Sarah burst out into a laugh. “That’s the Karyn I know. I was almost worried, you’ve been acting so subdued today. Now the world makes sense again.”
Karyn blinked. “What do you mean?”
Sarah just continued in a low chuckle. “Jon, come over here a second.”
The boy navigated around the front of the car, around Karyn, being careful to make sure he was always closer than Sarah. Whatever was happening, he didn’t want to mess with it. He wanted to trust Karyn.
“Take my keys. Take my credit card.” Sarah placed these two items into Jon’s hand. “Take her to the Oxbone Tavern.”
“After all the money you spent on me today? I can’t!” Jon tried to refuse.
“Too late, it’s done! Don’t worry about it, my dad has like a billion dollars.” Sarah turned and walked down the driveway. “Besides, I skipped gym today. I need to walk home anyway for the exercise.”
Jon just stood there dumbfounded, as Sarah retreated into the darkness. Then he turned to Karyn. “I guess we’re going to the Oxbone Tavern.” He motioned for Karyn to get into the passenger side.
“Good,” Karyn said with a huff. “Acceptable.”
The two got into the car and drove to the only Michelin Star restaurant in Lake Point in silence. Every so often, Jon would turn to Karyn and try to start a conversation, but she would just stiffen in her seat and look out the window.
When Jon parked Sarah’s Miata in front of the restaurant, Karyn finally turned to him, a cold look on her face, arms crossed just below her green leather jacket like a shield. “I don’t trust you. All day there’s been a tiny voice in my head saying that I should give you a shot, and I don’t trust that voice either. But I’m giving you a shot so that I can shut that voice up, not because I like you. I want to be very clear: I do not like you.”
Instinctually, Jon was hurt by Karyn’s words. Especially coming from someone who looked exactly like his best friend. It stung deep to hear Karyn’s voice saying that she didn’t like him.
But the intellectual part of him, the thinking part saw through Other Karyn’s words, and was able to see Real Karyn’s actions. The tiny voice was his Karyn. He didn’t know what she’d done. But he knew that she’d done something. And he trusted her.
“But I trust you,” he said softly but steadily. “I trust the whole of who you are. Whatever you decide after tonight, I trust it.”
This caught Karyn off-guard. Her breath hitched, just a bit. Her arms loosened, just a bit. Her expression shifted, just a bit. All imperceptible as individual actions, but together, all at once, it was just a split second of unguardedness.
Then she turned away and opened the door. “Come on, let’s just get a table.”
