So, there Zander and I were, trying to saw off our gums and look at them under the microscope. And there I was looking into the microscope, Zander close beside me.

He said, “Do you see the miracle of your cells?”

And I couldn’t see them. But I wasn’t even thinking about them. Who could care about the miracle of cells when the greatest miracle of all time, Zander Haaf, was standing right beside me, so close I could smell the Tide on his T-shirt.

And then it came out.

Even though I was still staring into the microscope, it came out then and there.

“Zander?” My face buried in the microscope.

“Yes?” he whispered. I could feel his breath on my ear now. Oh God.

“I’m in love with you, too.”

I can’t believe I said it! And thank God my face was stuck to the microscope because then he was gone.

Gone! He left his spot behind me, and then I was alone at the microscope, and I blew it!

I looked up, confused.

He was sitting back at our table.

He was sitting with his head in his hands.

What?

Oh God. Did he hate me?

Was this whole thing a joke?

Mr. Eckdahl told us to take our seats and I sat back down at our table, next to Zander. Who still had his head in his hands.

“Um . . . I’m . . . sorry?” I said then, not knowing what to do.

His head popped out of his hands. “Sorry?! Oh, no no no no.”

I’m not sure what the look on my face was at that precise moment. Just imagine utter confusion. However that looks to you.

“Don’t you see, Daffodil? Don’t you see?” He leaned in and his face was flushed but there was a smile on it. “This changes everything. Everything.”

And, again, I was flummoxed. But Zander leaned in, his eyes on fire. A kind of blue-green fire made of giddy.

“I am going to make you the happiest girl in Nebraska, I swear.” Then he paused for a moment, thinking. “You know what, Daffodil? This is the best part. This is the best part of my entire life.”

And he looked up at me, then. Even though Mr. Eckdahl was blathering on about cell rejuvenation, and even though it was bright daylight, and even though it wasn’t even noon, he spontaneously lunged over and kissed me, right then and there, on the mouth.

In Biology 101!

And he was right.

That was the best part.

Every moment.

Every cell.

Every breath.

Until spring.

Until that night in spring.

Chapter 32

I read through almost two entire books in the public library before returning them to the shelves, A Field Guide to the Yukon Wilderness and A History of Scarlett Mills. The cover of the first book was, you guessed it, a field of wildflowers on a grassy plain, with lots of trees involved. Tips about hiking. What to do when encountering wildlife.