Then Everything Happens at Once by M-E Girard

Author:M-E Girard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

My phone rings about three seconds later, so I put down the piece of leftover chocolate birthday cake I was working on. I answer it, saying “hi” and “hello” together, which turns into this weird combo thing.

“High-low to you, too,” Alex says.

“Of course, the first thing I say ends up super dumb.”

“It’s all right. I think it’s cute,” Alex says. “What are you up to tonight?”

“Probably nothing exciting. Possibly painting my toes red. You?”

“Possibly talking to you,” she says. “Although I’ve been thinking I might go grab a coffee at Hot Mugs.”

I feel tiny fireworks in my belly, anticipating that she might ask me to hang out.

“Really?” I say, trying my best to seem nonchalant. “I think that sounds like a really good time.”

My mom’s voice rings out over Rebecca’s cries, yelling my name repeatedly in a way that makes it clear she’s probably been calling me for a while. I cut my Spotify playlist.

“Can I call you right back? My mom needs me.”

“Sure.”

I yell, “What?” into the hallway.

“Door’s for you, Boss. I’ve been calling ten minutes,” Mom yells back.

A glance out my window reveals Freddie’s car on the street out front. Now that my music is off, I can hear his voice downstairs. I spin around my room to find my new push-up bra and change out of my ugly T-shirt and shorts. The possibility of this occurrence is exactly why I make sure my hair and makeup are always done.

In the living room, Mom is sitting on the couch while Rebecca is on her play mat, rolling around happily with Freddie crouched next to her. The news headlines roll on the TV screen.

“This is going to get out of hand real fast,” Mom says.

“Yeah,” Freddie says as he holds one of my sister’s light-up toys above her head, and she tries swatting at it. “There are over a hundred cases in Ontario now.”

My sister, oblivious, smiles to herself as she wiggles around on her mat.

“What are you doing here?” I ask from where I stand on the bottom step of the stairs.

“I was hoping to talk to you,” he says. “Please.”

Mom gives me a look of curiosity, like she can sense something serious is going on by the way Freddie’s last word was spoken.

This is stupid. Alex is waiting for me to call her back.

Yet here I am, slipping on my boots and coat, throwing a couple of pieces of gum into my mouth and following him outside.

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