“Gee, thanks for your support.”
Kylie looks annoyed. I try to pull it back, but I’m feeling under attack. “Look, I’m doing the best I can under the circumstances.”
“I get the pressure. It’s all going to be hard. I may need a plan B, C, and D. But you know what? I would be so pissed at myself if I didn’t give it a shot. And just maybe, when I’m thanking my parents in my Oscar acceptance speech, everyone will regret telling me I couldn’t do this. Including you.”
“You’re kind of a walking contradiction. At Freiburg you’re like a scared little mouse. At least that’s the impression I get.
You keep your distance because you don’t want to risk being rejected, or whatever. But then, when it comes to your future, you have this incredible confidence. You know exactly what you want, and even though it’s a crazy dream, you’re going to do it. Nothing can stop you.”
“Does that make me an idiot?”
“No. It makes you very cool.”
We look at each other. It breaks the tension, but in its place is an undeniable attraction. I’m not sure what to do about it. I’m trying to keep in mind that I’ve got a girlfriend, but it’s slipping away.
“You’re exactly like me, Langston. Just in reverse.”
“How do you figure?”
“You’re the most confident guy around when it comes to Freiburg. But then, in real life, you don’t believe in yourself enough to follow your dreams.”
“That sounds like some kind of cheesy line from a movie.”
“Don’t knock cheesy lines from movies. They can be totally inspirational. Please pass the cheese.”
“Photography is more of a hobby.”
“Hobbies are for wimps who don’t have the guts to follow their passion.”
“See what I mean? Your confidence is so strong it’s obnoxious.”
“Okay. Have fun sitting in an office for the rest of your life, doing something you don’t want to do.”
“How am I going to support myself being a photographer? Especially after my family cuts me off?”
People pass us by, on their way to the festivities. We should probably shut up and go look for Will. But we’re in it now.
“Oh my God, Max. We aren’t supposed to say stuff like that when we’re eighteen. If everybody just thought about money, and making the safe choice, there would be no art in this world, no music, nothing interesting. I’d rather starve.”
“You’re used to not having money.”
“That’s kind of insensitive.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. In a way, you’re lucky. You know you can live without it and be fine. I don’t know if I can do that.”
“You’d be fine, Max. Plenty of people are happy doing what they want and never making a gazillion dollars.”
“Listen, Kylie, you’ve given it your best shot. And maybe at a different time or place you could have convinced me, but not now. After my brother disappointed my dad, my telling him I don’t want to go to law school would kill him, sooner than already expected.”
“Okay, well, maybe after law school, then.”
I can see by her body language that Kylie is backing down. The mention of my dad’s imminent death is making her uncomfortable.
“Maybe your dad will actually be okay. And then you can do what you want. People defy the odds all the time,” Kylie says. I know she’s trying to be nice, but I’m so sick of everyone refusing to accept the inevitable. What’s the point?
“I know it’s weird to say that my dad is going to die, but, you know what? It actually makes me feel better. No one ever says it. My mom certainly doesn’t. The doctors don’t. They talk about the next step, alternative treatments, attacking it from another angle. He’s got inoperable cancer in his brain. It’s just a matter of time. I’d like someone to just say it.”
I’m suddenly fired up again without realizing how I got here. I’m breathing hard. Kylie takes a step toward me and then, tentatively, puts her arms around me. I relax into her body. It feels so good in her arms, I could stay here for a while. I put my face in her hair. My arms wrap around her body. I pull her close. Breathe her in. My cheek presses against her cheek. Her skin is sticky, warm, sweet. I turn my face, and my lips press lightly against her face…
And then, SPLASH!
Water rains down on us from out of nowhere.
Kylie and I pull apart and both turn to see Manuel’s son, Manu, standing in front of us, laughing. He holds an empty bucket. Manuel comes tearing around the corner, wearing a donkey mask, carrying two liter bottles of water like loaded pistols. He douses Manu and the two double over laughing.
Kylie and I stare at them like they’ve lost their minds. I mean, what up, people?
Manuel pulls off the donkey mask and throws a wet arm around us.
“Time to get soaking wet. Part of the tradition of St. John the Baptist is to throw water at each other, or dunk people in the sea. You two are not nearly wet enough. Manu…get ’em.”
Manu pulls out two squirt guns from his pocket and fires away. Manuel hands us each a squirt gun. Kylie turns her firepower on Manu, and I shoot Manuel straight through the heart. I don’t think I’ve used a water gun since I was ten.
The water fight has changed the mood. Kylie takes a giant step away from me. It feels like hours ago that our faces were pressed together. That moment’s gone.
“Now it’s time to get you two to the party. C’mon,” Manuel says, taking us both by the arm and dragging us down the street and into the pack of partyers. “Have fun!” Manuel tells us. It sounds like a command rather than a suggestion. And then he disappears into the crowd.
“What should we do about Will?” I ask Kylie.
“Dunno.”
“We need to get back for graduation.”
“He’ll turn up,” Kylie says as she walks toward a group of people dancing the merengue in the middle of the street.
I follow her. Kylie watches them, entranced.
“What happened to little Miss ‘We have to do Murphy’s assignment, or else’?”
“Oh my God. Murphy’s assignment. I completely forgot.” Kylie laughs. “If she only knew what that assignment did to us. For the record, I’m totally not doing it.”
“And what about your speech? You don’t care about that, either?”
“Of course I do. Will is going to turn up, trust me. We’ll get back. Let’s just enjoy the party for now.”
And with that, Kylie jumps in. She’s dancing to the music. What she lacks in style, she makes up for in enthusiasm. I watch her from the curb. She looks happy, uninhibited, free. Someone she can’t be at Freiburg.
She’s right. We’ll make it back at some point. I join Kylie, throwing myself into the mix.
I’m standing in Luca Sonneban’s kitchen as Luca holds Tessa’s graduation cap over his head. Tessa is climbing his back like a monkey on a tree, attempting to pry the cap from his hands. She’s clutching at his shirt and laughing hysterically. I might have found this amusing yesterday, but now I just want to smack her.
I wander out back to find Justin Brandt standing on the diving board, holding Ella Bing by her ankles, dangling her over the water. They’re both clearly wasted out of their minds. Ella’s always a little sloppy, but hanging upside down is really pushing things to a new level. Her shirt drapes around her neck, like a scarf, as her breasts dangle freely for everyone to see. It may be the last day of school, but, Jesus, have a little dignity.
“Should I do it?” Justin slurs.