“The only way out of this was to figure out a compromise they could both live with. Maybe I could convince Miles and Savannah to forgo the public apology if I met them over coffee. Maybe I could convince Evie to stop crying foul. And hey! After that maybe I could spin straw into gold!”

“But maybe if he got close to me I could feel something. Maybe I could cry and the ache would go away.”

“So, the date was on. I’d tell Zayvion I had a chaperone. Maybe he could help me figure it out.”

“I could just envision Sam imagining that I wanted him to go out to the lake with me, only to be confronted by Jannalynn and whatever she thought of as a romantic dinner -- live rabbits they could chase together, maybe.”

“I always thought we were indefeatable. Like nothing could stop us. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I still do.”

“I know this is stupid, but part of me felt like if I could come see you today, if I could convince you to go with me tonight, then maybe I could still change things. It's dumb, I know. It's not like Levana cares if I, you know, might have actual feelings for someone.”