Fortuity (Transcend 3)

“Um … whatever.”

I bet he said those same two words to Emily and Kyle a lot. That makes me feel good. So far, I haven’t damaged him beyond repair.

Eight more years, Gracelyn. You’ve got this.

“What do you want to do today? I have the day off.”

“I don’t care. I’m sure Morgan will decide what I do today.”

I grin. “You don’t like Morgan?”

He shrugs. “She’s … okay. Different.”

“Okay is good, right?”

Another shrug. “It’s fine. She just … I don’t know. Asks a lot of questions.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know …”

I’m not sure why he starts every sentence with “I don’t know” and then follows it up with an answer that proves he does in fact know.

“She always wants to know what I do with my other friends. And when I tell her, she asks why. She’s always hovering over my shoulder when I’m playing games. And she asked me a few days ago if I had a girlfriend.”

“Well … maybe she likes you.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you like her?”

“She’s … fine. Whatever.”

“Do you like girls?”

He whips his head in my direction. “You think I’m gay?”

Holy shit …

“No. I’m …” Okay. Call me naive, but I didn’t see that coming. Wow! I just showed my age and lack of knowledge about his generation. I guess ten-year-olds are more informed about sexuality than I was at his age. I’m not sure I knew what the word gay meant at ten. I’m so … out of touch.

“I wasn’t implying that I thought you were gay. I … it’s fine if you are. And that’s just a side note. But I was meaning are you interested in girls or boys or whatever at this point? I don’t fully remember what my life was like at ten. I just remember girls were interested in boys or having boyfriends before the boys I knew even looked at girls as anything more than a forced pick on a dodgeball team in PE.”

“I’ve had a girlfriend.”

“Okay. Good. Great. I … I’ll just shut up now.”

As soon as we arrive home, Morgan bolts out of her house and meets Gabe at the front door.

“How was your slumber party?”

“Sleepover. Not slumber party.” He rolls his eyes at her before opening the deck door.

“What did you do? Did you stay up all night? Did you sleep in sleeping bags?”

Gabe tosses his bag on the bottom step before heading to the kitchen. I glance around for Mr. Hans and Hunter, but they’re not here. I think he mentioned taking her shopping today.

“Want me to make you a sandwich?” I ask Gabe.

“I’ll make him one. What do you want?” Morgan asks.

Gabe grabs a sports drink from the fridge. “Turkey, but I can make it.”

My brow furrows as I watch the two of them mill around the kitchen, foraging for food. Since when did Gabe learn to make his own sandwich?

“I’ll make lunch for both of us.” She reaches for the plates on the second floating shelf by the stove. “Gabe, grab us plates.” He sets his drink on the counter and stretches his arm toward the plates.

I grin. He can’t reach them either. “Maybe in another year you’ll be tall enough.” I stretch my arm over them and retrieve two plates. “Go play. I’ll make your sandwiches.”

Morgan sighs. “Fine. Let’s go, Guac.” She grabs his arm and tugs on it.

He shoots me a look, and I wink at him. He rolls his eyes but not before cracking a tiny grin. Yeah … he likes her.

I assemble two turkey sandwiches and cut up an apple for them to split.

“Want to hear a secret?” Morgan asks Gabe as I climb the stairs with their plates in my hand.

“I guess,” Gabe answers with no enthusiasm.

“This morning my dad and I stopped by the store to pick up a few things. He let me get this huge chocolate chip muffin and it was so good, but anyway … we were in the line to pay for our groceries, and he let me hold his phone. He told me to scan through the pictures and find some I’d like to have printed in an album.”

“That’s the secret?”

I stop at the top of the stairs, but the floor creaks and two heads whip in my direction. “Here you go.” After handing them the plates, I ease into the recliner. Morgan’s gaze flits between her plate and me, but she doesn’t continue her story. Taking the awkward cue, I grab an empty glass from the end table and make my exit—partial exit. Descending three steps, just out of sight, I take a seat and wait for Morgan to continue her story.

She doesn’t disappoint. “While I was scrolling through the photos on my dad’s phone, I looked up just as he was putting a box of something … oh my gosh … you’re never going to believe what … onto the counter. I was like what the? And I asked him about it as soon as we got in the car, but he said he was picking them up for Mr. Hans and that I shouldn’t say anything. So whatever you do … don’t you dare tell anyone I told you. Okay?”