“I think we should live-tweet our date to Coney Island,” Kelsey says.

“Yeah, sure.”

“And don’t worry if you don’t win me any stuffed animals. I know those things are rigged.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Maybe we should do the Wonder Wheel a few times, just to make sure we get really good pictures. What if we do it thirty times to commemorate how long you’re in quarantine?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Oliver, are you listening to me?”

I am. Sort of.

I keep thinking about the way Flora said the word girlfriend. It was like she tasted something gross and was spitting it out.

I keep thinking about what she meant by something nice. Was she talking about kissing me? Why would she think that’d be a nice thing to do? It was a nice kiss, even if it wasn’t what I ever would have guessed in a million years my first kiss would be like. Memorable, that’s for sure. Just like Flora is. Memorable. Unforgettable. Like no one I’ve ever met before …

“Oliver?” I realize Kelsey is talking.

“Err, sorry, can you say that last part again?”

“What last part? I just said like a million things.”

I laugh nervously. Busted.

“Well, the most recent thing I said was that thirty trips around the Wonder Wheel will cost two hundred and forty dollars. That’s expensive.”

“Expensive?”

“I mean, we can split it maybe. This is the twenty-first century, after all. Or maybe we could do a crowd-funding thing.”

“Um, let’s think about it. It’s still a while away.”

“Um, not really! You’re getting out of quarantine in less than two weeks. We should go on this first date as soon as possible, don’t you think? Before interest in the quaranteens dies down.”

Less than two weeks. It feels like an eternity and like no time at all. I’ve just gotten put in the same room as Flora again, and already I need to start counting down the nights until I’m not sleeping next to her every night, listening to her breathe.

Though, based on our last conversation, I bet she’s counting down the seconds until she gets to go home—and gets to run away from me.