Midnight Sun(46)

“You were so good!” I yell.

He puts me back on the ground and beams at me. “I was, wasn’t I?”

“You really were! What did the Berkeley guy say?”

“He said he was impressed and would be in touch.”

I beam back at him. “In touch is good! I’m so proud of you!”

My dad nudges his way between us, giving Charlie a hearty wallop on the back. “I guess the rumors about you are true,” he says. “Congrats, Charlie. You were a maniac in the pool.”

“Thank you, Mr. Price,” Charlie says. “And thanks for letting Katie come.”

My dad looks down at me and smiles. “She wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

Charlie’s smiling at me, too. “Mr. Price? Would you mind if I borrowed Katie tomorrow night?”

I put my hands together and give Dad a cute look, like I’m begging him to say yes. He finally nods. “I think that’ll be fine, Charlie.”

After one last hug, I pull my hoodie tightly over my head again and we make a break for the car. It seems that everyone else did the same, though; the parking lot is jammed. Five minutes later, Dad hasn’t even backed out of the space.

I’m staring out the window, exhausted from the outing. I’m so glad I was here to witness Charlie’s success. But all I can think about now is getting home and going to bed.

I’m just about to nod off when I see Charlie and his parents leaving the building. He runs up to our car and puts his palm up against the blacked-out backseat window. I put my hand against his from the inside. I’m pretty sure he can sense I’m there.

Mr. Reed taps on the front window and my dad rolls it down. “I just want to tell you and your daughter how much your support has meant to Charlie,” he says.

I yell “Same!” from the backseat even though I’m pretty sure he can’t hear me.

“He’s a wonderful young man,” my dad replies.

“And, by all accounts, your Katie is wonderful, too,” Mr. Reed says.

I wish I could get out and meet him now, but the sun is shining high overhead at the moment. Too risky even though I’ve already been exposed.

“I just wanted to tell you how happy I am our kids found each other,” Mr. Reed continues. “There are a few people, or moments, in a person’s life that change our story. She’ll leave her mark on him forever. And him on her. Even though it’s not meant to last. As I told Charlie, all you can do is be grateful for the experience, and be grateful she came into your life.”

I whip out my phone and text my dad. Tell him amor vincit omnia!

My dad pauses, looks down at his phone, then looks back up and laughs. “Katie wants you to know that love conquers all,” he tells Mr. Reed.

Mr. Reed laughs along with him. “Well, now, I do believe that’s the truth.” He taps the back window next to where Charlie and I are virtually “holding hands.” “Be well, Katie!”

I pat my heart and press my palm against Charlie’s some more. Amor vincit omnia, I think. Love conquers all.





23

Charlie picks me up the next night right on time. I have on another new outfit—ordered online with my dad’s blessing. I did my hair and put on makeup carefully, painstakingly. It’s getting harder and harder to do even the simplest things lately, but I don’t want to miss any chance I might have left to look and feel young and beautiful and alive.

My dad snaps another prom picture of us before we leave, and I don’t even protest this time. I don’t even feel embarrassed. I just try to feel grateful for the experience, like Mr. Reed said we should. The anxiety that seems to be with me every waking moment lately fades into the background. It’s just a little hum instead of a huge shriek.

Charlie holds the door to his truck open for me. I climb in. My dad waves good-bye to us from the front porch.

My hands are trembling in my lap as Charlie hops into the driver’s seat. I try to shove them under my legs to hide my shakiness, but he reaches over and takes my hands in his. Then he brings my fingers up to his mouth, kisses them individually, then places my hands back into my lap.

I give him a little smile. He’s the only one who could take the awkwardness out of a moment like this. His being so kind doesn’t make my situation any easier to accept, but it does make me realize how lucky I am to have him in my life. I settle back into my seat, psyched to find out whatever Charlie has up his sleeve this time.

We pull into the parking lot of a nondescript warehouse-looking place half an hour later. I start smiling and can’t stop. “Another pop-up concert?”

“You really think I’m that uncreative?” he says, shaking his head. “Wrong. Come on. You’ll see.”

“I’ll see what?” I ask, following him excitedly.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Charlie leads me into what looks like the starship Enterprise’s control room. There’s a huge mixing console the size of a car with zillions of buttons and levers on it, plus multitrack recorders and digital workstations. Beyond the glass in this room is a studio, complete with musicians getting their instruments ready to perform.

I take it all in. I can’t believe I get to see an actual recording happen tonight. It’s like a dream come true. “Who are we here to see?”