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“Aaron, sit down,” my mother said, quietly but firmly. “The boy has a point. We don’t know what Starr can and can’t do, because we don’t let her try.”
I looked at my mom rather proudly. She and my father almost never disagreed on anything when it came to their kids, but she was standing up for me. And for Nolan.
“What else do you want to do, sweetheart?” she asked me while simultaneously giving my father a dangerous look.
“Well, I would love to ride a rollercoaster someday,” I said slowly. “Those always looked like fun. Maybe walk up the stairs so I can play with the kids in their room. Walk outside to get the mail instead of having to roll and use the gripper. I’d love to walk on the beach and feel the cool water underneath my toes, forming sandy footprints because I’m standing there. I’d give anything to be able to jump rope next to Rabbit instead of holding one end for her. I think it would be so much fun to be able to run and stand when I play catch with Nugget.” I blinked back angry tears. “I’d do anything to be able to go out with you and Dad; walk side by side and not have you worry about me getting bumped into.”
She smiled at me. “What else?”
“Listen, I know this sounds like a long shot, but I would love to get married one day. I’d love to be in a pretty white dress and walk down the aisle.”
I suddenly felt an overwhelming sadness. Hopefully, I still had my whole life in front of me, but I knew that was something that had the slimmest chance of happening.
“Oh, Janey,” my mom replied softly, her eyes growing misty. “It’ll happen. Even if I have to help you walk down the aisle myself.”
I smiled at her and sniffled. I refused to cry. Though I was kind of impressed with the fact that I had almost cried three times in a single day.
“There’s a great amusement park about an hour away from here. It opens tomorrow if you want to go,” Nolan whispered in my ear.
I looked at him and smiled.
“I don’t think Dad is going to let me go,” I whispered back.
“Maybe the day after tomorrow then,” he replied quietly with that half smile.
I grinned in response.
“You two should get married,” Stella said.
We both turned to look at her and she had her face in her hands again. But instead of giving the too-cute-to-say-no-to look, she was giving us an innocent look.
“Stella Giselle!” my mother scolded. “You don’t say things like that. Now take your brother outside and go play. You’ve got thirty minutes before you have to take a bath and get in bed.”
“She’s just being a kid, Mrs. East. It’s okay,” Nolan replied with a laugh.
My mom nodded and smiled. She told my father to help her clean up in the kitchen and they were gone. Nolan and I were left sitting at the dining room table in silence.
“I should probably get home. My parents might be wondering where I am,” he said, getting to his feet.
“Here, let me walk you to the door,” I said as I pushed back from the table.
He chuckled at my joke, and I smiled. It was nice to finally find some humor in my situation. I rolled to the front door with Nolan following me. Once we reached it he opened it, and hesitated before walking through.
“Do you... want to hang out tomorrow? I can come by earlier and we can go to the zoo or something,” he said nervously.
“Sure! That sounds like a lot of fun,” I replied enthusiastically.
“Awesome.” He smiled widely. “I’ll come by around ten, okay?”
I nodded and smiled up at him. Maybe I had finally found a friend. Maybe I had found a reason to get out of the house more; farther away than just the front porch.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said softly.
“Okay.”
Nolan bit his lower lip for a moment, before leaning down and kissing me gently on the cheek. He walked out the front door and descended the stairs without so much as a backward glance.
I put a hand to my cheek and watched him disappear down the street. I smiled more widely and felt myself trembling.
