Maybe This Time(64)

“You think you can give me a ride home?” Andrew asked.

“Of course.”

Our jovial mood from before subsided as we walked to the van. “Your dad will get over it,” I said after a few minutes of silence.

“So will Micah,” he responded.

I could tell that neither of us completely believed the words we’d just uttered. Because if I knew one thing about Micah it was this: Once she’d moved on from someone, she moved on for good.





ORANGE CALLA LILY

According to Greek legend, Zeus brought his love child to his wife, Hera, to drink her milk while she was asleep. When she awoke in anger and pushed the child away, milk flew across the sky. The drops that landed on the earth grew into calla lilies. This is about the strangest origin story ever for a flower. But sometimes strange is beautiful.





Tradition was that every year on Thanksgiving, we went to the Williamses’ house. Mr. Williams cooked most of the meal, and my mom and I brought a side dish, pretending our contribution was needed. And we ate and laughed and were grateful. But this year was different. Micah and I hadn’t talked to each other in a month. One month. I had tried to apologize, she’d tried to apologize, but then we had immediately rehashed the same argument again, unable to agree.

So I’d spent the last month pretty much alone with my design journal. Applications were due basically now, and I hadn’t turned in a single one. Micah, of course, who had lots of connections in this town, had spent the last month busy with friends. Which had only driven home her point.

Despite our fight, our clueless parents were keeping tradition alive, which was why I found myself sitting in the car in front of Micah’s house, my brother holding a pan of corn pudding in the back seat and my mom wearing the dress I’d gotten her for Mother’s Day.

I suddenly understood why she’d never worn it before. I had prided myself on always doing what was best for a client, and yet I had picked her out a dress that was utterly and completely not her. It had an empire waistline and hit her below the knee. It was loose fitting and had vertical stripes, and she may as well have been going to Sunday school with how proper she looked in it. What had I been thinking? I had been trying to change her, that’s what I’d been thinking.

“Y’all ready?” my mom said, turning off the car.

“I’ll be up in a minute,” I said. My design notebook was open in my lap. “I want to finish this sketch.”

“Sophie,” my mom started, but I just gave her a look. “Okay, okay. See you in a minute.”

She and Gunnar climbed out of the car. I watched them walk to the door and be welcomed in by Mrs. Williams. I watched as Mrs. Williams waved to me. I waved back. Then I stared down at my journal.

“Ugh.” I drew an X through the sketch of a dress I’d been half-heartedly working on. Maybe everyone was right. Maybe New York was out of my reach. I’d been thinking about that a lot in the last few weeks too. I had a scholarship and could apply to a school here in Alabama. It was time to admit defeat. I tucked my journal into my bag and climbed out of the car, dreading today.

I knocked on the door and Mrs. Williams opened it with a big smile. “Sophie Evans! Where have you been the last few weeks? Get your cute butt in here.” She grabbed me by the face and kissed my cheek.

“Hi, Mrs. Williams. Happy Thanksgiving.”

My mom and Gunnar were still lingering in the entryway, talking with Mr. Williams.

“I hope y’all don’t mind our additional guests this year.” Mrs. Williams looked directly at my brother. “I know Mr. Hart wasn’t kind to you a few weeks ago but he promised to be on his best behavior.”

I hadn’t realized the Harts were coming. My mom didn’t seem surprised, though, so she must’ve been warned.

“It’s okay,” Gunnar said. “Andrew brought me a milk shake from his dad last week, so that means he’s real sorry.”

I was sure the milk shake hadn’t been from his dad, but it had worked on Gunnar perfectly.

“Is that for me?” Mrs. Williams asked Gunnar, gesturing to the pan he held.

“It’s corn pudding.” Gunnar extended it out to her.

“Perfect!” Mrs. Williams said. “That’s exactly what we were missing.” She said this every year, no matter what we brought. We could bring a bag of air and she’d probably say, That’s exactly what we were missing.

Gunnar looked very pleased with this pronouncement.

“Micah!” Mrs. Williams called out. “Sophie is here!” When Micah didn’t come, her mom gestured down the hall. “I think she’s in her room. You can go on back.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Point me to the wine,” Mom said. Mrs. Williams laughed and walked with my mom farther into the house, my brother trailing after them.

I clutched the strap on my backpack and stared at the long, dark hall in front of me. In the past month, Micah might not have noticed my absence, being surrounded by all her friends, but to me it felt like a piece of my soul was missing. We needed to work this out. The first step forward was the hardest. After that my feet easily found their way to her door.

I knocked quietly.

“Come in,” she said.

I opened the door and stood in the doorway. She sat in front of her mirror, applying a shimmery gold eye shadow. Her eyes met mine in her mirror.