Page 101 of Until We Burn
“Okay, okay!” Diana tries to stifle the laugh breaking apart her words. “This one is…this one genuinely makes me laugh whenever I think about it. I was in kindergarten, and it was picture day.”
She had a cold that was so bad that her nose was running like a faucet the whole day. She ended up having her photo taken with a giant glob of snot hanging from her nostril. It wasn’t until the pictures arrived that her mom was horrified and called the school, raging.
I laugh into my pillow, fighting to keep myself quiet. “Please tell me you still have the photo.”
“Unfortunately, not.” Diana chortles “My mother had it shredded.”
My head is worn out from laughing and whispering so much that it’s too weak to turn over every worry running through it. I close my eyes just as a yawn breaks through.
“I probably should’ve asked if you snored in your sleep,” Diana murmurs.
“I’m surprised all that stalking you’ve done on me didn’t yield any answers,” I drawl.
“I only looked you up once and that was for research.”
“Didn’t know that the number of injuries I’ve had were so newsworthy.”
“If I were there, you’d have another one to add to your roster.”
My smile softens. “Hey, princess?”
“Yes, Kai?”
“I’m really glad I get to go through all of this with you.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
I can hear the smile in her voice. “So am I.”
A comfortable silence settles between us. Somewhere between blankets shuffling and gentle breaths rippling across the speaker, I finally fall asleep. I get lost in hazy dreams of snow flurries, a snotty nosed five-year-old, and wiping out on skates.
CHAPTER 42
DIANA
Beep!Beep! Beep!
I stir against my pillow. My eyes peel open before they squint at my glowing phone screen. It flashes in warning. I smack the alarm off.
Then it goes off again.
“Aiya—”I slump over and grab it. I gasp at the screen, scrambling upright.
Oh my god.
It’s not my alarm.
It’s Kai’s.
His phone number roves across the call screen. The time stamp adds a second more to the ongoing five-hour phone call.
“Hm? C’est où?”Kai mumbles on the other end. His voice is so deep and husky with sleep, a hot flush rises to my cheeks.
Suddenly, what happened on the phone call last night comes rushing back: ranting and venting on the balcony, giggling and swapping childhood stories in our beds.
Kai’s alarm finally shuts off.
