“Acting? Why?”

“He thinks I’m too young. Wants me to grow up a little first.”

“But your mom is fine with it?”

“Very. The consummate stage mom. And it’s what I love to do, so I’m glad at least one of them has supported me. It’s hard to be taken seriously as an artist. You know.”

“I do. I’m lucky neither of my parents have given me grief about art.”

“You are.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I freed it. It was a text from Cooper.

I’m sick. Come take care of me.

I held up my phone for Lacey to see.

“Tell him no. You’ve lasted four days. He’s going to ruin our plans. No seeing him until Sunday.”

I texted back: I’m sure your mom is doing a perfect job of taking care of you.

Parents are out of town.

Can’t Iris take care of you?

I’m on death’s door. Please.

“Gah!” I grunted in frustration. “He said he’s on death’s door.”

“Abby,” she said in a warning tone.

“I know, but what if he’s really sick and all alone?”

“He has Iris, remember?”

“That will just further their relationship if she’s there to take care of him while he’s sick. The fact that he’s texting me says a lot, right?”

“It does. It says our plan is going to work.”

“So I’ll just go check on him.”

Lacey leveled me with a cold stare. “You’re going to go no matter what I say, aren’t you?”

“He’s my friend.”

“I know. Get out of here. Hopefully he’s incoherent and our plan will still work.”

I smiled. “Thanks for everything.”

She hugged me. “Text me Sunday night with a detailed report.”

“I will.”

She swiped up the heels she’d dropped at the foot of her bed. “Take these just in case you can’t find any. Sacrifice is the start of any great relationship.” She smiled. “Yes, you can put that on a T-shirt.”

I took the shoes and ran out of the house. My heart was pounding. I’d let Cooper talk me into coming over so easily because I missed him.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Amelia let me in when I got to Cooper’s house.

“Where is he?”

She pointed to the hall.

I dropped my bag by the front door and made my way to his room. I knocked softly on his door. “Hey, it’s me.”

He just groaned.

“You were well enough to text ten minutes ago. Have you deteriorated that much since then?” I walked into his room. The only light came from a small desk lamp, so it took my eyes a bit to adjust. He lay on his bed, his breathing labored. I put my hand on his forehead. It was burning up.

“Wait, you’re really sick?” I had kind of thought he might be faking it a little or overplaying it to get me over. “You have a bad fever. Have you taken any medicine for this?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“Maybe.” His lips were dry and cracked, and his words came out as a whisper.

“How long have you been like this? For longer than today?”

“What?”

“I’ll be right back.” I searched for his sister and found her eating ice cream in front of the television. “Has Cooper taken anything for his fever?”

“No. He got home about three hours ago and went straight to his room. I tried to wake him up to ask him if Mom left us any money for dinner, but he told me he was sleeping.”

“So this just started today?”

“I think.”

“Okay. I have money if you want to order a pizza or something.”

“Thanks!” She ran to the phone and I went to the medicine cupboard. I found a bottle of NyQuil. I also wet a rag. With my offerings in hand, I went back to his room.

“Hey, sickie, sit up for a sec. I need you to take some medicine.”

“Abby?”

“Yes.”

“What are you doing here?”

“You texted me. Now come on, sit up.” I helped him sit up. He took the medicine and lay back down on his side. I placed the wet washrag on the back of his neck, where he felt the hottest. “How did this happen?”

“Dunno,” he mumbled.

“If I make you some soup will you eat it?”

“Not hungry.”

“What do you need?” I flipped the rag to the other side.

“Just stay with me.”

“Okay. I can do that, but if you get me sick I won’t be happy. I have a big show in two days.”

He smiled a little and I crawled into bed next to him, sitting against the headboard instead of lying down.

His arm immediately went over my lap and his forehead found my hip. I could feel the heat radiating off him. I hoped the medicine helped soon, because I didn’t like seeing him like this. I moved the rag from his neck to his temple and lightly ran it along his face.

“You’ve been gone this week,” he said.

“Just busy.”

“It’s annoying.”

I smiled and pushed his hair off his forehead.

“I’m cold,” he said with a shiver.

“You’re actually very hot.”

“I know.” One side of his mouth attempted a smile.

“Wow, even incoherent you can still pull out the jokes.”

He let out what he probably thought was a small laugh but was really more of a moan.

The cloth was now warm and I moved stand up so I could rewet it, but his grip around me tightened.

“I just need to make this cold again, and get you some crushed ice to chew on, okay?”

“Don’t leave.”

“I won’t leave. I’ll be right back.” I pried his arm off my waist.

Amelia was in the kitchen when I got there. “Did you order pizza?”

“Yes, a little while ago. They said thirty minutes or less.”

I pulled a twenty out of my bag and handed it to her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “Is Cooper going to be okay?”

“Yes, he’ll be fine. He just has a fever. I’m sure it will be gone by tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’ll wait for the pizza guy.”

“Come get me when he comes, okay? Don’t answer the door by yourself.”

“I am fourteen, you know.”

I gave her a hard stare.

“Okay, okay.”

With ice and newly cooled rag, I went back to Cooper’s room. He appeared to have gone back to sleep.

I laid the rag across his forehead and set the ice on his nightstand. I sat down next to him again. It was rare that I got to stare at Cooper for long uninterrupted moments like this. But as I sat next to him, his arm around me again, his eyes closed, I couldn’t help it. He had long blond eyelashes that curled up. His nose had a knot in it from where he broke it falling off his quad when he was a kid. His lips, which were normally soft and full, were dried and cracked. Man, did I love this boy so much.

His head was still on fire, and I was worried. I picked up some ice and ran it along his lips. Tingles spread from the back of my neck all the way down my arms. No. What was wrong with me? I dropped the ice back in the cup, clenched my hands into fists, and forced them to my sides. I sat like that for a long time, listening to him breathe, willing his body to heal.