One Night That Changes Everything (24 page)

I sit there on the lounge chair for a second after I’m done. The sun is completely up now, and the next door neighbors are in their driveway, getting ready to go to church. The birds are chirping, and the day’s getting warmer.

I pick up my notebook, and bring it over to the corner of our deck, where the fire pit is. Then I pick up the box of matches that we have out there, light one, and drop it onto the pages.

I wrap my arms around myself and watch for a few minutes, while everything I’m afraid of goes up in flames, turning into shades of red and orange and yellow and blue. I watch it for a long time, thinking about the night, about Cooper, about how everything can change so drastically in such a short period of time. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out. One new text. “
LOVE YOU TOO E
,” it says. “
TALK TMR XXXO, K
.” I smile and slide the phone back into my pocket. And finally, when my notebook’s nothing but ashes, I put the fire out and head up to bed.