Two Masked Hearts - ✓ #WattysShorts

Eleven

I packed all of Tuesday and part of Wednesday. Miles was busy with school and the port, and I was busy resenting my parents. It worked out. I was close to finishing the master bedroom (where I found many things I wish I never had) when my phone buzzed with a call.

I quickly rushed over to it only to see an unknown number. A part of me had been hoping that it was Miles calling, but then I remembered it could be the lab calling about my COVID test results, so I answered it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Evelyn Turner?" a woman asked on the other end.

"Yes, this is her." My stomach twisted in knots.

"I'm calling from the lab with your COVID test results. Can you give me your date of birth?"

"June 12, 2002," I told her.

"Thank you, Evelyn. You tested negative for COVID-19."

"Thank you so much," I said, beaming.

"No problem. Have a nice day."

"You, too," I said joyfully and hung up. I wondered if I should call Miles and tell him, but I worried about bothering him during school, so I went back to packing boxes with a newfound pep.

About thirty minutes later, as I was finishing up the last box in here, Miles called me. "Hey," I said, very slightly out of breath from running to my phone. I still had a song playing in my head from listening to music while I worked, but I shook it out as vigorously as I could.

"I just got a call with my test results," he told me. "I'm negative!"

My heart swelled with joy. "Me too!"

"That's amazing," Miles said, sounding almost like he couldn't believe it. I, for sure, couldn't. My mind raced with possibilities of what we might do tonight.

"So," I prompted, "now what?"

"Oh," he said, as if he were snapping out of a daze. "Come over to my house. I'll introduce you to my mom and my sister."

"Wow, meeting the parents already?" I asked.

"Fast, I know," he admitted, "but I feel like we're soulmates and I've known you for my whole life." He had a playful lilt to his voice, but I truly felt the same way.

"I can't wait," I told him. "When should I come over?"

"Tonight, for dinner. Six o'clock?"

"Perfect. I'll see you then."

* * *

I pulled up at his house. This time, he was waiting for me on the front steps. I turned off the car and got out, my legs threatening to buckle under me. I was so excited, but so nervous. He smiled as I approached him, and he stood up to meet me. I held a bouquet of peonies that I had picked up on the grocery store. I had taken them out of their original packaging and put them in a vase.

"Hey," he said and reached out his hand. I noticed it was shaking and realized he was probably as nervous as I was. "Watcha got?" he asked, looking at the flowers in my hand.

"Peonies. You said they were your favorite," I told him, reaching out my hand to grab his and watching as our fingers intertwined. As discreetly as I could, I smiled slightly.

Miles led me up the stairs to his front door and opened it. Standing in front of us was the same woman from the book store, but I got to get a really good look at her. She was slim and beautiful. She was aging slightly, her smile lines becoming slightly more pronounced as time passed, but she glowed with a distinguishable youth.