The Other Side of Tomorrow

“I can’t go on,” I cry dramatically and then laugh.nbsp;

He turns up the music on the Bluetooth speaker and moves toward me slyly like a lion stalking its prey.

He holds out his hands to me. “I promise to make it fun.”

“There you go again with those promises.” I cluck my tongue. “Oh.” I jolt when he places a hand at my waist and pulls me flush with his body. Guiding my other hand up, we begin to sway. “What are we doing?” I ask with a laugh.

“Dancing,” he says with a tone that implies obviously.

“But why? Aren’t we supposed to be cleaning?”

He takes my baseball cap off and tosses it on the table. Brushing a hair behind my ear that’s come loose from my ponytail, he says, “I decided this was more important.”

He lowers his head and presses his lips softly to mine.nbsp;

“I like this way more than cleaning,” I joke as we continue to sway to the song.

He spins me out and then twirls me toward him until my back is to his front. His arms wrap around me and he rests his head on my shoulder. We rock back and forth. I decide to commit every bit of this to my memories because this moment, while simple on the outside, is something I never want to forget.nbsp;

He spins me again and this time when I come back I’m facing him. I reach up, wrapping my arms around his neck. He dips me down and lingers there for a moment before he presses his lips to my throat. Pulling me upright, he whispers in my ear, “I don’t know what conspired to bring you into my life, but I believe we were destined to meet.”

I smile at him, my heart leaping. “I think that too.”

Something, somewhere, somehow, and someway made sure our paths crossed before T.J. even died. If that’s not destiny I don’t know what is.nbsp;

nbsp;

Saturday comes, and even though I haven’t even worked a full week, I’m exhausted. Cool Beans stays busy almost the whole day with little time to breathe in between customers. It’s fun. I love working with Jasper; he makes me laugh and it’s more time I get to spend with him. His mom is great too and I quickly find myself feeling like a part of their family.

The problem is I know this feeling can’t last. I have to tell him eventually that I think I got T.J.’s kidney. Each day that passes makes it that much harder and I grow more conflicted.nbsp;

At the end of the summer I’ll tell him. That’s only a few weeks away. You can do it, Willa. He deserves to know.

I nod with resolve, knowing I have to do this before I suffocate from the stress and worry of what he’ll think of me.

As much as I don’t want him to hate me for keeping this a secret I mostly don’t want him to look at me differently because a part of his brother might live inside me.

“Can I come in?” Harlow asks, poking her head into my room.

“Yeah, yeah,” I chant, setting my book aside. I haven’t even turned a page in twenty minutes I got so lost in my thoughts.nbsp;

“You’re going out with Jasper tonight, right?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“Do you guys mind giving me a ride? Spencer asked if I could meet him at the beach and you know if I ask Mom or Dad they’ll ask too many questions and Dad will have a conniption that I’m hanging out with a boy.”

“I’m sure Jasper won’t mind, and you know I don’t care. We’re going to the pier so it’s not like it’s out of our way.”

“Thank you so much,” she sighs in relief.nbsp;

She turns to leave and I call her back. “Harlow?”

“Yeah?” She steps back into my room and I motion for her to sit on my bed with me.

I take a breath, giving myself time to think about how to frame my question.nbsp;

“Do you think it’s wrong that I haven’t told Jasper yet that I might have T.J.’s kidney?”