Finally, Hardy looked up to see Robert and Charlie walking down the hall. They stopped and Robert gave him two thumbs up while Charlie pumped his h*ps and spanked the air. Hardy rolled his eyes and they both chuckled and walked off.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he said to Miracle. “I got carried away.”

“No problem,” she said, holding back a grin. “Feel free to get…carried away as often as you like.” And then she blushed.

Hardy laughed. Miracle was at once shy and introspective, yet spicy and full of life. She never ceased to surprise him. She was an enchanting and intoxicating cocktail.

When Hardy turned to leave, he was brought up short by Cheyenne standing at the end of the hall with two of her cheerleading cohorts. She was staring at him and the look on her face was murderous. He didn’t have to ask why. She’d called him a dozen times since the weekend at the lake. She’d been under the impression there was a chance they’d get back together. He was pretty sure she didn’t think so now.

He gave her a quick smile and headed to his locker, walking past her and her friends without a word. She wasn’t going to ruin his good mood. No one was. He was with Miracle. The rest didn’t matter.

********

Hardy was always anxious for third and sixth periods because he shared them with Miracle. During the week she’d sat in another seat just to avoid him, someone else had claimed Miracle’s seat next to him, a girl Hardy knew had harbored a crush on him since seventh grade.

Now, Miracle sitting across the room was a special brand of torture, although they made a bit of a game of it. They would steal glances at one another throughout the period, smiling knowingly and winking teasingly. Hardy must’ve thought a thousand times about walking over to Miracle, picking her up, throwing her over his shoulder, taking her to the conservatory and making love to her among the orchids for the rest of the day. Needless to say, he learned very little in that class.

And then there was lunch. Miracle had made a friend, Lucy, that shared many of her artistic interests and wasn’t a mean and nasty person like so many of the girls Hardy knew. She didn’t want to completely abandon her by sharing lunch with Hardy, so Miracle still ate with Lucy and Hardy ate with his friends, like he always had.

If it were up to Hardy, he’d spend every waking minute with Miracle, but she was doing it out of consideration for her friend, a big-hearted gesture and one of the things he loved most about her, so he didn’t complain. He just watched her from afar, pretending to be interested in what his friends were doing and saying. But he wasn’t. Not in the least.

Today, he watched Miracle and Lucy make their way into the sunshine, like they most often did. Lucy’s wild mass of tight blonde curls were held away from her forehead by a bright purple scarf that almost perfectly matched Miracle’s frilly shirt. That was as much attention as he paid the other girl. As always, his focus was riveted on Miracle no matter where he was or who else was around. It was a thousand wonders he hadn’t started flunking out. Lucky for him, homework was one of the excuses he’d been using to spend time with Miracle. It seemed Miracle saved him from failing just as she’d saved him from…himself.

“Earth to Bradford!” Robert called.

“Huh?” Hardy worked to tear his eyes from Miracle.

“Man, you need therapy! That chick’s done something to your brain.”

Hardy frowned. “No, she hasn’t,” he defended, but he thought Robert might be right. Miracle was all he ever thought about. “What were you saying?” Hardy directed the conversation back to Robert, but he felt the ache of the frown he still wore. Was it really that abnormal, the way he felt about her?

“I was asking if you were in for some pre-game margaritas at Los Pollos Ranchero. My cousin got a job as a bar back there and he can sneak some tequila into our ‘virgin’ drinks. After that, we’re going to the beach. What do you say, dude? You in?”

“Nah. I’ve got other plans.”

Robert grinned devilishly. “Plans to what? Give Miracle a ride on—”

“Don’t do that, man,” Hardy warned. He knew it was just good-natured teasing, but it rankled when anyone disrespected Miracle, even if it was one of his buddies.

“Do what? Out you? Like we don’t know you’re after that. Come on!”

“Don’t be such a douche. It’s not like that. Just drop it.”

“Oh, now I see,” Robert teased. “She won’t give it up. That’s why you’re so obsessed. You’ve never had a girl say no to you before.”

“Robert, I’m serious. Watch it.”

“Too many cold showers will do that to you, man,” Robert foolishly continued. “They mess with your head. You just need to get into her panties and—”

Hardy was lunging for Robert when Nate stepped between them. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said quickly, putting his arms out. One hand was on Hardy’s chest and the other was pointing at Robert. “You got a death wish, Robert? Just leave him alone, dick. You’re just jealous you’ve never had sex you didn’t have to pay for.”

The people around them broke into playfully insulting comments and teasing laughter, easing the tension that had built between Hardy and Robert. Robert took the joking good-naturedly, although his face was still suspiciously red. Hardy backed off, grateful his best friend had stepped in before Hardy really lost it. He’d have to watch that in the future.

He knew Miracle had gotten into his heart. Now, he had no doubt she’d gotten into his head as well.

After lunch, Hardy made haste in getting to his car to await Miracle. When he saw her emerge from the double doors, waving goodbye to Lucy as she split off to the left, he straightened from where he’d been leaning against the passenger side door. Miracle looked up and smiled brightly as soon as her eyes met his. Hardy’s stomach flipped over.

The closer she got, the more relaxed he felt, as if she brought with her a peace that he felt nowhere else in the world. He wondered if she felt it, too. He was pretty sure he got his answer when, rather than stopping, she walked right up to him, threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

“The days are far too long. Think I’d fit in your pocket?” she asked lightly when she leaned back to look into his eyes. The green orbs sparkled playfully and Hardy felt his heart turn to mush right inside his chest.

“Today was only a half day.”

“Still…”

“I wish you could. I’d never go anywhere without you.”

Miracle giggled and rubbed her nose against his before stepping out of his arms. “So, where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Hardy said, opening the door for her.

First, Hardy drove to the mall. He parked near the main entrance and left the car running, telling Miracle to wait there for him. He wouldn’t tell her where he was going and there were at least thirty stores inside, so she had no clue. He returned several minutes later carrying a generic plastic bag that held something heavy. Miracle couldn’t tell by the size and shape what it was, only that it was fairly compact and weighty.

Hardy laid it gently in the floorboard behind his seat and then slid in behind the wheel and backed out of his spot.

“Where are we going now?” Miracle asked.

“You’ll see,” Hardy replied, smiling enigmatically.

Miracle was already grinning by the time Hardy pulled into the lot outside the park. He knew it was one of her favorite places; he hoped today would make it special as well.

“Come on,” Hardy said, climbing out and retrieving the bag from behind his seat. He met Miracle at the front of the car and took her hand in his.

Hardy led her past the main park area and through a small patch of oak trees to a knoll that overlooked the collection of gazebos scattered across one corner of the park. They climbed to the top and Hardy stopped.

He looked out over the landscape as if searching for something particular. Then he took Miracle by the shoulders and guided her to a specific spot.

“Stand riiiiiiiight here,” he said.

Hardy positioned her facing a clump of pines on the other side of the knoll rather than the gazebos. Although Miracle found it odd, she said nothing.

Miracle heard the plastic bag rustle just before Hardy hung something around her neck. When she looked down, she realized it was her camera.

She gasped in delight. “It’s fixed!”

“Good as new, he said.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she gushed, turning to wrap her arms around Hardy’s neck in an exuberant hug.

“You’re welcome,” he said, brushing his lips against the side of her neck and feeling his body warm with desire. “I know it’s been a while, but lending you my camera has always been a good excuse to see you,” he admitted. “Why don’t you get it out? There’s film in it and there might be something you want to take a picture of.”

Miracle leaned back and eyed Hardy suspiciously, but did as he asked. Turning back in the direction he’d placed her, she pulled the lens cap off and scanned the landscape through the viewfinder. She was on her second pass when she saw the first one rise above the tree tops.

It was a single pink balloon. Although she wasn’t sure where it came from or what it meant, Miracle snapped a photo of it as soon as she saw it. She was just about to let the camera fall away from her face when she saw the others.

First three or four and then ten or twenty pink balloons crept into the sky. Within seconds, hundreds filled the horizon. Miracle clicked the button on her camera and caught their ascent, capturing the way they rose and then drifted off in every direction, carried away by the light breeze. From their vantage point, the balloons looked like an enormous bouquet of round, pink flowers that grew larger by the second.

When it appeared that no more balloons were being released and the others were not much more than colorful pin pricks against a cloudless blue canvas, Miracle lowered her camera. She turned her wide green eyes on Hardy.

“What was that?”

“My mom’s on pretty much every committee in the town and when I overheard her talking on the phone to another lady about cancer awareness, I suggested she get some pink balloons for the survivors and bring them to the park to let them go.” He watched Miracle’s eyes fill with tears and knew how deeply she was touched.

“Why?” she whispered.

He didn’t need for her to elaborate; he knew what she was asking. “I don’t want you to be afraid of dying. All those people have survived cancer. You just watched hundreds of reasons to have hope drift off into the sky.”

Miracle brought her hands to her trembling lips and then buried her face in them. Hardy could hear her weeping softly. Tenderly, he gathered her into his arms.

She mumbled something into his chest, but he couldn’t understand her so he leaned back. “What?”

“You’re gonna break my heart, aren’t you?”

Hardy grabbed Miracle’s wrists and pulled them apart until they were no longer covering her tear-streaked face.

“Never. I will never hurt you, Miracle.”

He said it with as much sincerity and conviction as he could muster. He hoped she would believe him, because he meant it more than he’d ever meant anything in his life.

Placing her hands flat against his chest to keep her balance, Miracle rose up onto her toes and gently pressed her lips to Hardy’s. It was a sweet kiss and a wet kiss, but not wet with passion. It was wet with tears. Her tears. When she pulled away, Hardy could taste salt on his lips. Miracle eyes pleaded with him. “Please don’t.”

Taking her face in his hands, Hardy leaned his forehead against hers. “I won’t,” he declared. “I promise.”

********

Hardy was trying his best to keep his mind on what the coach was saying as he sat on the bench in the locker room. He knew tonight’s game was important, but for some reason, he just couldn’t drum up any enthusiasm. He was more anxious to get out onto the field and locate Miracle in the stands. She’d promised she’d be there with Mila.

As they took the field, Hardy scanned the bleachers. He didn’t see Miracle right off. Mila either.

“Get your head in the game, Bradford,” Coach called to him when he almost ran into the line of cheerleaders at the sidelines.

“Yes, sir,” Hardy said, dragging his eyes from the stands.

A couple minutes later, Hardy walked to the center of the field for the coin toss. He called heads. It was tails. The choice of the opposing team was to get the ball in the first half. Hardy walked back to the sidelines, scanning the crowd again for any sign of Miracle.

He was getting more and more frustrated the longer he couldn’t find her. He saw his family, his father glaring at him warningly. He saw many faces of people he knew, but there was no sign of Miracle. His first thought was to worry that something had happened to her. If she said she’d come, he believed her.

The game started, but Hardy paid little attention to the drive. He kept turning around to scan the stands.

“Dude, go talk to her so you can concentrate on the game. Man, you are one pathetic loser!” Nate exclaimed, shaking his head.

“She’s not here yet.”

“She’s right over there, Hardy,” he said in exasperation, pointing to the fence that ran between the cheerleaders and the stands.

Hardy’s heart picked up its pace as his eyes followed Nate’s finger right to a smiling Miracle. She was standing with her sister at the bottom of the first row of bleachers. She grinned and waved to him when he spotted her.

Feeling the smile split his face, Hardy waved back. He saw Miracle say something to Mila and then turn to leave, presumably to find a seat. Quickly, Hardy left the other players and jogged to the fence, calling Miracle before she got too far. When she walked back to the fence, Hardy leaned over it and gave her a peck on the lips that made her smile and blush becomingly.