less demeaning and a lot more…”

“Complimentary?” Sunny asked. “I hope you were going to say complimentary, because the two traits definitely compliment you well.”

Of course, I didn’t believe her. If it was such a complimenting characteristic, then why had my love life been so unlucky before that point? I didn’t know whether she truly meant it or whether she was just being nice, but all the same, I smiled, just happy to have her by my side.

The sun was low in the sky, bathing the surface of the planet in rich, golden light which made everything feel so magical, especially with Sunny holding my hand the way she was. With the wind blowing her hair around and the sun catching in it with all its vibrancy, Sunny’s head appeared to have a fantastic mass of bright orange fire billowing out from its top. Her skin glowed white as it reflected the light, and before I knew what I was doing, I had stopped walking and was pulling my phone from my pocket.

“What’s up?” Sunny asked, her cherry red lips burning in contrast with her snow white skin.

I activated the camera, snapping picture after picture of Sunny’s angelic face.

“Are you taking my picture?” she asked, her voice a mixture of surprise and amusement.

“You look…” I stuttered around, too taken with her beauty to find any words that could describe what I felt. Trailing off, never to finish my sentence, I continued snapping shots, each picture different than the last.

“Making sure you have enough for a stop motion film?” she asked jokingly, as she tied her hair back out of her face. I lowered the camera at last, frowning.

“Why’d you tie it back?” I asked.

“You would, too, trust me. It was getting in my face. Shall we continue, or would you like me to pose for a few?”

I felt my face burning in spite of the chilly October air, and without another word, I stashed the phone away into my pocket and followed Sunny as she continued up the street. The wind whooshed through the trees, sending a shower of leaves into our midst. I resisted the urge to whip the phone right back out and snatch a few shots of Sunny standing in the rain of red and orange leaves.

She looked so happy as she danced down the sidewalk, spinning around with her arms out while the breeze tugged at her scarf and tossed her hair around. She was caught up in the moment, letting the beauty of autumn surround her and engulf her completely. Secretly, I wished that I could feel what she was feeling… Just a moment of that peace and serenity could have done wonders for me, but all I could do was live vicariously through Sunny, watching as she spun in her happy circles, avoiding the cracks in the pavement and laughing as she did. I couldn’t remember a time later than my childhood where I had felt that kind of carefree bliss. Thinking about it, I could recall very few of these instances even within my childhood, and as Sunny danced around, laughing like an innocent child, I found myself envying her ability to just stop giving a damn whenever she felt like it.

“Dance with me!” she cried, grasping for my hand. “It’s too nice a day not to dance!”

I pulled my hand away, smiling halfheartedly.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’d love to, but… I can’t.”

“Why for not!?” she sang, whisking her way around and around a light pole. I shrugged, though she did not see.

“I’m not much of a dancer,” I said simply. Sunny stopped, her eyes bugging out in faux surprise.

“As if I’m doing perfect ballet!” she chirped, lunging at me and seizing my hand. Before I could react, Sunny was holding tight to both of my hands, spinning me around in large, dizzy circles which came dangerously close to the street. Cars zipped past honking their disapproval and yet Sunny just laughed, whipping me around and around until I began to fear for the contents of my stomach. Suddenly and without any warning whatsoever, Sunny released my hands. I was thrown backwards, unable to stop myself from flying through the air toward an empty field.

However, as I fell, it was as if I were somehow falling inside of a dream. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.  Even the sounds of the cars had grown feint and while I fell backwards into the field of dried out, yellowing grass, I just gazed up at the colorful clouds in the sky, watching the birds glide slowly across as time dragged past.

I spread my arms wide, enveloped in an overall feeling of intense peace and tranquility. Was this what Sunny had been experiencing?

It occurred to me, for a moment, to close my eyes, but I forced them to remain open, not wanting to miss a moment of the sheer grace that I perceived. Before I knew it, there was a slight tickle on the back of my neck and hands as they collided ever so gently with the grass. Smiling, I allowed my eyelids to flutter shut as I felt my body settle firmly into the grass. There was just one more moment of silence and then all of a sudden, Sunny was collapsing into the grass by my side as the noise of the cars picked up again, time appearing to have returned to normal.

I turned my head, looking over to see her lying on the ground, smiling at me with all the radiant glory of the setting sun.

“Can you feel it yet?” she asked, her voice soft and smooth. Sunny barely blinked as her eyes pierced me. “Can you feel the fall?”

I grinned, letting my eyes fall shut again.

“I felt that fall,” I told her, smiling peacefully. “It was the craziest spill I’ve ever taken.”

Sunny’s hand inched closer to me, her fingers weaving themselves through mine.

“How do you feel?” she asked, her voice so low that I could barely hear it.

Opening my eyes, I gazed up at the pink and orange sky, which was darkening quickly. Somehow, my face seemed cold and slightly damp.

“I don’t know,” I told her. “I can’t describe it… I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything like this before. It’s…”

“Peaceful?” Sunny asked. “Placid? Detached?”

I just nodded, lost for words. Never in my life could I recall having ever felt such a strong sense of peace and freedom. With Sunny by my side, it was as if nothing else mattered. She just filled me with so many new feelings, bringing me to life as I had never been before. I wanted to roll over and kiss her. I wanted to lock her into a warm embrace and just lie there forever.

Sadly, the opportunity had no time to arise before an unfamiliar voice barged into my happy world, interrupting everything.

“Are you guys okay?” came the voice of a man.

“Oh!” Sunny sat up, brushing the grass out of her hair as she laughed. “Yes,” she said, “we’re fine! We’re just having a little bit of fun here.” I propped myself up on my elbows to see who Sunny was talking to. On the sidewalk, just a few feet away stood a business man, presumably in his early thirties. He looked exhausted, like he was ready to collapse, himself.

“You seem like you could really use some fun, too,” Sunny told him, getting to her feet. “Would you care to join us?” The man raised his hands in front of him, palms facing Sunny.

“Oh, no,” he said. “Really… I shouldn’t…” Sunny approached him slowly, and I expected that at any moment, he would become frightened and split. But Sunny must have had the same impression on him that she had on me, for as she approached him and took his hands, he just watched her with interest. Before very long, she had him dancing in the same big circles that she had danced me in, and where I normally would have felt somehow jealous that she would invite a third party into our special moment, I only laughed to see such a sight as Sunny swinging a business man around in circles right out in the open where anyone could see.

All of a sudden, Sunny let go of him and he toppled backwards into the grass a few feet away from me. Releasing a sigh, Sunny dropped down into the grass between us, smiling happily up at the first few stars of the evening. The sun was perched happily upon the horizon, soaking the three of us in a deep, red glow.

Out of curiosity, I glanced over at the business man sprawled in the grass, interested to find that he was smiling contentedly up at the sky, tears sliding down into his hair. Sunny caught my eye offering me a wink and a satisfied grin.

“How’s it going?” I asked, addressing the new guy. He opened his mouth, running a hand through his messy black hair, and sighed.

“I can’t even explain how I feel,” he said, shaking his head. “Thank you, I… I really needed that.”

Sunny laughed with such happiness.

“I had a feeling you might,” she said. “Glad I could help take a load off.”

“Really,” said the business man. “I haven’t felt so carefree in years. It’s like a huge rock has been lifted off my chest… Ah, thank you so much, Miss... What did you say your name was again?”

Sunny giggled, sitting up.

“I didn’t,” she told him, stretching out an arm to shake his hand. “It’s Sunny. And this is Remy, my partner.”

“Partner?” he asked, sitting up and shaking Sunny’s hand. “I’m Todd. It’s nice to meet you both. Do you do business together?”

I laughed before I could stop myself, grabbing Sunny around the waist and hugging her tightly.

“What she means is that I’m her boyfriend,” I explained. “I guess she’s still too ashamed of me to say it properly.” I tickled Sunny gently to let her know I was kidding.

“Oh!” Todd said. “Well, you really look like a happy couple.”

“Yes,” said Sunny, getting to her feet and offering us each a hand. “We’re a match made in heaven. So what about you, Todd? Is there someone special in your life?”

Together, Todd and I grabbed Sunny’s hands, getting to our feet. As I stood, I noticed that I felt somehow lightheaded, but not so much in a dizzy sense as much as a drunken, happy sense.

“I’m married,” Todd confessed, brushing the dried grass off his suit and searching around for the briefcase he had dropped at some point. “I’m afraid that my wife has fallen out of love with me, however. At least, that’s what I’m left to assume. Where are the two of you headed, anyway?”

Sunny and I stopped, both realizing that we had started walking without much thought.

“We’re on our way to the pharmacy up the street,” Sunny told him. “You can tag along if you like.”

Todd shrugged and followed us as we continued down the street in the direction of the pharmacy.

“So anyway,” he went on, “Within the last year or so, she’s grown very distant and hardly ever talks to me. Half the time we aren’t even in the same room, and if we are, it’s just… I feel like a ghost, you know?”

“What’s the matter with her?” asked Sunny politely. “She isn’t seeing someone else, is she?”

“Not as far as I know…” Todd transferred the briefcase into his right hand, rummaging through is back pocket with the left one. “She once told me that I’m not as fun as I used to be. She said that I care more for my job than I do for her, which is far from the truth. It’s because I care for her that I do my job. She’s my wife and I need to support her. Here, this is here right here.”

He flipped open his wallet, indicating a black and white photo of a fairly pretty blonde woman, smiling in a way that suggested she had been caught off guard for the picture.

“Oh, she is just lovely,” Sunny cried. “She looks a bit surprised here. Did you sneak up on her?”

Todd smiled, putting his wallet back in his pocket.

“I took it on our third anniversary,” he said. “I had worked a lot of overtime that year so that I could surprise her with a cruise to Alaska, where she had always dreamed of visiting. I stuck the ticket inside of a card and waited with the camera while she opened it so I could get a good shot of her reaction! Believe me, it was worth it!”

“It seems so,” Sunny said. “That was a really nice picture of her. You must have had a great camera.”

“Well,” Todd straightened up, smiling a strange sort of smile. “Only a small portion of that is the camera itself. The best camera in the world is useless without the proper photographer and the proper subject.”

“Oh, are you a photographer?” Sunny smiled, picking a small leaf out of her hair.

“I used to be,” Todd confessed. “Since I got this job, I’ve been doing less and less of that, but once upon a time I used to lug my camera bag around with me and take pictures of anything and everything. It used to be my dream to start a portrait business where I’d capture the subjects in natural environments as opposed to inside of a studio…”

“That’s a really cool idea,” said Sunny. “Why didn’t you go for it? I’m sure a lot people would prefer to have realistic portraits taken.”

Todd sighed, peering up at the stars as though searching them for the answers.

“I didn’t think it would put food on the table,” he admitted. “People thought it was a silly dream and told me I should get serious and find a real job.”

“But what is a person without a dream?” Sunny asked, patting Todd on the back. “Why did you care so much about what others thought? You might have pulled it off if only you’d tried.”

“Thank you,” Todd said with a sigh. “Perhaps you’re right. At any rate, I suppose it’s too late now.”

“It’s never too late,” Sunny promised. “If anything, it’s the best possible time! You’ve got a steady job, so you don’t have to worry about being unemployed while you start your business. You can continue working there until your business take off, and then you can quit that gig and work for yourself.”

“That sounds so wonderful,” said Todd, wistfully. “But… I wonder what Janice would think… That’s my wife, by the way. Do you think it would make her hate me more?”

“Not at all! If I can be honest here…”

“Please,” said Todd, “By all means!”

“Well…” Sunny tightened her scarf around her neck. “If I had to guess, I would say that maybe your wife… Janice, was it?” Todd nodded. “It seems to me like maybe Janice is feeling that you’ve lost your spark. You stopped chasing your dream, stopped surprising her like you used to… This is just speculation, of course. I have no idea what your relationship is actually like.”

“I am sure you’re right,” said Todd sadly. “You don’t know how many times she’s told me how much she misses my surprises, or how she wishes I’d pick up my camera again. I can’t believe I’m only just realizing this. It really is all my fault that she’s grown away from me. She even tried to tell me and I somehow didn’t realize what she was saying… Oh, thank you, Sunny. Thank you so much for helping me realize what I, myself, was too daft to figure out.”

Sunny beamed from ear to ear as we entered the parking lot of the pharmacy.

“Don’t mention it,” she said. “I’m always happy to lend advice.”

“You’re an angel,” said Todd, pulling something out of his wallet and handing it to Sunny. “Here, please take my card. It seems that destiny brought us all together tonight, so it would be a shame for us not to stay in contact.” Sunny took the card, looked it over, and then threw her arms around him.

“Good luck with your wife,” she said, sweetly. “You deserve to be happy together.”

Todd smiled, his eyes glassing over.

“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you so much. Do they sell flowers here by any chance?”

“I think I’ve seen a bouquet or two in the past,” I chimed in. Todd shifted his gaze toward me, nodding quickly.

“Excellent. Thank you, sir.” He stuck out a hand, which I took, shaking it firmly. “Well, I suppose I should start by bringing home a present. Then I’ll talk to her about everything, and… Oh, you’ve been so helpful. I wish I could somehow show my gratitude…”

“It shows in your eyes,” said Sunny, as she approached the automatic doors. “Just promise that you’ll never give up your dream.”

“Never again,” Todd said as we entered the store. “Well, goodnight, my friends! I wish you a long and happy life together.”

He smiled enormously and waved as he disappeared down an aisle.

“What are you?” I asked Sunny once Todd was out of earshot. She laughed, letting her hair down from its ponytail.

“What are you asking me?”

“You met a complete stranger and changed his life, all in the course of, like, twenty minutes. And I think I heard him call you an angel. Is this true?”

“Oh, please,” Sunny laughed, examining an odd jack-in-the-box that was sitting on a nearby shelf. “You’re going all X-Files on me again.”

“Is that right?” I demanded. “Then explain what happened to me back there too, because that wasn’t ordinary in the slightest.”

“It’s not ordinary to have a good time?” Sunny asked. “To let go and feel the beauty of the world surrounding you?”

I turned down the aisle with all the office supplies, glancing around aimlessly.

“It wasn’t as simple as all that,” I told her. “Whatever it was I felt back there was very spiritual. I felt like I was on drugs, and I’m only just now coming down from whatever kind of high that was…”

“Dopamine,” said Sunny simply. “Is this what you’re looking for?” She held up a small sketch pad with a picture of a sail boat on the front.

“That’ll do,” I said. “But what do you mean about dopamine?” Sunny kissed my cheek and started away in a different direction.

“Dopamine is a chemical created by the brain,” she said. “The long and short of it is that it makes one feel quite euphoric. Spinning around in circles like that has been known to give a person a feeling of intense elation.”

“I’ve spun my share of circles,” I informed her. “And none of them produced results like that. Whatever happened back there, it was something special.”

“Well, maybe you were abducted by aliens,” said Sunny, avoiding my gaze to paw through the Halloween candy.

I sighed, taking a look around. Sunny clearly did not want to discuss the matter any further, and probably for the good reason that I was being an idiot once again. Frowning, I tossed through the Halloween costumes, looking for anything mildly interesting.

Out of nowhere, Todd reappeared, skidding down the aisle in a hurry.

“Here,” he said, handing Sunny a white envelope. “I know it’s not much, but I really felt I should repay you for this evening. You touched me in such a way that I’ll never forget. I think I’ll be going now, but I just wanted to thank you both again. Take good care of each other.”

Todd scampered off, disappearing from the aisle as Sunny approached me, smiling a rather alarmed smile.

“What is that?” I asked her, nodding in the direction of the envelope.

“I don’t know,” said Sunny. “Let’s see!” Carefully, she tore open the flap, pulling a card from inside. The card was all white except for a glittery basket of pink flowers in the center. Sunny flipped it open to reveal a curvy, cursive “Thank you,” as well as a plastic gift card for a rather nice restaurant that I had never been to.

“Oh, that is so nice!” Sunny cried, removing it from the card and flipping it around to find the amount. Her eyes widened as she read.

“What’s up?” I asked. “How much?”

Rather than answer, she simply handed it all to me. Inside the greeting card, I noticed another sentence at the bottom in small, messy penmanship.

“Please enjoy a nice dinner together,” it said. “You deserve it.”

Flipping the gift card over, I was shocked to find “$100” written in the space marked “amount.”

I shook and shook my head, looking from Sunny to the card and back.

“This… This is what I mean,” I said, replacing the card in the envelope and handing it back to Sunny. “You changed that guy’s life. He felt so grateful to you that he dropped a hundred bucks to show his gratitude.”

“And I appreciate it,” said Sunny. “It was a very thoughtful thing to do. Look, now you don’t have to attempt to cook tonight! I suppose we should get out of here and go have some dinner, don’t you think?”

Either she completely missed the point, or she was just avoiding the question, but either way, I didn’t feel that I should continue to pester her about it. When I thought about it in depth, I realized I was probably just being a fool, anyway.

“Do you like these?” Sunny asked, showing me a bag of peanut butter taffies. “They’re my favorite Halloween candy.”

“Do they have, like, a gob of peanut butter in the middle?” I asked. Sunny nodded, tucking them under her arm with my sketchbook.  

“Yep, they’re really good. I think we ought to get some.” With a smile, she continued to peruse the Halloween section with glee. I left the aisle, deciding to look around while I waited for her. There were a lot of cool Halloween decorations that I might have considered buying if I had had a yard to put them in. A string of purple, orange, and green lights seemed interesting until I saw the price and mentally vomited.

All throughout the store, I found things that I wished I could have, even though most of them weren’t essential to my survival. There was toy that looked like a mason jar where when you tapped on it, a butterfly would flutter around inside. There were countless wind chimes in all shapes and sizes, which I knew I had no place for, but coveted anyway. In the aisle of cold sodas and snack foods, I noticed a peculiar machine that had not been there the last time I came shopping. As I advanced upon it, I found that it was a lot similar to the coffee machine at school, only this one had cups for you to place yourself, as well as lids and sleeves.

Even better, this machine served chai tea with either milk or soy. I grinned widely, fully aware of what I had to do. Pulling two cups from the stack, I placed one inside the machine and pressed the button for chai tea and milk. The computer processed my order for a moment, and then all at once, a shower of steamy, creamy tea rained down into the cup. The smell was so delightful that I could feel my mouth watering already. Once the tea shower had ended, I stuck a lid on top, slipped the cup into a sleeve, and readied the next cup for the same fate.

This time, I made sure to press the button for soy milk, and while the drink was being dispensed, I tugged a pen from my pocket so that I could label the drinks. Once both cups were filled and labeled, I brought them to the counter and paid for both. Just as I was about to go look for Sunny, she appeared behind me, setting her things on the counter.

“What’s that you’ve got there?” she asked, eyeing the hot drinks in my hands. Being careful to choose the correct cup, I handed Sunny hers.

“It’s a chai soy latte,” I said, proudly. “Does it please you?”

Sunny smiled, inhaling the steam.

“It smell amazing,” she assured me. “Where did you manage to find a chai latte with soy milk?”

“There’s a machine over there,” I said, pointing in the direction of the snack and drink aisle. “I was surprised, too, so I thought I’d get you one. Do you like it?”

Sunny nodded, her fingertips brushing gently against my cheek.

“You’re so thoughtful,” she said softly. “Thank you for the tea.”
The cashier announced Sunny’s total, and without missing a beat, she whipped out her debit card and slid it through the reader. A moment later, a receipt appeared at the top of the machine, and the clerk tore it off, handing it to Sunny.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said. “You two have a good evening.”

Sunny and I nodded in sync and then, laughing, emerged from the store and into the chilly, October night.

“You know, tea was actually a really good idea,” said Sunny as we walked. “You know, since it’s so cold and everything…” I nodded, trying a sip of my tea. It was so thick and creamy without being overly sweet and syrupy. I sighed in satisfaction, watching my breath rise into the air as a cloud.

“Autumn is my favorite time of year,” Sunny said, grasping my hand. “Don’t you think so, too? It’s so peaceful and… beautiful. Everything just seems so perfect.”

“I know what you mean,” I said with a smile. But somehow, I wasn’t really thinking about autumn as I answered her. I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off of Sunny. Even in the moonlight, she was just too beautiful for words.

“Wow, this really is good,” she cried, taking a sip of the soy tea. “Who knew you could get such great chai from a pharmacy?”

I shrugged, smiling at Sunny whose pale face seemed to glow in the moonlight.

“You know, you’re really amazing,” I said, squeezing her hand.

“Hmm?”

“You’re just a really remarkable person, Sunny. You’re so kind and sweet. Look what you did tonight! You met a random stranger on the street who was feeling sad and worthless, and you gave him purpose again. You didn’t even ask him for anything in return, you just invited him into your magical world and gave him hope. Not everyone can do what you did. That was really impressive.”

Sunny’s face turned a rather adorable shade of pink as she grinned.

“You’re just playing it up,” she said. “All I did was talk to him a little bit.”

I stopped in my tracks, taking Sunny by the shoulders and turning her to face me.

“Don’t you dare be modest,” I said, staring into her eyes. “You’re freaking amazing, okay? I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but it must’ve been great.”

“You’re going to make me cry!” said Sunny, leaning forward to rest her head against my chest. Chuckling gently, I wrapped my arms around her, squeezing her tight.

“Don’t cry,” I whispered. “I have something special I want to tell you.”

Sunny lifted her head just enough to reveal one glistening eye.

“Yes?” she squeaked, clearly trying to hide the fact that she was crying.

“I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while,” I said, “But I never really knew one way or the other when it was going to be okay to say… Sunny…” I trailed off as my stomach fluttered wildly. After so long, I finally gained the courage to tell her, and now my voice wouldn’t work. Hugging her close to my chest, I repeated the words in my head a hundred thousand times, waiting for them to fill up my skull and start spilling out through my mouth.

“What is it?” Sunny whispered, tugging at my hoodie.

“I… I just…” I lowered my head so that my lips were right up against her ear. “I…”

“Yes…”

“I love you.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, my heart took off, racing toward some invisible finish line. It was a mixture of excitement, fear, and a bit of regret. Should I have said it? Was it the right time? Would this ruin things? It seemed so cute the way we always said how we were obsessed with one another, but at the same time, it also seemed like a clever way to avoid saying the real thing.

My windpipe tightened up and I found myself struggling to breathe. I expected that at any moment, Sunny would pull away and mutter something about how she left the oven on and had to go, or whatever.

Instead, she tightened her grip, shoulders shaking slightly as I realized she was crying.

“Sunny?” I wheezed. “Are you…”

“I love you, too.” Sunny’s voice was low and quivery.

Slowly, she raised her head, smiling gently through the mess of tears running down her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, stroking her hair, my heart sinking at the sight of her crying.

“It’s nothing,” she said, wiping her face with her sleeve. “I’m just really happy to hear you tell me that. I’ve been waiting for quite some time…”

“You could have told me!” I said. Sunny shook her head.

“I wanted you to say it first.”

“Why me?”

Sunny sighed, standing up straight and tying her hair back once again.

“I just didn’t want to replay every other relationship in my life. I’ve always been the first one to say ‘I love you,’ and it always turns out to be a mistake. It’s like an automatic deal breaker. But you’re so very special to me, I just… I didn’t want to say it too soon and ruin what we had.”

“What we have,” I corrected, “you could never ruin. I promise. Now smile for me, and let’s go get that fancy dinner.”

Sunny wiped her face once more, smiling weakly, and slipped her hand into mine.

“Shall we?”

She nodded, and together we marched back up the street in the direction of my apartment.