Free Olivia Christakos and Her Second First Time by Dani Irons Page A

hasn’t heard a word I’ve said. “No way,” she says, bouncing. “I want to stay right here in case you need anything else tonight.”
    I want to be patient with her. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but annoyance is unfurling inside of me. “I want you to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow, Bug.” My words, as tired as they are, come out sounding falsely sweet, the nickname popping out of nowhere.
    “Bug?”
    “Didn’t I used to call you that?” I have no idea what I used to call her, of course.
    “No.”
    “Nat? Isn’t that like a...bug?” I’m beginning to sound muddled. The medication must be kicking in.
    “That has a ‘g’ in it.” Her voice is unhappy.
    “Listen,” I try again, this time reaching over and touching her hand. “I want to hang out with you, but I need to heal first. I promise when I’m all better...I’ll stay up all night with you. We’ll play card games and eat ice cream and all kinds of fun stuff.”
    Her smile returns and I know I’ve won. “You really promise?”
    “Only if you promise to leave this room and not come back until morning.” My eyelids grow heavy.
    “But what if you need something?” Her voice is sweet and whiny at the same time.
    I purse my lips, trying to force thought out of my pillow-stuffed head. “Your room...is the one on the other side of this wall...right?” I point at the wall behind me.
    She nods.
    “If I need something...I’ll knock.” I knock three times. “Like that. If you hear that you can come in. But not until then.”
    Her eyes sparkle mischievously. “How will you even know I’m here?”
    “I told you. I’ll have dreams that someone is staring at me.”
    She looks unbelievingly at me a moment, but then, hesitantly and slowly, she stands. Walks to the other side of the door. Before she opens it, I call, “Hey, Bug?”
    She sighs. “Don’t call me that.”
    “Nat? With or without the ‘g’?”
    “No.” She places her hands on her hips and it reminds me of Cora.
    “Well, what did I used to call you?”
    She pauses. “Just Natalie.”
    That doesn’t sound like much fun either. “Do you...like Wyatt?”
    “Yeah...” Her voice is small and cautious.
    “And all that stuff you said about us going to prom and everything...that’s all true?”
    I twist my neck as much as I can to see her expression. The lamp on the other side of me casts an orange glow on her face. She looks older, serious. “Very true.” And without waiting for my response, she’s gone, tugging the door closed behind her.
    I don’t like how matter-of-fact she was. Sounded kind of false. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. She’s only eight, after all.

Chapter Ten
    Sixth Grade
    “This dance is a joke,” Lacy Willems said, making a beeline to the punch bowl. I let her go. She’d been complaining ever since we got here. The cafetorium, as our school conveniently dubbed the place where we eat as well as hold any event, was lit with Chinese lanterns and decorated with multicolored balloons and white crepe paper.
    Chloe and I stood against one wall with the other girls in the sixth grade, the boys on the other side. Only Jackson Parrish and Ashley Feldspar, who claimed at recess last week that she now wore a size D cup, were dancing. And everyone else watched.
    Wyatt and I were sitting at my kitchen island mixing up strawberry milk when he asked me if I was going to the dance. “No,” I’d told him, because I didn’t want him going and letting out our secret arrangement into my social circle. I’d been able to keep him a secret for two years and I was going to keep it that way. “Are you?”
    He shook his head. “Not if you’re not going. Steven doesn’t want to go, either, so I won’t have anyone to talk to.” I nodded. Steven was Wyatt’s best friend and fellow Cub Scout. They’d been inseparable since last year.
    But there Wyatt stood, staring across the dimly lit dance floor at me. What a liar. I avoided all eye