Page 42 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout
Beau leaned against the brick wall. “That usually comes with rain.”
“Tomorrow is my birthday.”
“I know.”
“That means tonight, Henry and I should be lying out in the grass and wishing on a star.”
Beau and I made wishes all the time. But birthday wishes, well, they have to mean something. I wiped my face angrily.
When does it stop, Mom? At what point do I notneedyou as much, miss you as much? Never, right? Do you ever stop needing your mom? Did you eventhinkabout that? Or about Dad? He needs you too. He folds towels wrong. He can hardly cook. He always forgets to buy paper towels. When dinner is ready, he pulls your chair out like he’s waiting for you to sit in it.
“Clouds or not, stars are always around.” Beau nudged my shoulder. “I promise. I’ll find you one.”
I skipped the rest of my classes, and Henry must have said something to Dad about it because when he got home that night, he came to my room. I pretended to be asleep. The bed shifted when Dad sat beside me.
“I wish you knew how much she loved you and would hate to see you upset.”
After he left, I thought about throwing on my jacket and climbing up to the roof, but the rain continued to pound, yet in between pelts, I heard a louder tap on my window.
Flipping on the light, I saw Beau. He motioned impatiently at the glass, and I clamored out of bed to slide it up. He handed me a plastic bag before lifting himself in and falling onto the floor.
“What are you doing?” I whispered. Dad was probably asleep, but I didn’t need to take any chances.
He stood, pulled off his rain jacket, which was soaked, and left it on the floor by the window before toeing off his sneakers. He reached for the bag.
“Turn that light off.”
I walked around the bed and flipped the switch, staring at his shadow.
“Lie down,” Beau told me, and even though he couldn’t see my face, he could obviously feel my questioning stare. “Just do it.” He bent, reaching for something along the wall.
I locked the door and climbed into bed.
“Close your eyes.”
I did as told and could hear Beau place something on the nightstand before the bed shifted, and I could feel the warmth of his body beside mine. I held my breath.
“Open.”
Cautiously, I lifted my lids, but when I saw what Beau had done, they flew open. A gasp escaped my mouth. My room was covered in hundreds of stars—on the ceiling, the walls, the curtains, against my dresser. I raised my head to look past Beau at the end table, where a small globe night-light gleamed.
“I told you I’d find you a star.” Beau looked at his watch when I lay back down. “It’s 11:07. You still have time.”
I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, Beau was staring, his focus bouncing between my eyes and lips nearly at the same pace my heart raced.
“I wish you’d kiss me.”
A frown struck Beau’s face. “You aren’t supposed to say it out loud.”
I turned, inching closer. “Then make it a dream come true.”
Honestly, it was the best first kiss I’ve ever had. There wasn’t anything awkward about it. Our teeth didn’t bump, his head went one way and mine the other. Beau’s lips were soft but firm, and he tasted like a memory—sweet, light, and dreamy. I couldn’t even remember being upset or angry minutes earlier. Maybe this is what you meant, Mom, when you used to say, “When it rains on your parade, dance in it.” You never really know what surprises you might find in the clouds.
Under the neon stars on my ceiling, we kissed and kissed, and everything fell into place. And I’m starting to think, even though we were apart, even though we grew up, everything between us stayed exactly as it was.
As a kid, Beau always said yes to a game of tag, to riding our bikes down hills we knew were too steep. He said yes to jumping out of a tree. And now, at eighteen, Beau said yes to kissing me, and when he moved his body—warm even though damp clothes—on top of mine, I opened my eyes just for a second and narrowed in on one, tiny star hovering above us.
I had no idea how I could focus on anything other than Beau’s warm lips sliding down my neck, whispering, “You don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed about kissing you.”
