Hot Neighbor:Are you on the plane yet?
Naomi:Just sat down. They just announced that we’re supposed to turn our phones off.
“How did Demonic Husky Eyes take it when you canceled?”
Anne’s question snaps my attention away from my phone. I’m so confused by the combination of words she just said that it sounds like she’s speaking another language. I frown, and when she doesn’t repeat herself or attempt to clarify, I’m forced to ask.
“What did you just say?”
“When you canceled,” she repeats.
“I heard that. I have no idea what the rest of that sentence meant.”
“Demonic Husky Eyes,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “You know. Your hot neighbor with the super intense blue eyes who you were supposed to be on a date with right now?”
“Oh.” I shrug. “He took it fine.”
“You did tell him, right?”
“Of course I did. I was just confused by what you called him.”
“Come on. You don’t think he has the eyes of a demonic husky?”
“I mean, now that you mention it, I guess I can see it. But does it have to be demonic? That makes him sound creepy.”
“If you would just tell me his name, I wouldn’t have to call him Demonic Husky Eyes at all.”
“His name is Jake.”
She looks over my shoulder at my phone. When she sees how I have his contact saved, she rolls her eyes. “Seriously? I’m sure a guy that looks like that doesn’t need his ego stroked.”
“I’m only planning on having a little fun with him until I’m out of the building. Besides, he’s the one who saved his number in my phone like this.”
“If you’re gonna go with a nickname, Demonic Husky Eyes sounds better,” she says.
“I don’t like the Demonic part. Maybe just Husky Eyes?”
She purses her lips, frowning. Then she snatches my phone.
“Hey. What are you doing?”
I watch as she changes his name fromHot NeighbortoHusky Eyes.Then she powers my phone off before I can do anything about it. She hands my phone back to me, and then turns to the window.
“Look at that,” she says. “We’re in the air.”
“Oh. Wow. You’re right.” I had felt when the plane lifted off, but I was too absorbed in my conversation with Anne to say anything about it.
“See? It’s not so bad.”
I watch the tiny houses and cars below us for a moment, and then I reach under the seat in front of me and open my backpack. I pull out a folder.
“What’s that?” Anne asks.
“Reading material to keep us entertained for the next few hours.” I open the folder, revealing a stack of letters that I’ve chosen to let Anne read.
Her eyes widen, and she picks up the first page. “These are from Luca?” she asks.
“These are all the letters he wrote to me in high school.”
