From Twinkle, With Love(56)

I chewed the chocolate thoughtfully, letting the fabulous peanut buttery-chocolaty goodness wash over my tongue. “Hmm. I see your point.”

Sahil bit into his Cow Tale and chewed. “So now we can get to the games.”

“There are games,” I said as I reached into the bag again. “Of course there are.”

“Duh. So, you’ve probably heard of the license plate game, yeah?”

I tried not to groan. Mind-numbing games like that were invented to take your mind off the fact that nearly 3,300 people die in car wrecks every single day in the United States. But they didn’t. If anything, playing the license plate game only made me feel both terrified and like I wanted to jump out of a moving vehicle to escape. “Um, yeah.”

“Well, we’re not playing that. I mean, what are we, seven?”

I laughed. “I have to say, little bit relieved.”

Sahil beamed at me, and it made my traitorous heart stutter. “Instead we’re going to play a game called ‘Did You Hear.’ So, basically, each of us will take turns saying ‘Did you hear that _______?’ and we’ll fill in the blank with either a truth or a lie. The other person can then either accept the statement as a truth or reject the statement as a lie. If you guess correctly, you get a point. Otherwise the point goes to the other person.”

I smiled. “So, like, a take on Two Truths and a Lie? I like it.”

“Sweet. I’ll go first?”

I nodded.

Sahil took another bite of his chewy candy and then said, “Hmm. Did you hear that I once ate twelve doughnuts in one sitting?”

“Twelve??”

Sahil smirked and nodded. “Accept or reject?”

“Hmm.” I tapped a finger on my chin and unwrapped another Mini Cup. “On the one hand, twelve seems like it’d send you into a sugar coma. But on the other … I did see you inhale three cookies and then several loaded pancakes like it was nothing. So, I’m gonna say … accept.”

Sahil laughed. “Yep. You’re right.”

“Yessss.”

“Your turn.”

I stared out the window at the open fields and munching cows zipping past us in the fading light. “Okay,” I said, facing Sahil again and folding my legs up on the seat. “Did you hear that I’m a fantastic singer?”

Sahil looked at me for a couple seconds, his mouth quirked to one side as he considered. “Hmm … I mean, you do have a beautiful speaking voice, so it makes sense that you’d have a beautiful singing voice.”

I felt myself flush and concentrated on unwrapping another Mini Cup to distract from it. “So, what’s your answer?”

“Accept,” Sahil said with finality.

I nodded solemnly. “I’m gonna demonstrate.” And before I could chicken out, I began to sing “Over the Rainbow.” Well, I say “sing,” but I really mean “croak.” It was weird, but before this, I would never even have dreamed of singing in front of people, let alone a boy I had a crush on. It was like directing this movie had given me so much confidence in myself. It was okay that I wasn’t the best at everything because at least I had one talent that I totally slayed at. You know? Plus, there was just something about Sahil. His eyes were kind and gentle, like he’d never judge me, no matter what I did.

He began to laugh. “Okay, okay, I get it! I was wrong! Mercy! Mercy! You don’t have to rub it in!”

I laughed but kept on singing, even louder than before, my voice breaking horribly as I went into the chorus.

He grinned at me. “I love you.” And his grin abruptly fell off his face.





Seventeen


I stopped singing mid-word. I couldn’t do anything but stare at him.

Sahil glanced at me before looking back at the road. “Did you hear that,” he said quietly, “I’ve only been in love once? It happened when I was eleven. And it’s still happening.”

I swallowed and shook my head. “Reject.”

He smiled a little. “One point for me.”

“Sahil …” I didn’t even know what I was going to say exactly. My heart felt all melty, butterflies were wreaking havoc in my stomach, and I felt scared and exhilarated and like laughing and crying all at the same time.

“I know,” he said, his voice barely audible, almost covered by the humming of the tires on the road. His big hands gripped the steering wheel loosely. “It’s complicated for you. But, Twinkle, I just wanted you to know it’s not complicated for me.” He glanced at me again, his dark eyes sparkling. “It’s never been complicated for me when it comes to you.” After a pause, he said, “I just want to be honest. I’m not trying to freak you out.”

He wasn’t freaking me out at all. In fact, I’d been marveling at how brave Sahil was. How unapologetically honest and trusting. I felt a little shift inside me, a softening. Maybe I could let down a wall of my own. “Thank you,” I said finally. “For telling me. For … loving me. I appreciate it more than you know.”

Sahil nodded.

“Because … did you hear that my mom doesn’t? Love me, I mean?” I said before I could stop myself. My eyes filled with tears, but I forced myself to not wipe them away.