“I actually brought you in here to say I’m sorry,” I begin.

“For what?”

“You never miss a chance to take care of me. I can’t think of a better best friend. And I haven’t given you half as much attention as you’ve given me. I should have checked in with you more often. We were in the same house and yet I let you go through everything with your mom alone.”

“Ayo, your mom is my mom too. She’s hurt, and that’s where your attention should have been. And don’t worry; I wasn’t alone. I actually talked to Dell almost every night.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’d call him, we’d talk about my mom, and he’d listen. Then we’d talk about . . . everything, I guess. I even got him into The Great British Baking Show. And now, that’s our jam! Girl, don’t trip. We good.”

I choke back tears and clear my throat. “I have something for you.”

“It’s your birthday. That’s not how it works.”

“Excuse you, I do what I want—I’m fifteen now.”

“Oh, excuse me!” she says playfully.

I hand her an envelope with fancy lettering. She opens it. Her mouth drops. “Ayo . . .”

“I thought now that you and your mom are cool again, maybe you two could use a mother-and-daughter day.”

“An all-day pass to a spa for two? It’s too expensive. I can’t take this.”

“It didn’t cost me anything. My mom helped the owner out with an issue she had, and she gave it to us.”

“Don’t you want it for you and your mom? She’s gonna wake up, Ayo, I know she will,” Nai says, suddenly panicking.

I place my hand on top of hers. “Yes, Nai, she will. And when she does, we will pig out and argue over what show to binge. The spa isn’t really our thing. And besides, I think she’d want you to have it. So take it already.”

“Okay, fine! But only because you’re so pushy.”

I laugh and embrace her. We pull apart just as Dell bursts into the office. “Yo! I’ve been looking for y’all everywhere—guess who’s in the stairwell kissing?”

We all run out to the staircase, just in time to watch Milton and Shawn midkiss! We should be mature, composed, and chill about the whole thing. We aren’t. We start clapping and cheering like we’ve lost our minds. They try to play it cool, but we can see they are just as giddy as we are.