I love the way you have no idea what you want to do with your life but everything that comes along is an option.

I can’t think of any more, but that’s because I love the way you’re not just a random collection of quirky traits.

I will stand on the front step for five minutes. If you accept my invitation to talk, please come downstairs.

(No kiss required.)

And then the last one.

But if I’m being creepier than Lloyd Dobler then just say the word and I’ll leave.

I held my breath and, soaking wet, I carefully slid down the bonnet of the car and hurried to stand on the front step of the house. Oliver pressed start on his phone’s stopwatch.

4:59

4:58

4:57

I took a deep breath with my eyes closed.

4:40

I didn’t have to wait as long as Drew Barrymore. The door opened. Ruby stood in the hallway with one hand on the door handle and one hand on her hip.

“Did you memorize all of Hugh Grant’s ums from Four Weddings?” she said, her eyes narrowed.

“I wrote a transcript.”

She pursed her lips.

“OK, then. We can talk.”

Ruby and I sat on a bench in the back garden. A large deliberate gap between us.

“Oliver, you can leave now,” I said, shooing him.

“Oh, so you just want to use me for my hose and then kick me to the curb?”

“Gross, no one is interested in your hose.”

Oliver pantomimed stomping off like a scolded child.

“So are you two friends now or . . . ?” Ruby smirked.

“Friends. Allies. Enemies who have grown accustomed to one another.” I shrugged. “Who can say?”

Then nothing. Or at least no talking. Bees buzzed, birds chirped, the grass became super interesting.

“You asked to talk,” Ruby said after a moment. “Don’t you have anything to say?”

“I do.” I picked paint chips off the weathered bench. “But I’m afraid when I finish talking it won’t be enough and I’ll have to go. I’m kind of stealing a few extra seconds with you.”

I chanced a glance at Ruby, but her expression didn’t give much away. She wasn’t explicitly fuming, though, which I took as a good sign.

“I know I put up all these boundaries between us,” I began, and I sat on my hands to stop from fidgeting. “I thought at the time it was healthy. That if I had these strict rules and I followed them then I wouldn’t get hurt. But I wasn’t very good at following the rules and I’m beginning to think that’s a good thing. I had a rule not to get involved with anyone who could potentially like me back and I broke it to hang out with you all summer. And the rule of only having fun with someone, well, I broke that too.”