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I held her as the clock changed from eleven to twelve, then twelve to one, believing I had unlocked the mysterious meaning of life that seemed to evade so many unfortunate souls. Possibly because of its simplicity.

Life was about stolen moments that harbored no real significance but made you feel alive.

The meaning was that uncomplicated.

28

Sunny

December 1999

The mono kept me down for a total of five long weeks.

During that time, Elias came over more nights than not, and somehow, he never got caught. Even more impressive, he never came down with mono. I told him he must be immune. Elias said he was hopeful his apparent insusceptibility meant he was a descendant from some mutant, subhuman species.

And he thought I was weird for the whole blood cell in a giant’s body theory. . .

Daisy’s parentswent to some Man of the Cloth retreat in Atlanta the first week of December. As far as our parents knew, she and I had an epic girl’s night planned, complete with a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough andPretty in Pink.

Momma kissed my cheek and loaded me down with a two-liter of Coke and some face masks she thought Daisy and I would enjoy.

Maybe that’s why the guilt ate me up inside. She wasn’t sending her only daughter off for a night full of gossip and chatter, she was sending her off to lose her virginity to the boy they would never approve of.

Fort Morgan wassuch a small town. The only roads that had proper streetlamps were the Parkway and Highway 59 that led all the tourists down to the beach, and the glow from the Krispy Kreme was often compared to the Vegas lights.

The neon sign for Pickled Pig’s Quick Stop flew past the window. Instead of pumping the brakes and taking a right into her subdivision, Daisy kept straight at a steady fifty miles an hour in a forty zone.

“Are you nervous?” Daisy asked, turning the radio down.

“Not really.”

“Don’t expect much the first time. To be honest, I had to ask Ben if we’d done it. It was over like that.” She snapped her fingers.

“Wow. Sounds amazing.” It didn’t matter to me if it lasted one second or one hour, I just wanted to be as close as humanly possible to Elias Black. I wanted him on me, in me, and more importantly, I wanted there to never be anyone else that knew me like he would once tonight was over.

“You know.” She tapped on the steering wheel. “This has come full circle. Here I am covering up your secret relationship with Elias. Again. Except this time, instead of love letters and phone calls, I’m dropping you off for a sleepover at his house. The mountain of lies is growing steep.”

“It’s what best friends do,” I said. “Besides, don’t act like telling your mom I was coming over wasn’t a cover for you, too. So, you and Ben are welcome.”

I pointed through the windshield. “It’s the third drive on the left.”

“The one with the crooked mailbox?”

Daisy’s brakes squeaked when she slowed to turn into Elias’ drive. The engine idled, shaking the hood while the headlights cast eerie shadows over the front of his tiny house.

Daisy leaned over the steering wheel and peered through the windshield with a somewhat horrified expression on her face. “This is uh. Nice.”

“Give him a break. He pays for it himself.”

“Is it clean?”

I shoved her door open. “Yes. It’s clean. I swear, you’d think your daddy would have taught you to be less judgy.”

Holding up one hand, she scoffed while I closed the door. “I’m not judging,” she said.

“You totally were.”

“So, if your mom calls, I’ll just tell her you’re in the bathroom and then call Elias on a three-way.”