Bungee jumping was... something.

Minho wasn't lying when he said he wasn't scared. He simply just didn't trust the rope.

So he had no problem with doing it, after a while of telling him it was safe. Neither did I mind– it was scary, standing there, but once I jumped, it was fun.

Sage did in fact not jump and no one was going to change her mind, sadly. But I should've expected that. She isn't really the... outdoor activity kind of person.

And now we're sitting, with two families, in an Italian restaurant. My parents and the whole Lee family.

Viviette did not have time to change into something else. I've never seen her eat more carefully than right now, leaning over the table so anything that falls will land on her plate, with two paper towels tucked in her collar, and her mouth wide open so nothing slips out. It's kind of funny.

Oh, we also got the surprise of our lives when the door swung open, and Newt and Sonya walked in with their parents.

As they waved cheerfully at us, their parents were already barking orders and snapping their fingers. Their dad, with his scowl, looked like he was trying to out-grumpy a gargoyle, while their mom, with her stern glare and stiff posture, reminded me of a fool who had misplaced her sense of humor; AKA Madame No-Fun.

They hurried their kids to a table in the corner, probably to get away from other people, because imagine if their kids would socialize!

Thinking back about this, I force my eyes off Sage and rest them on Newt and Sonya. The only person who ends up looking at me as well, is Madama No-Fun.

She holds eye contact, and I don't break it.

"How long has it been since you blinked?" Minho asks.

"Shh. Let me concentrate. I need her to look away first."

"She looks like a deformed fish, way too comfortable with staring. I don't think you're going to win this."

"You're not helping."

Then Minho joins in with the contest. When Finn does too, I nearly give up from laughing. And then Viviette does. Just as Aris joins, Madame looks away.

Our parents give us confused looks when we cheer.

"Aris," after a few minutes, Sage turns to the boy, "Genuine question, are the pencils I bought good? I need some to sketch with and have never used that brand before."

I shift in my seat, attention on. Talking about buying things, though... I turn to Dad. "What can I do at home so I can make money?"

"Mow the lawn."

"For how much?"

"Fifteen to twenty dollars. Depends on how long it takes you and how well it's done."

"Dad, I need like seven hundred!"

"Then you can go mow the lawn every week, until you get there," he says dryly. "And what do you need that much money for? You're not on drugs, are you?"

"No. I broke Sage's phone and I will buy her a new one. She has the IPhone X. But if I get her a new one, I might as well get her a better one. It's expensive, though!"

"Ah, not on drugs."

"No. Why would you think I'd do that?"

"Your pupils are, like, extremely large." He leans closer, grinning. "Especially when looking at that Sage."

"Shut up." I push him away. "Where should I apply for a job?"

"Let me ask this first, how badly damaged is her phone?"

"The whole screen is broken and it's slower. Hard to touch buttons."

"How fast do you want to give her a new one?" Dad shoots Viviette a look. When we notice she's no longer speaking to Aris, we lower our voices.

"As fast as possible."

"No waiting 'till Christmas or something?"

"No. As fast as possible."

Dad hesitates for a second. I'm not sure what he's about to say. "Tell me another thing first before I tell you my awesome idea."

"Yes?"

"What's the real reason you want to get her a new phone? I know you. You're my son. You're very kind, but you wouldn't spend so much money on everyone."

"Yeah, I'm your son. You know exactly why," I say.

Probably not, because I don't either. I mean, I care a lot about Sage. I really like her. She has been my best friend for eighteen years. But I'm not even sure if that's enough for me to voluntarily spend almost a thousand dollars on a phone, a case, and a screen protector.

Like, I want to do this way too badly.

I want to impress her with this way too badly. Make her happy.

"Okay, fine." He sighs, sending the smell of alcohol directly in my face. "Here's the deal: I'll give you how much money you need for this whenever you want me to. In return, you obviously pay me back. You have time to do that until next year, on this exact date. No slacking. I suggest you just pay bit by bit, every month or week."

Immediately, I nod. "Deal."

He pats me on the shoulder, then turns back to Oliver to talk about dad things.

"I give up," Minho announces. "I'm going to Newt."

"No, you're not," Dhalia says. "I don't care if you dislike the parents, you can't join someone at a dinner in a restaurant."

"I'm going to have a word with their parents–"

"Minho," Oliver warns sharply. "Sit back down. Don't ruin the night."

After another hour, we're finished at the restaurant and are walking back home.

"Can we get ice cream?" Sage asks, her eyes sparkling. "The bar closes tomorrow."

I can feel myself smiling at the way her face lights up when the rest agrees. Like every part of the restaurant just fades into the background, and the joy added to her face now also brings a glow to her whole body.

There's a certain amazing thing about the way she can make ice cream sound like it's the greatest adventure to go on. I guess she can make anything sound amazing and worth craving for. Not just ice cream, though. But spending more time with her. To see that smile up close. To make her face light up in that way. I swear– if I succeed in making her face light up every minute of the day, I will melt faster than that ice cream ever would.

"Thomas." Someone snaps their fingers in front of my eyes. And poof, the lights are no longer dim. Sage is no longer standing there. "You seein' ghosts or something? Let's go."

I give Minho a soft push before I follow along, shaking my head at myself.

We walk through the darkness. The town isn't empty. Especially the cafes and clubs. People are walking around, the breeze messing with their hair. None of them get the awesome effect that Viviette gets though, with her long dark hair– which I have mentioned way too many times, now that I'm thinking about it.

"Thomas!" I startle at the yell, that comes from quite a distance. It sounds way too familiar.

My head tilts. Teresa. Next to a fully packed car. Her coat on. Hair in a bun. Standing nervously.

"Go." Hands I recognize as Sage's push me towards Teresa. "We'll meet you at the bar."

This is not the afternoon. I was not prepared for this.

"Uh, hi." I bounce lightly on my feet. "I thought you were already gone." It sounds more like a question."

"Small change of plans," she replies. "I– uhm, sorry for shocking you. You probably don't want to see me. I just didn't want the last memory to be a bad one. A proper goodbye seems fitting."

"Eh, yes."

Some parts of me do want to beg her to stay again. But this time, my mouth refuses to let those words out. It's over.

"So... what kind of house did your parents buy?" I ask.

"It's not very different from the one we currently have. Smaller garden but bigger bedroom," she says.

"And you're going to a whole new school? Even for the last few months?"

"Yeah. I don't feel like travelling an hour every day."

Reasonable.

But it's sad. And before I know it, I've actually told her that, "Kinda sad. You know, spending four years at high school and then leaving right before you can graduate with your friends."

What am I doing? This isn't going to make her feel any better.

"Yeah. But it is how it is." Teresa moves a strand of her hair out of her face. "I don't know what else to say now. Good luck with graduating."

"You, too. You'll make it. Even biology," I assure.

A little smile grows on her face. "Thanks. And, as I said, don't let this... hold you up. It sounds harsh, but just move on. Well, not like I need you to immediately forget everything and hate me, but– well, you know what I mean."

"Don't think about this so much that it'll put my love life on a blockade?"

"Exactly."

I nod. "Alright."

I don't know what the single three days we were apart did to me, but this no longer hurts as much as it did the day she broke up with me. Neither is this goodbye as hard as I thought it would be; AKA the reason I didn't want to go.

The car honks at us, signalling to Teresa they're about to leave.

She sighs a little, a steamy cloud escaping from her. "Bye, Tom."

"Bye, Tes."

I stand rooted to the ground until the car has vanished completely. Then I stand there for another minute, rethinking every single word.

Everything was fine until the actual byes. It just sounded really sad coming from her, which also made the 'Bye, Tes' sound really sad coming from me.

I rub the back of my hands against my eyes. Take a deep breath to dissolve the tightness in my chest. The cool air of the night stings my face and I blame the wind as I blink rapidly.

My head tilts back slightly. I see the stars, take another deep breath, wipe my sleeve across my face, and then head to the ice cream bar.

They've probably finished eating it already, but they'll wait so I can walk back home with them. They wouldn't leave me like that.

Besides, I've got a sleepover streak to keep up. I think three nights is already one of our highest records.

Never mind. I'm convinced we went on vacation for three weeks and I shared a tent with Sage, which immediately means twenty-one days, and at home, we continued sleeping at each other's until school started again. We weren't allowed to have sleepovers during school days while we were ten.

"Hey," I greet Viviette inside the ice cream bar. The rest have already gathered at a table, their food nearly finished. She's standing up, right next to the door. Must've finished her ice cream fast.

She pulls her hands out of her pockets when she sees me. "Hi. How did it go?"

"Quite okay. Less worse than I thought. I'm kind of glad my last memory isn't snapping at her now."

Sage nods, understanding. "That's good."

And she doesn't ask anything else, so I continue as we get in line for my icecream, "We didn't say a lot. Just good luck with graduating, about her new school, and that I shouldn't let this make me unable to move on."

"Mhm."

With most people, hums like that mean they're not paying attention. With Sage, it means she's listening very attentively. So attentive and interested that she doesn't want to interrupt my story by replying with actual words, so she gives a hum that fills me with warmth every time; she's listening better than anyone else ever will.

"Yeah, that's all," I say with a small, kind of forced chuckle. Just then, we're first in line. "Eh... one scoop with mango, please."

"Bowl or cone?"

"Cone, please."

"One cone with strawberry for me," Sage announces.

That does not surprise m– "Huh?" My head snaps her way.

"What?"

"Are you taking a second round or...?"

"No. I waited for you so you don't have to be the only one eating," she says, lying some coins down on the counter.

The fact that she waited hits me way harder than it's supposed to.

It's such a simple gesture, yet my heartbeat speeds up. A simple gesture you'd think people do all the time and with ease, but in reality, it rarely happens.

I can't stop the bright smile that flashes across my face. A real one this time. Not the forced chuckle from earlier. "Thanks, Sage," I say, my voice softer than I wanted it to be.

She can probably see right through me right now and knows that was not intended, but either way, she just smiles back. Kind of like 'I'd do it again in a heartbeat'.

And if she indeed sees through me: 'I'd do it again, as fast as your heart's currently beating'.

As we take our cones to the rest of the group, I feel more lightweight. From both this simple act and the last minute goodbye with Teresa.

"My or your house?" She asks.

I know what she means straight away. "Mine. Extra bathroom and less people."

"I heard that," Minho says, offended.

"Good," I reply.

He grins as I sit down. "Don't want us to hear your little whines at night or something?"

For a split second, my stomach turns at the thought, and that is his fault because he said it and forced me to imagine it. "No," I shoot back. "Just want to spare us from your monster snoring."

A few laughs escape Minho and Finn, and even Aris smiles a bit. Sage is talking to the parents, luckily.

Minho then raises his hand in a mocking way. "Fair enough, man. Fair enough. But don't think you're off the hook that easily," he says with a wink.

As the laughter from the table swells again, a swirl of emotions go through me. There's the embarrassment, sure, but there's also a sense of protectiveness– he's not getting away with that.

The idea of anyone teasing Viviette, even in jest, sends a flicker of defensiveness through me. It's ridiculous, really, because Minho is just being Minho, but still.

I glance at Sage, who's still busy smiling at something Dad just said, unaware of Minho's words.

I roll my eyes at Minho, but there's a smile tugging at my lips. "Don't worry, Minho," I add, "I'll make sure the 'whining' doesn't keep you up. You need your beauty sleep more than anyone."

And then finally, for probably the first time of my life, I've out-sassed him. Made him remain silent and shake it off with some laughs.