Seventeen-year-old Hazel never saw having a sick mom in her future. And the last thing she expected was for her new next-door neighbor to give her a checklist that would change everything.
*****
After Hazel Winter's mom got sick, all emotion vanishe...
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That following Saturday, on the day of River's birthday, I show up on his doorstep at four in the afternoon with a gift bag in one hand and a small cake in the other. I had spent too long trying to figure out exactly what kind of cake he'd like, but I had nothing else to do while my mom was getting her dialysis treatment.
I use my elbow to knock as loudly as I can on his door, and almost as if he were waiting for the sound, he opens it instantly, rolling his eyes when he sees the cake. "You didn't have to get me anything," he says. As much as he tries to hide it, I see his lips curve into a smile. "But thank you."
"Are you ready for our big day?"
He raises a brow. "Big day of what, exactly?"
"Of fun," I say with a grin, but it falters when he looks behind me at the flurries of snow falling to the ground. "I called to make sure the place I'm taking you to is still open."
If there's even a chance of a dusting in North Carolina, everything shuts down. The minute the roads ice over, everyone enters a state of emergency. Milk is gone. The eggs are gone. The water is gone. Then the following morning, when the dusting melts into the grass again, everyone goes about their days as if it never happened.
"Don't forget your jacket!" Tracy shouts from a nearby room, scurrying in with a puffy black material. "It's freezing outside."
River rolls his eyes for the second time today but takes the jacket from her and slips it on without complaints.
"We're going to celebrate you tomorrow," Tracy reminds him. She looks over at me. "You'll come too, right Hazel?"
I nod. "Of course."
Tracy hands River a backpack, and he scrunches his nose up. "Did you know she was taking me somewhere?" His eyes flicker to mine, but I can't read the expression.
"Just go and have fun!" She excitedly pushes us out the door. "And please drive carefully. It's horrible weather."
The pavement is clear, the flurries of snow not even cold enough to stick yet, but I tell her I will regardless as we walk to my car.
***
When we pull into Frankie's Arcade parking lot, I hold my breath as he scans the building. Aside from the two cars that I'm assuming belong to the employees, we're the only car here, and River lowers his head so that he can stare up at the sign through the windshield.
"I wasn't sure if you'd be into this," I blurt out, "but you told me before that you'd never been to an amusement park, and while this isn't exactly a park with rollercoasters, they have this simulation thing where it makes you feel like you're on a rollercoaster. It looked pretty cool in the description online, but if you don't like it, and if you don't—"
He grabs my cheek to turn my face to his, pressing his lips against mine. His body is leaning over the console, and with one hand, he clicks my seatbelt off, tugging me over the threshold onto his lap. My knees are on either side of him, my core completely on fire as the heat spreads between my legs.
