Page 43 of Check You Out

Aidan

“So, er, read any good books lately?” I ask Charlotte as we step out onto the library’s front porch. Heat flushes my cheeks, and I’m sure I’m blushing like Harvey from Stardew Valley.

Tonight’s the night. I’m going to ask Charlotte out for a café date. After writing out my script last night, I practiced until my eye lids were heavy and drooping. I’m ready.

I think.

“August Lane,” she cries out unexpectedly loud. I flinch. “By Regina Black. It’s very good.” She tips her head back to the sky and closes her eyes. “Before that, I was reading How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard Dayle.” She lets out a low chuckle and lowers her gaze to meet mine. “Really good read. It’s a satire featuring a flag bearer during the Civil War.”

“Interesting. I haven’t read either.”

“I have copies in the bookstore.” She leans into my shoulder and wiggles her eyebrows. “I’ll give you a discount.” After a heartbeat, she points to the book peeking out of my bag, “You’re reading Beloved? I love that one too.”

I nod. “It’s a reread. We’re thinking of teaching it next year, and I’m lesson planning for it. Before Legendborn, I was reading Mai Corland’s Five Broken Blades earlier.”

“Oh my god, you are going to love the rest of the series!” She twirls and steps down the stairs, her golden-brown waves bouncing behind her. “I cried at the end of Three Shattered Souls. It’s so good.”

“I will prepare myself.”

A quiet falls over us as we reach the bottom of the hill. The only sounds being the soft thumps of our footfalls and the occasional car winding down Main Street. It rained during the meeting, and the pavement glows with the twinkling lights strung above our heads.

“I like the lights,” I say in almost a whisper, my throat going dry. The town is set for the perfect romantic evening.

Now’s as good a time as ever. I just have one sentence to say. I can do this.

“Yeah,” she replies, looping her arm in mine and bringing me out of my head. “I love twinkly lights. They’re so pretty.” We stop briefly on the side of the street opposite the bookstore. The overhead lights are off, but I can still see the shadows of the display and the shelves. “I’m thinking of adding some to the window. What do you think?”

Pursing my lips, I say, “It’ll look nice.”

“Good,” she muses. “I ordered a bunch of a twinkly lights, and I wanted some validation before I put them up.” She steps into the street, pulling me with her. I crane my neck to look both ways.

I’ll ask her once we’re safely on the other side.

She pulls me through the alleyway next to her store, to the rear entrance, the one she showed me last night that leads directly to her apartment.

Now, Aidan, now!

“So,” she says as she twists around to face me. A floodlight above casts dramatic shadows across her face. “Have you given any more thought about what you’re going to do about your dad?”

I blink. “I, uh, haven’t had a chance to think much on it.” I press my lips together and blow air out of my nose. Maybe I’ll ask her after this conversation resolves. “It’s been busy the last couple of days.” Not entirely a lie. There’s always grading, lesson planning, and prepping lesson materials. “Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering,” she says. She brings the toes of her shoes together and looks down at them. “I was thinking about it a lot after we talked last night. There’s a lot of things I haven’t thought about for a while, at least not since after Dad died.”

“I’m sorry for that.”

She nods. The waves of her hair sway with the movement of her head. She gnaws on her lower lip. “Can I be honest with you?”

My mind races and I wonder what it is she wants to confess to me.

Have I misinterpreted the situation?

I narrow my eyes at her. “Uh, sure?”

“I think you should try to repair your relationship with your dad,” she says in a completely even voice.

I blink again and shake my head, trying to gather my thoughts. “What?”

“I think you should try to repair your relationship with you dad,” she repeats. “Hear me out, ok?”