Matilda was officially a blue-ribbon bunny. She’d posed like a pro, and Paxton had handled her with all the skill and grace of someone with his experience. He lifted her over his head and planted soft kisses on her nose, like that day I’d wandered into his backyard and changed everything between us. The Bees left the fair to have dinner. Their quilt would be judged tomorrow, but I had no doubt they’d win. Gigi packed up Matilda and took her home.
I wrapped an arm around Paxton’s waist. “How does it feel to be a blue-ribbon owner?”
“Pretty damn amazing.” He grinned at me. “Do you want to hang around here some more, or do you want to get out of here?”
“Let’s go.”
Midnight and Elise had left right after the rabbit show, with Elise still wearing her balloon pirate hat. We waved to Strawberry and Brady, who was carrying around a giant stuffed banana, and a few other people we knew from town. I wanted to come back later for the fireworks show, but that wouldn’t be for hours.
I drove us back to town, parked beside the lake, and took a blanket out of my trunk. The park was closed, the lake and playground empty. Everyone in town was either at the fair or taking a break from the fair before they went back for the fireworks. Within minutes, Paxton had broken into the shed, and we were out on the water with another boat. This time while Paxton rowed, I let myself enjoy the view.
Once he got to the center of the lake, he rested the oars in their metal holders. “Tell me something I don’t know about you, Macy Mae.”
“That night when we first hung out alone, I wanted to kiss you. And I almost did.” I linked our fingers. “That’s why I flung myself into the water.”
Amusement sparked in his hazel eyes. “I said tell me something I don’t know.”
I shoved him, and the whole boat rocked.
“Careful,” he said. “You know how easy it is to go overboard in one of these.”
“All right. You want something you don’t know?” I leaned in closer, and whispered in his ear about that night when the house was quiet and I imagined his lips were my fingers.
“That.” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “That’s definitely something I didn’t know. Feel free to tell me about those things more often.”
“I think you should tell me something I don’t know about you,” I said. “Why am I always the one revealing my secrets out here?”
“Mine aren’t as fun as yours.” He took my hands, his expression going serious. “I want to learn how to drive, and I want you to be the one to teach me.”
My breathing stilled. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “It’s time. I can’t keep relying on Gigi, and if I ever want to leave this town one day, it’s a thing I’ll need to know how to do.”
“You want to leave Honeyfield too?” I’d always thought of Paxton as a permanent fixture in town, or maybe I hadn’t considered that he’d ever leave because of the driving thing. The old fear of being stuck here lessened even more.
“I’ve been talking to Elise about maybe going in for half of the shop she wants to open in Chicago, and we can’t make anything of ourselves if we stay here. Teaching me won’t be easy.” He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “I’ll be a terrible student, and I might freak out a few times, but I’m not comfortable dealing with that in front of anyone else but you.”
I cupped his face and kissed him. “I’d be happy to teach you.”
He rowed us to the other side of the lake, to a grassy bank surrounded by raspberry bushes. I spread out the blanket I’d brought and I laid my head in the crook of his arm while we watched Say Anything on his phone. His favorite movie and my favorite movie had unintentionally, or maybe intentionally, become our movie.
As the credits rolled, I sat up. “I want you to film me.”
His eyebrows practically touched his hairline.
“Not like that.” I laughed. “I mean, I want to make one last YouTube video. A goodbye to my Misty Morning persona. It’ll be the only video left on my channel.”
I wouldn’t be starting a new channel to continue the reviews. Jessica Banks had taken YouTube from me. Even if I eventually forgave her for everything else, that was one thing I would never forgive. Paxton took my phone and I showed him where to hold the camera. As soon as he gave me the thumbs-up, I let everything go.
“Hi, all, my name is Macy, but you might also know me as Fly Ball Girl or Misty. I have a final video, a little different from my previous content. This one is for me.”
I told the camera everything about what I’d gone through in the past few weeks. What it had been like to have my every move documented without my consent, what it did to my mental health to scroll through Twitter in the middle of the night, how being trampled on and slut-shamed by strangers made me feel. I didn’t reveal what Eric and I had done to play into that, since I intended to stay true to my word and not expose either of us to further harm, but I couldn’t go completely dark without having my say. It was one thing if Jessica learned her lesson, but regular people just trying to live got captioned or tweeted or turned into memes every day without anyone thinking about the consequences. If I could convince even one person with a phone to think twice before turning their camera on a stranger, it would be worth it.
When I finished talking, I took my phone back and uploaded the video to YouTube, then deleted the app. Tomorrow, I’d start a new Instagram account. A private one, where only people I allowed could follow me and view my pictures. I’d still post movie reviews for my friends. I wouldn’t let Jessica take everything I loved.
Paxton gathered the blanket, and as we rowed back across the lake, he asked me, “What are you going to do, now that you’re done with YouTube?”
I tilted my head and let the last rays of the sinking sun warm my face. “Anything.”
The idea of opening my own store had started to take root in me. Not right away. First I’d get a job at a media store, work my way up, and learn all the ropes of how to run that kind of a business. Then I’d strike out on my own. I didn’t need to check YouTube to see how many views I’d gotten. I didn’t need to depend on the approval of a fickle audience. I already had everything I wanted in the present.
The future would be completely up to me.