A couple hours later, dumplings have been consumed and Olivia and I have made our way to the front steps to sit and talk. I sit on the steps while she excitedly paces back and forth.

“What do you think high school will be like?”

“Like Kylie. Loud and obnoxious.”

She slaps my arm in jest. “I’m serious!”

I grab her arm and pull until she falls into my lap. “I’m serious too. I don’t really care what high school will be like. You’ll be there, so I’m cool.”

She looks up at me as though I’m the answer to every question she’s ever had, and I mentally vow to always be that for her.

“You have a point.”

I kiss her forehead, nose, and lips then take my hand and pat my stomach. “I could go for a pb&j sandwich.”

You would think I said I wanted to eat human toes the way she looks up at me in horror.

“You’re serious? You just ate your weight in dumplings.”

I shrug. I can always make room for peanut butter and jelly. It’s my comfort food. I tell her this and her eyes soften as she stands and takes my hand, leading me inside to make sandwiches for everyone.

Turns out, high school is different from middle school but also the same. Olivia and I have two classes together—biology and English, and we have the same lunch period—but for the rest of the day we’re separated. Within the first week, we both settle into our friend groups. Me, with a few of the guys I play basketball with in the neighborhood and Olivia with a few of the girls from her gym class.

There are a few girls who I always see giving Olivia shit but she assures me it’s nothing to worry about. I don’t know if I believe her. I don’t hit girls. I think guys who do are the scum of the earth. However, I will call Auntie so she can call her best friend’s daughters, who I call my play cousins, to come handle things. I don’t want anyone messing with my girl.

Today after school, Olivia has soccer tryouts and I can tell she’s nervous. At lunch, everyone chats about their weekends but Olivia just offers one-word responses. She doesn’t even react when I take her butter crunch cookies and switch them with my Famous Amos cookies.

I turn my body so that both of my knees are touching her, and I lean down to whisper in her ear. “You’re overthinking. You’re gonna kill it today.”

Her vacant eyes come to life as she turns her head to smile at me. “You know what I love about you?”

My heart stutters for a moment at her use of the word love. I always thought I’d be an adult before I experienced love like my parents, but then I met Olivia. “What?”

“You always think the best of me. Meanwhile, I was over here distracted by my thoughts of throwing tryouts to spite my dad.”