Everything Is Fine

Paige

I stroked the top of Francis’s head in Lauren’s office. For the first time, noonday sun poured in her big windows. Tom rearranged my appointments permanently to line up with when most people at Henley and Stephenson would be taking their lunch so I missed as little as possible. Part of me thought that was sweet. The rest of me had no idea what to think about Tommaso anymore.

“So, our longest break yet.” Lauren smiled. “How was your weekend?”

In my mind’s eye, Tom cupped my face gently, somehow both in my dream-bedroom and on the back of the snowmobile. I’d been avoiding him since then.

“I did the homework we talked about,” I blurted.

“Great!” Lauren scribbled a couple notes in a new color of pen. “Tell me a little about it?”

I ran her through the steps, through our loose plans for achieving them. Every time she looked like she was about to ask another question, I invented another detail to tell her to avoid it until I finally ran out.

“Wow,” she said. “It’s awesome that you were