Midnight Sun Page 9

  “You know you’re more than that,” he says.

  “Not many other people do,” I whisper, trying not to feel bitter. I am anyway.

  He sighs and shakes his head. “You know I’m gonna need to meet him.”

  “You will, I promise. But in a few days. Like a normal girl, right?”

  I wait. I pray silently he’ll agree. Finally he nods. I throw my arms around his neck.

  Just then, Morgan walks downstairs. She gives my dad a casual smile, and says, “Hey, Mr. P, is it okay if Katie and I hang out together the entire night?” She’s one hundred percent convincing. I clearly need to take lying lessons from her.

  “I admitted everything,” I tell her.

  “Are you serious?” She looks down at her watch. “You couldn’t last ten minutes?”

  I shrug. “What can I say? I’m a good kid to the core. I’m new at this kind of thing.”

  “You’re hopeless, Katie,” she says, shaking her head. “Have fun tonight. I gotta go to work now.”

  13

  “So, where to?” Charlie asks when I jump in his truck a few hours later.

  I can see now why he’s saving for a new one. The odometer in here registers more than 150,000 miles, the fabric seats are practically worn through, and the engine makes a little chugging noise that’s definitely not supposed to be there.

  “Let’s go into town,” I suggest. Morgan and I came up with a great plan before she left. I think Charlie’s going to love it.

  Charlie grins. “Your wish is my command.”

  He hits the gas. Chugachuga-chugachuga. We’re off.

  Tiny little Purdue is practically deserted even though it’s only nine forty-five by the time Charlie pulls into a parking spot. Charlie and I stroll along Main Street, looking in windows and chatting about our days.

  When we get to the ice cream shop, I stop short. “Well, here we are.”

  “Looks like we’re too late,” Charlie says. “They’re closed.”

  “Oh, ye of little faith,” I say.

  I peer in the window and wave Morgan over. She and Garver are the only people inside; all the customers have long since gone home.

  “Oh, strange,” Morgan says in a stilted tone as she holds the door open for us. “I didn’t see anyone sneak in after hours, I swear, Mr. Bossman!”

  “Me neither,” Garver says from behind the counter.

  Charlie gives me a look. “Ooooh, you’re smooth, Katie.”

  “Now don’t screw us over, friends,” Morgan says, handing me the keys as we step inside. “Make sure to clean up, turn off the lights, and lock up when you leave.”

  “You got it,” I assure her.

  “I’ll come by and grab the keys in the morning,” she says, and then leans in to me, and whispers, “Have fun. Maybe even too much.”

  “You, too,” I say, gesturing toward Garver.

  “Not a word,” she says to me, then she heads for the door. “Garver, you coming?”

  “No doubt.” He gives Charlie a light punch on his arm as he heads for Morgan and they walk out of the shop.

  And then we’re alone again. All the chairs are turned over on the tops of the tables, so we head to the counter. Charlie plops himself down on a stool while I put on an apron and the dorky little paper cap the employees here have to wear.

  “What’ll it be, sir?” I say, getting into character.

  “Double banana split, hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts, the works,” Charlie tells me.

  “Eww,” I say, not making a move toward the cartons of ice cream or toppings. “Nuts. No. They do not go with ice cream. Everyone knows that.”

  Charlie pretends to be outraged. “What happened to the customer is always right?”

  “You kissed that good-bye when you mentioned nuts.”

  “Nuts,” he says, snapping his fingers.

  “Tough break,” I tell him.

  He leans forward until his forehead is touching mine. I sink into his eyes. He softly kisses me. He adds just the right amount of lips, tongue, and time. The kiss is perfect, just like Charlie.

  We pull back and stare at each other. A huge smile creeps up my lips as I pick up the ice cream scoop and grab a big bowl for the two of us to share. Who knew having a crush could feel this great? I’ve spent so many years of my life alone in my room. What a waste. “Now back to the subject at hand,” I say. “We’ve already established nuts are out. Can we negotiate the banana portion, too?”

  Charlie shakes his head. “Not a big fan of potassium either, huh? What is with you?”

  I shrug. “I just think bananas are gross. Besides, the ones imported from Central and South America can have these huge hairy spiders hiding in them. Like, ones as big as your palm!”

  “Pretty sure that’s an urban legend,” he tells me.

  “Nope, I’ve done my research. See, banana trees have these tightly coiled leaves going up, and then the banana flower leans down over that,” I explain, using my hands to show how the plant grows. “So it’s the absolute perfect place for spiders to live. One kind, called the wandering spider—it’s from the Ctenidae family—like, rears up on its back legs and opens its fangs when it’s threatened.”

  “Kind of like this,” Charlie says, acting it out. “RAWWWWRRRR!”

  I laugh. “Pretty much. Good impression. Except I’m pretty sure spiders don’t roar. In fact, I’d hazard a guess they don’t make any sound at all.”

  “Minor details,” he says. Charlie’s lips are pressed together and his eyes are dancing. He’s trying not to laugh at me. He’s just barely succeeding.

  “What?” I ask him.

  “You’re just so cute,” he says. “And smart. How do you know everything?”

  I remember too late Morgan’s telling me to avoid spouting all my nerdy knowledge around Charlie. But I can’t help it. I love facts and science and nature and the stars and skies and infinity and beyond. I love it all. I want to know it all.

  “I don’t know everything. Not by a long shot,” I say, digging into the cookie dough ice cream. “Not yet, at least. Though I’d like to. It’s an unachievable goal, but I still think it’s a good one.”

  “Well, you know a lot,” he says. “I mean, you just graduated high school and already you have a ton of college credits. I just graduated high school and… I know how to swim and fix boats, and that’s about it.”

  I plop a scoop of toffee bar crunch next to the chocolate chip cookie dough one, then add another of salted caramel pretzel. Grabbing a can of whipped cream and two spoons, I set everything down on the counter between us.

  “Look, you’re only eighteen. You’re not supposed to know everything yet,” I tell him, squirting a huge dollop of whipped cream on top of each scoop. Our dessert looks like a fairy-tale castle now. “Or ever, really. Learning is lifelong, you know?”

  “I guess I just worry sometimes that my best days are behind me,” he says, dipping his spoon into the cookie dough scoop and then licking it thoughtfully. “I mean, from where I’m standing now, it’s like I can’t see two feet into my future. I’ve honestly never felt so unfocused in my life. Is that weird?”

  “Weird? No. Human? Yes,” I tell him. “And what do you mean, your best days are behind you? Your life is just starting. It can be whatever you decide to make it.”

  He digs into the salted caramel and sighs. “I guess it’s just that this huge part of my life ended, you know? And it’s what everyone knew me for at school. All my friends were swim-team guys. I trained for it every day. It’s what made me who I am… or, I guess, who I was. And now I’m not that guy anymore, and I can’t figure out where or how I fit in.”

  I can oddly relate to what he’s saying. What would my life be like if I wasn’t the girl with the rare and life-threatening disease? It would certainly be different, and I might not know where I belonged either. But I am the girl with the disease. Kind of like how Charlie’s now the guy with the injury. “Do you feel like people treat you differently since your accident
?”

  He nods. “I know you’d probably rather not hear any more about her, but take Zoe Carmichael, for example. Her party was the first night she’s even talked to me since I got hurt, and I’m sure that’s only because she saw me with you. Zoe’s the kind of girl who doesn’t like sharing her toys even if she’s already decided she doesn’t want to play with them anymore.”

  “Seems like an accurate assessment,” I say. “So, like… you think she used you for your social standing or something like that? And then ditched you when you weren’t in the papers or breaking records every week anymore?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” he replies with a nod. Then a weird look crosses his face. “Hey, how did you know I was in the paper and broke swimming records?”

  You have to be more careful, I silently chide myself. You just almost outed yourself as his creepy lifelong stalker. “We valedictorians are known to have excellent research skills,” I tell him.

  He grins at me. “So you googled me, huh?”

  I shrug. “Mais oui. I have to know what I’m getting into, right?”

  And then I plant my lips on his. They taste like sugar and cream and pure goodness. This kiss lasts much longer than the first one. I’ve never felt so buzzed on life.

  When it finally ends, he says, “You know what tonight reminds me of? Sixteen Candles. Like that scene at the end, where Sam and Jake kiss over her birthday cake?”

  I nod. He has no idea how perfect what he just said to me is. It’s my most favorite movie ever, and I’ve been wishing to get a kiss as special as that since the first time Morgan and I watched it. And now here comes Charlie, making all my dreams come true.

  “I’ve always thought it would be cool to have something like that but in real life. And now I do,” he says, heading back in for another kiss.

  So maybe I’m making some of his dreams come true, too.

  Every night that week starts and ends in much the same way: I convince my dad to give me just one more night as a normal girl, and he reluctantly agrees. I jump in Charlie’s truck and off we go on another adventure. Bowling one night, window-shopping the next (because, of course, the stores are closed), to the late movie at the mall a few towns over from Purdue.

  We talk, we laugh, we kiss. A lot. He drops me off, but not before asking me out for the next night. I always tell him I’m free only in the evening, a response he accepts, no questions asked. It’s an idyllic existence, one I never thought I’d get a chance to experience. I think this is how my parents must have felt when they first met: young, free, and incredibly happy.

  Things are so perfect, I even start to delude myself that maybe I never have to tell Charlie. My dad, however, disagrees.

  “This is the last time I’m going to say yes, Katie,” he tells me, his mouth set in a straight line as I’m leaning hard on my “please just let me be normal a little longer” speech. “After tonight, I am meeting this young man. I need to know him. And he needs to know about your XP.”

  His words hit me with a thud. More than anything, I do not want the magic to end. And telling the guy I seriously think I might be falling in love with that things aren’t exactly what I’ve led him to believe they are will be the equivalent of pulling the curtain back and seeing that the great and powerful Oz is just some guy with a microphone and a Napoleon complex. Everything will change.

  “Okay, Dad,” I say, wishing there was some other way and knowing there isn’t, not really. “Tomorrow, you meet Charlie and then I will tell him about my situation. Tonight I’m still a regular girl.”

  My dad smiles at me, but the fine lines around his eyes are suddenly looking more pronounced and prolific. I don’t want to be the cause of his premature aging. But the heart wants what it wants. I couldn’t stop now if I tried.

  Charlie and I head to the beach this time. It’s quiet and we’re the only ones around. Charlie gathers some sticks and leaves, puts them in a pile inside a circle of rocks someone else already made, and lights a little bonfire.

  We’re sitting on a blanket. I’m snuggling into him, resting my head on his shoulder. He’s tracing lazy circles on my back. Everything about “us” just feels so right: The way we can talk about everything or nothing at all and it’s never awkward. The way our hands fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. How we never seem to get annoyed or sick of each other.

  Charlie points to a star. By now, he knows all about my obsession with the constellations and how I want to be an astrophysicist someday. “So which one is that?”

  “That one’s called Altair,” I tell him. “I think it’s sixteen light-years away. So the light we’re seeing was actually created when we were, like, two years old.”

  “That’s insane.” Charlie laughs and points to another. “What about that one?”

  “That’s Sirius.”

  “Like the radio?”

  I give him a playful nudge with my elbow. “It’s the dog star. Almost nine light-years away.”

  Charlie gets quiet. I can almost hear the gears turning in his mind. For a brief second, my heart quickens as I wonder if he’s somehow found me out. Even though I know how unlikely it is, I can’t help thinking about all the ways it could happen. Maybe Zoe’s been doing some sleuthing and texting him her discoveries? Telling him about my disease is going to be hard enough. Maybe she found our class photo from kindergarten and has managed to identify me even though none of our names were on that photo and I had a weird bowl cut that year. (I guess it’s lucky I left school so early in first grade that I missed photo day.) Having him hear about it from someone other than me would be devastating. I feel like it would break any trust we’ve built up in the short time we’ve known each other. I have to tell him. I have to. I gather my courage.

  “What are you thinking about?” I ask, holding my breath.

  He hesitates. I can tell that whatever he has to say is something big and weighing heavily on him. “The coach at Berkeley called me the other night. I guess one of the other swimmers transferred, so a spot just opened up.”

  I exhale. “Are you serious? You could get your spot back?”

  I am deliriously happy for him. Because if there’s anyone who deserves a lucky break and a shot at college, it’s Charlie Reed. He’s smart and sweet and thoughtful and hardworking and all sorts of other good things. I’m so glad the universe is recognizing that one mistake shouldn’t have to mean all his dreams die with it.

  Charlie shrugs. “I mean, technically, yeah. There’s a meet coming up in a month, and the Berkeley coach will be there. I’d have to get back in shape by then, which is probably impossible, and then make, like, the best time ever to prove I’m fully rehabbed.”

  I grab him by his shoulders. “You could totally do it. I know you could.”

  Charlie stares into the fire like he’s going to find the meaning of life in its flames. “I don’t know. I might have some reasons to stick around here next year…”

  It’s maybe the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. “I’ll be right here when you come home to visit. Promise.”

  My phone’s been buzzing like crazy in my pocket all night, and I’ve been ignoring it. But it’s getting late and I know I should’ve been home hours ago, a fact my dad is probably reminding me of at this very second. I sigh and check out my texts. There are five from my dad and twenty-five from Morgan.

  “Oh shit,” I say under my breath.

  “Everything okay?” Charlie asks. “Oh, wow, it’s late. Like, really late. We gotta get you home before your dad flips.”

  “Yeah,” I say, not moving.

  I scroll through Morgan’s messages. Each is more panicked than the last. I flip from worried that my dad is going to never let me out of the house again to being annoyed. She’s not my mother; she’s my best friend. If I’m staying out late with Charlie, she’s supposed to be cheering me on, not telling me to go home.

  Where are you?

  You were supposed to be home by eleven.

  Your dad is pretendi
ng to not freak out. But he totally is. I know because he texted me to see if I know where you are.

  One o’clock now. Helllloooooooo, earth to Katie.

  It’s two am. Do you know where your best friend is? I don’t.

  Three in the morning. Still no word from you.

  OK NOW I AM FREAKING OUT.

  ARE YOU DEAD? PLEASE REPLY YES OR NO.

  SUNRISE IS IN TWO HOURS… YOU ARE CUTTING IT WAY TOO CLOSE, KATIE.

  GET

  HOME

  NOW

  Morgan’s been staying out just as late these days with Garver, so I don’t know why she’s being so intense with me. I am fully aware that I need to get home soon. How stupid does she think I am?

  “What’s up?” Charlie asks.

  “Nothing, really,” I say, a thought occurring to me. “Morgan’s just not used to sharing me with anyone, I guess. I think it’s hard for her that I’m spending so much time with you. I’ll make sure I spend some quality time with her tomorrow so she doesn’t feel so neglected.”

  “Girls,” Charlie says, rolling his eyes. “Although I guess they’re not all bad.”

  “There are a couple decent ones.”

  Charlie stands, brushes the sand off himself, and offers me a hand up. “I wish we could just, like, sleep out here. It’d be pretty cool to wake up with you in my arms instead of my ratty old teddy bear.”

  I love the idea of waking up next to Charlie. I love the image of Charlie hugging his childhood stuffed animal almost as much. “Someday before you… go do whatever it is you decide to do in the fall, we’ll have to make that happen,” I tell him.

  “Deal,” he says. “Time to get you home. And then tomorrow I’m gonna take you on a real date, okay?”

  I nod and drop the bomb on him. “That’s perfect. ’Cause you need to meet my dad.”

  14

  Charlie drops me off, I walk through the door, and Dad’s right there to greet me. His hair is standing straight up like he’s been running nervous fingers through it all night. His eyes are hollow and haggard. He throws his arms around me and hugs me so tightly I can’t breathe.