Page 71 of Next Time Will Be Our Turn
“Yeah. I know it’s fast, but…” She bit her lip. “You don’t have to. I won’t be mad if you don’t. I just—I want to spend every moment with you, Tulip.”
“I want to,” I said quickly. I looked around us, at her apartment with its mismatched furniture and plants everywhere. I thought of waking up here every morning, seeing the early sunlight stream through her colorful blinds, and turning in bed to watch Ellery sleeping. The curve of her blond eyelashes soft against her freckled cheeks. Watching her wake up and kissing her and saying,Good morning, sleepyhead.I wanted it so much it hurt. “Yes, I want to move in. I want to move in right away.”
“Yeah?” Ellery’s grin covered her whole face and she hugged me tight. “I want you to move in right away too.”
I called Iris then and there, with Ellery by my side. She knew the moment she picked up the phone that something momentous had happened.
“Did it finally happen?” Iris said.
Ellery and I glanced at each other and then burst into uncontrollable giggles.
“Oh god,” Iris laughed. “You two idiots. You finally got your shit together?”
“We did,” I managed to gasp out.
“Was it all thanks to me?” Iris said.
“You mean because you sent my private letters to Ellery? Yeah, you and I are going to have a serious conversation about boundaries.”
“I’d say I made the right decision sending those unbelievably sappy letters to Ellery, wouldn’t you?”
Ellery nodded and I rolled my eyes at her. “Debatable.”
“So…” Iris paused. I could hear her licking her lips. “Does this mean you’re staying?” She sounded so nervous I wished I could reach out and hug her.
“Yes,” Ellery called out. “She is.”
Iris whooped. “Fuck yeah! You can stay with me and Hazel.”
“Actually,” I said, “I’m moving in with Ellery.”
“Oh. Holy shit, that’s fast. Okay.”
“Well, it’s been over ten years in the making,” Ellery said. “So I don’t know that it’s actually fast.”
“True. You guys have wasted enough time.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome.” Iris laughed again. “Oh my god, I can’t believe this. I’m so happy! My stupid little sister and her stupid best friend finally getting together. We’re celebrating, okay? I know there’s a lot of shit you’re gonna have to deal with, but we can face it together tomorrow. Tonight, we’re celebrating. Come to my place. I’ll pick up champagne and food.”
My cheeks were hurting by the time we hung up. Ellery hadn’t stopped smiling the whole time. We were so stupidly, deliriously, obnoxiously happy. We kept giggling and clinging to each other and leaning in for more kisses. Sometimes, I wonder if we were simply too happy, if that was why the universe decided it had to balance the score.
An Interlude
IZZY
Nainai’s voice breaks then, and she stops talking.
“Nainai, what happened? Was it—did Yeye take it badly?” I didn’t know my grandfather well enough to know how he would’ve reacted to the news of his wife leaving him for a woman, but I can imagine it wouldn’t be pretty. And I knew how this story would end, because after all, Nainai is here, and I exist, and none of it would’ve happened if she’d gotten her way. I realize with a start that part of me is dreading what comes next. An ugly fight. Threats bad enough to force her to stay with Yeye. Do I really want to know what my grandfather was capable of?
“No, he didn’t. In the end, he didn’t even know I came this close to leaving him.”
I frown. “What? But…”
“I didn’t have the chance to tell him.” Nainai’s eyes fill with tears. “It was both the happiest and the worst day of my life.”
I rub her hand gently. “Tell me. Please, Nainai.”
