My phone rings.
“What do you mean more than you thought?” she says when I answer.
I explain the photo I just found.
“Meg, that’s serious. He hasn’t approached you though before the other night, right?”
“No. But I’ve seen his brother a fair amount and sometimes, I have to admit, when I’m walking later at night, I feel like someone is watching me, but every time I’ve felt that, I run into someone I know and then afterward the feeling is gone.”
“Shit. OK. That’s bad. Did you tell the police?”
“I called the officer who took the report. He added it to the file. I took a quick photo of the note before I left.”
“Left?”
I sigh. “Clark made me stay at his place. And then I found the note after the windshield guy fixed my car. I…sort of freaked out. It’s a lot, Stella. I mean, several months ago I didn’t ever socialize outside of school clubs and class. I wasn’t dating anyone. I didn’t know I had a stalker. And now, I don’t know. I’m trying to process it all, but I just needed to leave for a while, and it seemed safe here in Banneker.”
“Anthony knows where your parents live,” she points out.
“I know that, but my parents also have a security system here.”
“Well, we’re getting one at the house soon too, remember,” she reminds me.
“I know. But I’ll be gone by the time that’s all set up.”
“Right. God, it’s so unfair that you are graduating early. I’m going to miss you. Wait, don’t you have that big presentation this week?” she asks.
“Yep.”
“OK, I’m giving you twenty-four hours to lose your shit, and then you need to put on the big girl panties and come back here. We will figure this out.”
I take a deep breath. “I’ll do my best. I just need a little time.”
“I’m here if you need me, you know that, right?”
“I know. Thank you,” I say as I flop back onto my bed.
“We are still getting our weekly coffee even after you graduate. You can’t bail on that. Even if I have to drive up to NASA to do it, it’s happening!”
I laugh. “OK. Noted.”
“I gotta go. I can’t be late for this class,” she says.
“Go learn. I’ll talk to you later.”
“OK. I’m here, just remember that.”
“Thanks, Stella. It means a lot.”
“Of course. Bye.” And she hangs up as I stare at my ceiling which is still covered in the little glow-in-the-dark-star stickers that Clark and I put up there when I was ten.
I close my eyes and, after a while, I fall asleep thinking about Clark, school, my friends, and my dream job.
I’m dreaming about working at NASA on a space station on the moon when I hear a song playing. It’s a good song, U2’s Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own. I can hear lyrics about not having “to go it alone” and I start to wake up.
I sit up in bed, confused, and rub my eyes. Then I look around because I can actually hear the song. I check my old alarm clock but it’s off. I stand and slowly follow the sound to my window. And that’s when I see him.
Clark.
He’s standing in my yard with his arms above his head holding an old fake boombox that plays CDs that I know is a fake because I gave it to him for one of his birthdays a million years ago. He’s even got an old trench coat on that he had to have gotten out of his parents’ house.
I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing as I open my window.
“Uh, Clark? What are you doing?” I call out.
“I’m getting my girl back because she’s stubborn and independent and she needs to know she can still be stubborn and independent, but she can also depend on me to have her back for her, for when she doesn’t want to be independent. Let’s be fair, you’ll always be stubborn,” he yells over the music.
I grin. I don’t know what it is about this moment, about Clark doing this for me, but it snaps me out of my funk. He’s right. I can do anything on my own, but with all my friends, family, and him, I don’t have to. With their help, I’ll get through this and it’ll be OK.
“Wait there!” I yell. “I need to talk to you.”
He grins like a fool, and it makes me love him that much more.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Clark
I turn around and see Gran Mill in my parents’ front yard. She’s over helping on the construction project with her boyfriend, Roger. Gran Mill is best friends with my grandparents. She’s also the grandmother of one of Kent’s friends. And she’s awesome, like, “I’d go drinking with her” awesome.
“Gran Mill, what are you doing?” I call out as I lower the fake boombox. She’s holding up her phone.
“I FaceTimed your grandparents. We’re watching you win back the girl!” she yells.
“I can’t see!” I hear Nana Betty say from the phone.
“Where’s Megan? Did she say yes?” Gran Tilly asks.
“No, no, he’s not asking her to marry him,” PopPop explains.
“For the love of…” Gran Mill turns the phone around because she clearly doesn’t know she can switch camera directions on her screen. “Will you pipe down! He’s doing that sweet 1980s movie thing with the music box. I think she liked it.”
She turns the phone back toward me. “Now, say hi to your grandparents.”
“Uh, hi? And where are Mom and Dad?” I ask as I step closer toward her.
“They are having a date day. Us old fogies are hanging out at the campsite,” Gran Tilly explains. “Now, get back to it. We want to watch this.”
I roll my eyes. “Please, let me provide you with your entertainment which just happens to be my life.”
“OK,” Nana Betty says but her voice is mumbled like she’s eating.
“Are you eating popcorn?” I ask.
“Maybe,” she mutters.
I shake my head as I hear Megan walking up to me.
“Oh, she’s here,” Gran Mill states with excitement.
I turn to find a very amused Megan watching me.
“We have an audience,” she says with a demure smile.
“Apparently, we do,” I state with a shrug.
She steps up to me.
“You came,” she says.
“I came. Are you OK?”
She shrugs and nods. “I will be. We need to talk…without an audience,” she says in a whisper.
“I can’t hear her? Did she say yes?” Gran Tilly asks.
“For the last time, this isn’t a marriage proposal!” Gran Mill reiterates.
Megan turns red, and we both bust out laughing.
“Let’s go inside,” I suggest.
She nods.
I turn back to Gran Mill. “Uh, see you later,” I say.
“But they didn’t even kiss!” Nana Betty says in disappointment.
Gran Mill looks over at us with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Damn that woman!
Before I know what I’m doing, I reach out and grab Megan and pull her back against me, taking her face in my hands, I lean down and kiss her.