CHAPTER 43

It was Mal’s idea to pack a picnic and go to her and Molly’s special spot the next day.

To feel the sun on their shoulders and the warm breeze.

Jo and April and Ripley went off to kick some serious tail at foosball, and give Mal and Molly some space.

Pulling a jar of jam out of the picnic basket, Molly looked up at Mal. “Thanks for saving me.”

“Like you said, you were kind of already saving yourself,” Mal said, “with your cool yarn technique.”

Molly smiled. “I guess, but I was really really glad when you showed up. My light was about to go. Not that I’m scared of the dark. But the bottom of a lake is DARK.”

“I was really really glad to see you,” Mal said. “Even though you were underwater in what was essentially a watery tomblike thing.”

“It feels like maybe you’re facing your fear of water,” Molly said. “That’s pretty cool.”

“I’m not really so much afraid of water, I think.” Mal looked down. “Sometimes I think I’m more scared of you.”

“ME?” Molly’s eyes went wide.

“Not YOU YOU.” Mal grabbed Molly’s hands. “I mean, just. When you’re sad, I don’t know why it scares me. But it does. I want to, like, rescue you from being sad. But I know that you can’t actually do that.”

“No, you can’t,” Molly agreed, finishing off her biscuit with Life’s a Peach preserves made by BunBun.

“It’s just . . . I know the stuff about your mom makes you sad,” Mal said. “And I know thinking about going home makes you sad.”

“Yeah, well.” Molly looked up at the sky. “Yeah.

“I mean.” Molly crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, I’m scared thinking about the fact that you’re going to leave. That someday we’ll ALL go home. And you’re going to have this whole other world and I won’t be in it. I’m scared thinking about what I’m going to be like when I’m not here.”

“You know,” Mal said, “no matter where I am, you will always be sitting here in my heart, so I’m NEVER EVER EVER going to forget about you.”

Molly put her hands on her face and Mal wrapped her arms around Molly.

“I don’t want to do stupid math homework,” Molly sniffed.

“I’m going to bury that stupid math homework in a pile of unicorn droppings,” Mal murmured into Molly’s neck.

Which made Molly laugh. “That’s very sweet. But please don’t.

“You know,” Molly said, wiping her tears with her sleeve, “even though I’m afraid of going home, I still know that Claudia deserves to leave. I can see that, right?”

“Right,” Mal said. “But it will probably make you sad if she leaves.”

“Yeah,” Molly said, lying down on her back. “But that’s okay.”

Mal laid down on the blanket next to Molly. Up above, the clouds all looked like hearts. Sort of. Mal willed them to be heart clouds sailing over their heads.

“They sort of look like hearts,” Molly said, pointing.

“Agreed,” Mal said, taking Molly’s hand.

It was a perfect summer day. One of many days that both Mal and Molly would hold in their hearts for all time.