“You what?”

“I was thinkin’ about, uhhh…well, joining their crew.”

She just gapes at him.

They both sit back on the bed, and he tells her about visiting Quan in juvie, and the sequence of events that led him to Martel’s doorstep. At some point he starts crying. Which he’d normally be embarrassed about. But he’s not because it’s the best he’s felt since…well, since before he can remember.

Granted, part of feeling so good probably has to do with being wrapped in SJ’s arms with his head on her shoulder. Jus has no idea when that happened, but here they are.

He can imagine Manny calling him a punk for letting her hold him while he cries like a big-ass baby, but instead of making him sad, the thought makes him smile—he can also imagine Manny saying Took you long enough, fool.

After a few minutes of silence, SJ lets him go, and he sits up. “Thanks for that.” He smiles at her.

She doesn’t smile back.

“You okay?”

“Justyce, do you like me?”

“Huh?”

SJ clasps her hands in her lap. “Like…I know you’re going through a lot right now…”

“But?” he says.

She looks at him. “I can’t keep doing this to myself, Jus.”

“What are you talking about, S?”

She sighs. “Okay, this is the thing: I’ve had a crush on you since tenth grade.”

“For real?”

“Yes. At first, that’s all it was, didn’t expect anything to come of it. But then last semester, we started talking more and spending more time together, and it like…evolved.”

Jus doesn’t know what to say.

“Problem is, I don’t really know how to read you. Sometimes it seems like you’re into me, but other times you’re kinda withdrawn. Sometimes you look at me in a way that makes me wanna put the world on a platter and hand it to you, but other times, you won’t look at me at all.”

“Damn, S.”

“As much as I enjoy your friendship and company, I can’t keep giving myself over to this hope we’ll become something more. I need to know where you stand. So tell me the truth.” She looks him right in the eye. “Do you like me, Jus?”

He gulps. “Uhh…I, uhh…”

“Oh my god. You totally don’t.”

“Huh? I didn’t sa—”

“You hesitated!”

Jus peers down at his brown hands and sees Manny’s watch.

“You know what? It’s fine,” she says. “We can still be frien—”

“S, I like you.”

She glares at him. “Don’t just say it to shut me up, Justyce.”

“I’m not! I do like you, I swear! More than I’ve ever liked any girl.”

“Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’?”

He sighs.

“Melo, right?” she says.

“What? No! Melo and I are done. As in never-gonna-happen-again.”

“So what is it? Is it me?”

“No! It’s…” He looks around the room. Anywhere but at her. “It’s complicated.”

She drops her chin. “Just forget it.”

“Wait! No!”

It’s now or never, dawg, Manny says in his head.

Jus turns to face her fully. “S, I’m sorry. For confusing you. You’re right. I never said how I felt cuz I was scared to.”

She fiddles with her hands and doesn’t respond.

Jus takes a deep breath. “This is the thing,” he says. “My mom…Well, she’s not real keen on me, uhh…dating girls who aren’t African American.”

SJ draws back. And then her head cocks to one side. “Really?”

“Yup. It’s been since I was little, but she’s gotten more adamant about it since—” He cuts off.

“Since the shooting,” SJ says.

“Yeah.”

She sighs.

“But I don’t care anymore,” Jus says.

“Huh?”

“About what she thinks. I don’t care.”

SJ lifts an eyebrow and crosses her arms. “And I’m the Easter Bunny.”

Jus laughs. “Okay, I care but…” Jus takes in her face. Sees what he’d be passing up. “I can’t let it stop me,” he says. “Life is too short.”

She bites her lip. It drives Jus absolutely crazy.

“Let me make it clear right now,” he says. “I like you, Sarah-Jane. No matter my mom’s opinion, you mean a lot to me, and if you’ll have me, I’d love to take you out sometime.”

Her eyes narrow.

“Like on a date.”

“I know, numbnuts.” She rolls her eyes. And smiles. “You’ve never called me Sarah-Jane before.”

He grins.

She blushes.

“Can’t lie: it’s real fun making your cheeks all red,” he says.

“Shut up!” She punches him.

It makes him laugh and want to kiss her. “So? What’s up? We doin’ this?”

She covers her face. “Will you stop making me blush!”

“Nope.”

“Ugh!” She huffs and drops her hands. “You’re all in?”

“I’m all in, girl.”

Her eyes narrow for a second, and then: “Okay.” She smiles again.

Jus shakes his head. “Had to make me sweat for it, huh?”

“Just returning the favor.”

“Touché.”

A beat passes, and then: “Can I tell you something?” she says.

“You mean there’s more?”

“Shut up. This is serious.”

“Okay…” And now he’s nervous.

She takes a really deep breath and shifts her gaze across the room. “Seeing you with all those tubes in your body was probably the lowest moment of my life, Jus. To think I spent all that time being stupid, then almost lost you?” She shakes her head.

“I felt the same way when I saw you at the funeral.”

Silence.

Then: “Justyce?”

“Yes, Sarah-Jane?”

“Can we agree not to be that stupid again?”

He smiles and drapes an arm around her shoulders. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Transcript from nightly news, May 21

Anchor: Good evening, and welcome to the Channel 2 Nightly News.

In our top story tonight, investigators say a fire at the home of former Atlanta Police officer Garrett Tison was deliberately set.

Investigator: Arson was our initial suspicion due to the number of threatening phone calls and letters Mrs. Tison has received during her husband’s detainment. We’re now able to confirm that this fire was started from the outside.

(Cuts to picture of house’s charred remains.)

Anchor (v.o.): Police have apprehended three teenage boys who were seen in the area on the night of the incident. Beverly Tison, Garrett’s wife, sustained multiple second-degree burns, leaving her in serious condition.

Anchor (cont.): Tison’s trial in connection with the January shooting that left one teenager dead and another wounded is set to begin approximately five weeks from today.