Chapter 28 #2
“Why aren’t you at the party?” Sabine asks.
Sumner crosses his arms self-consciously. “Wanted to stream.”
Her eyes widen when she notices the paused game. “Do you play Legends?” She’s not poking fun. Her tone is excited. Sincere.
“Yeah.” He perks up at this. “The second one just released.”
“I’m obsessed with the first,” Sabine gushes. “The graphics are stunning.”
“Yeah.” The tension unwinds from his shoulders. He bends down and grabs a water bottle from the mini fridge under his desk. “They stepped it up.”
He chucks the bottle across the room, where it hits William square in the abdomen. A stiff groan releases from his lips as he rolls onto his side.
“Can you act civilized,” I press, “just this once?”
“Me?” Sumner rasps. “What have I done?”
“You mean other than just trying to take him out like a bowling pin?”
“I’m not the half-wasted idiot in the room.” He takes a step closer, eyes narrowing. “That honor goes to your boyfriend.”
“He’s not—” I shake my head. That is beyond the point. “I didn’t ask him to do—that.”
William rolls onto his stomach and begins twisting the cap to the water bottle. Plastic crinkles beneath his grip. “Not to worry,” he announces to no one in particular. “I’ve got it.”
“You’ll want to drink the whole thing,” Sabine suggests. “And then probably one more.”
Sumner’s gaze stays pinned on me. I’m stressed and taking it out on the wrong person, but I’m too stubborn to admit it. And now I suddenly feel ridiculous. It’s the beard. I yank it away from my face and tuck it in my pocket.
He runs a hand through his hair. My eyes track the movement, his T-shirt rising to expose a thin slice of skin and lean muscle.
He catches me, a look of satisfaction spreading across his face, but his next words take me by surprise. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t leave, but you both gotta go.” He takes two steps toward the door and opens it, leaning against the frame as he gestures to the hall. “Before we all get in trouble.”
My face is on fire. I don’t look at him as I leave. Sabine’s telling him they should play together sometime, and a moment later, the door closes behind her.
We move quickly down the stairs. Neither one of us dares to speak until we’re outside. All I want to do is get back to Inessa and make sure she’s enjoying her birthday, maybe put away some of those cupcakes with the fake plastic spider rings and execute a few bad dance moves to upbeat pop songs.
“So,” Sabine says as we pick up our pace. “That was tense.”
“That?” I choke back a laugh. “What you witnessed was a tame interaction with Sumner.”
“Hmm,” she says thoughtfully. “I always thought he was into you.”
Now I really laugh. “Trust me, he’s not.”
And that’s how I find myself telling Sabine about last summer. My all-consuming humiliation prevented me from telling Analiese, so it’s a relief to get if off my chest.
“Delaney, I’m so sorry. You really liked him, didn’t you?”
The raw disappointment comes flooding back, taking me by surprise. It’s been easy to fall into familiar patterns here, to revert to old habits despite the confused anger swelling inside me. As much as I’d hoped to erase the feelings that had accumulated in my heart, they’d only dimmed.
I remember the evening it fell apart. We’d both fallen quiet lying on the cool grass in my backyard, nearly shoulder to shoulder.
“My dad used to tell me that if you saw Earth from another galaxy, you’d be watching it back in time,” I’d said.
“When we see a star burn out, it’s already happened years ago.
And I’d give anything to do that—to rewind and capture all the details I missed the first time.
I could find my family here, happy again. ”
Sumner tucked an arm under his head. “Which moment, if you had to choose?”
I blinked up at the stars. “The ones I took for granted,” I heard myself say.
“Not just the birthdays or milestones or vacations, but the ones where he poked his head in my room to say good night. Or the time he came home with glow-in-the-dark stars for my ceiling and we spent an hour putting them up. Oh—I used to get so irritated when he’d accidentally call me Madelene or Jared.
But god, I’d give anything to hear that mistake one more time. ”
Sumner rocked his body toward me. He had shreds of dead grass in his hair and on the sleeves of his worn T-shirt. Sincere contentment formed in his eyes, pure and unfiltered, as he held my gaze. “I think that’s beautiful,” he said in a hushed whisper. “Finding home again in the small moments.”
I remember how his mouth felt against mine. How quickly I’d yanked that thread, unraveling everything.
Maybe that’s why it hurt so much. I hadn’t just liked Sumner. We’d had real conversations, sharing fears and joys and memories. The teasing jabs and light bickering were present, but it felt deeper, like I’d opened a sealed piece of myself to him. It felt so much stronger than like.
“It’s probably for the best,” I say to avoid answering Sabine’s question. “Honestly? Analiese always said he brought out the worst in me.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” She raises an eyebrow.
“I mean, yes, I understand he can be a bit pretentious, but he doesn’t bring out the worst in you.
He brings out this assertive, unperturbed side of you that’s…
ah!” The words come to her. “Determined and spirited. It’s a side Analiese overshadows, if we’re being honest.”
Is that how she sees me when he’s around? Does anyone else see it too? I’ve never considered this.
I must have a strange look on my face because she says, “It’s not a bad thing. But, you know, I wouldn’t make a habit of letting others define you.”
Her words strike deeper than I expect.
“What if,” I begin slowly, “you don’t know who you’re supposed to be?”
Sabine tilts her head, gathering her long hair in her hands and tossing it over her shoulder. Her lips press together as she thinks. In the distance, the faint thrum of bass emanates from the athletic center.
“I think,” she says, “maybe that’s what this period of our lives is for, is it not? I mean”—she gives me a sidelong glance—“even the whole presentation ball. It’s about presenting who we are. Or who we wish to be. Not the person society tells us to be.”
I’ve been so focused on the fundraising portion of the gala that I’d almost forgotten about the ceremony.
I’ve been so consumed by checking boxes—showing up to meetings or community events—that I hadn’t spared proper focus on my weekly meetings with Mrs. Vidar-Tett.
I’d written it off as useless, something reserved for others and not for me, forever practical.
“You know, you and Analiese were inseparable, like you didn’t need anyone else. So when you joined the Capture team I was like, Hell yeah. She’s embracing something new. And you know what I think?”
We slow as we reach the double doors. “What?”
“You want to branch out.” She smiles as she tugs the handle, releasing a wash of conversation and upbeat pop music. “Don’t let your fear get in your way.”