Page 100 of Eye of the Beholder

“No,” I say, still smiling. “I wouldn’t think so.”

“Hey, I need to go,” Mina says. “But congratulations! And good luck with the wedding.”

“Thanks,” I say, hoping my disappointment doesn’t come across in my voice. “And have fun with the meteor shower.”

We hang up, and I’m left feeling a strange mixture of happiness and loneliness. All I have to do now is update my college application, which I go online and do immediately. I sigh and sit back in my chair, satisfied. One hurdle down; the next one is coming up this evening.

***

A few hours later, I’m standing in front of the downstairs bathroom mirror, straightening my tie. It feels sort of strange to be wearing my church clothes—it’s been almost a year—but I figure that’s what people wear to weddings.

I’ve gone through a billion different conversation scenarios in my head with such obsessive intensity that now I’m trying not to think about talking to my dad at all. I know it will happen; he’ll want his new wife to meet her stepson.

Stepson. I hate that term.

But I’m stuck with it.

And I figure that all my conversation prep will fly out the window anyway when I actually speak to my dad. I’m sure my brain will go inconveniently blank. Lydia was supposed to come with me, but she’s sick.

I wish I were sick.

The doorbell rings, and I run my fingers through my hair one last time before I step out of the bathroom and go down the hall, opening the front door when I get to it. My jaw falls slightly when I see who it is.

It’s Mina. She’s stunning; her hair is in loose, sleek curls, and she’s wearing a deep red dress that hugs everywhere a dress should hug. She’s done something with her makeup that I definitely approve of. She looks…

She looks like she’s on her way to a wedding.

Before I can say anything, she’s stepped forward and thrown her arms around me, a smile as wide as any I’ve ever seen stretched across her face.

“I’m so happy for you,” she says into my chest, and I wrap my arms around her, still taken aback by her appearance at my door. “You worked so hard, Cohen.” The scent I’ve come to associate with her floats around me, and I’m tempted to bury my face in her neck.

After a second I put my hands on her shoulders and push her gently away. “What are you doing here?” I manage to get out. I can’t quite take my eyes off her.

“I thought you might want a date to the wedding,” she says, her voice gentle.

My eyes widen before I have a chance to school my expression. “Date?”

She flushes red. “Not—notdate.Not like that. Just—you know. Moral support. Lydia called me earlier and said she couldn’t go anymore. Are you going to invite me in?”

I step aside and let her come inside. “What about your meteor shower?” I say with a slight frown. “You’ve been talking about it for months.”

She shrugs, and her heels make little clicking sounds on the tile as she steps into the house. “There will be other ones.”

“But—you’ve been looking forward to it,” I say, watching as she hangs her purse over the bannister.

“I have,” she says, coming to stand in front of me. She reaches up with one hand and starts messing with my hair, running her fingers through it. “But this is more important.You’remore important. And I think, since your hair is so stubborn, it’s best to just embrace it. It looks good like this,” she says, still running her fingers through it. It feels amazing.

To my absolute horror, I feel a lump rise in my throat. She’s missing her meteor shower to come to a wedding with me. A wedding she has no connection to. But she’s coming to be my moral support.

I gently wrap my hands around her wrists, and she stops messing with my hair immediately. I slowly put her hands back by her sides. Then I step closer to her and put my arms around her again.

It’s all I can do. It’s the only way I can say what I’m feeling. I hope she understands.

I feel her arms wrap around my waist, and I want to freeze time. Just us, in this moment, forever.

But the moment is over too soon—when Lydia bounds down the stairs and beams at Mina as we jerk apart.

“Oh, the off-the-shoulder thing looks so good on you!” Lydia says, her voice croaky.

---