Reaping Me Softly

barely missing her head. “What was that for?”

“Stop standing there like a ninny.” The fairy princess pointed. “Are those tears I see?”

“Allergies.” Arianne sniffed. She crossed the room and positioned herself on the bedside chair their mother often slept on. “What was that you were saying about Mom?”

Carrie’s penchant for melodrama resurfaced when she portrayed the perfect lady during a swooning spell. “Oh, what am I to do? No one loves me anymore.”

“My lady,” Arianne played along, “whatever have I done to cause such ire? I only came to inquire about our mother dearest.”

And like a switched channel, Carrie went from classical movie to the news. “She went to work this morning and plans to come back tonight. It’s only you and Dad again, I’m afraid.”

“We manage. You know he took the morning off?”

“Without telling Mom?”

Arianne nodded like a seal being offered a bucket of fish. “Our little secret, he said. And he even griped about being entitled to a morning off once in a while.”

“I’d love to hear him say that to Mom.”

“He wouldn’t dare.”

They shared a giggle.

Moving on to another topic, Arianne said, “What happened last night? Dad said you guys were waiting on news about a possible donor?”

Carrie winced. The pillows seemed to engulf their precious patient, shielding her from harm. It made her look smaller and frailer. The fairy princess wilted.

To the rescue, Arianne jumped out of the chair and gripped the guardrails, ready to banish the source of Carrie’s pain. “Is something wrong? Should I call for Mila? Where does it hurt?”

“Oh, you know,” her highness answered breathlessly, “dialysis day isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Sit, sit, I’m fine.”

“I can call for Mi—”

“Sit down, Ari!”

The sisters had a staring contest until Arianne fell into the chair again. The image of Carrie looking more tired than ever tattooed itself behind her eyelids.

“That pile-up on I-75. There were possible donors from the casualties, but none of them were a match.”

“I talked to Niko Clark today,” Arianne blurted out, unable to take the hint of desolation hiding in the corner of Carrie’s neutral expression.

“Way to bury the lead, sis!” By the power of the sun’s rays, the fairy princess had been revived. “How did that miracle happen? And please don’t tell me you babbled.”

The embarrassment that moved into Arianne’s gut when she’d hit puberty must have been clear because Carrie clucked her tongue several times.

“You babbled. Oh, Ari, I can’t leave you alone for a second. He must have thought you were a total crazy person.”

“Thanks for the support, sis.” Where’s a good foam bat when you need one?

“So, spill, and don’t leave anything out.”

Forgetting the bat, Arianne launched into an animated narration of what had happened: Seeing Niko on the bus, Tammy and Carl getting called away, Mr. Todd asking Niko to be her stand-in lab partner, the acid on the hand accident, which had Carrie in stitches.

“It’s not that funny, you know.” Arianne let the chair give the comfort she needed.

“You’re such a dork,” Carrie said between giggles. “What did you do next?”

“I didn’t do anything. He took me to Nurse Betty’s office. He stayed until I had an ice pack on my hand.” She ran her fingers over her bandaged hand.

“I would have stayed.”

“Ben said the same thing.”

“Great minds.” Carrie’s eyebrows wiggled.

“Oh, but he’s so yummy, sis. I swear, I’d bring home a pint of that any day.”

“Speaking of all things yummy, how’s my fake boyfriend doing?”

“That reminds me…” Arianne disentangled herself from the suddenly touchy-feely chair and rescued her discarded backpack at the other end of the room from the attack of the paperback.

“He wanted me to give you something,” she said, tossing the book aside before unzipping her bag and liberating the plush panda from its depths.

Carrie squealed, her hands stretched out. “He’s so cute! Gimme, gimme, gimme!”

“The panda or Ben?” Arianne handed her the stuffed animal, which her sister proceeded to crush to her chest until girl and animal became one.

“Both.” She gave the panda one more squeeze before subjecting it to a thorough examination. “I name thee Sir Harold.” Carrie’s smile almost made Arianne fall off the chair she’d forgiven and reunited with. “Tell him thanks.”

Regaining some semblance of control over her mental functions, Arianne recited Ben’s message. “He said he couldn’t make it today or the rest of the week. But the weekend he’s free.”

“Coach Simmons having him fill in again?” Carrie plopped Sir Harold on top of her head and balanced him there.

“I don’t know why he refuses to join the team. He’d certainly make it to the regular line up without any trouble.”

“Ben loves baseball, but he can’t abide being on a team for long. He’s more a lone wolf that way.”

“Eww! Will you remove that dreamy, mushy sigh from your voice?” Arianne shuddered. “I keep telling him he should learn to play nice. He could even get a college scholarship the way he plays. Maybe even go pro!”

“Don’t be hard on Fake Boyfriend. He doesn’t need a scholarship. His dad earns enough to send ten kids to any university of their choice. And FB’s an only child.”

“FB?”

“Fake Boyfriend. I’ve decided to abbreviate.”

Arianne chuckled. “I’ll let him know he’s been abbreviated.”

“You do that.” Carrie showed all her teeth. “What’s with the unibrow?”

“Niko.” Arianne took a stab at unraveling the Gordian knot of her brow. “He looked so tired. Like really tired. I’ve never seen him that way before.”

“Worried? Wait.” She lifted an all too fragile hand. “Of course you are. You’d worry if he’d gotten a split end.”

“Carrie!”

“As if I’m not right.”

“Come on, be serious. He really looked like he’s coming down with something.”

“And it’s not even flu season.”

Arianne threw her hands up. Ding, ding, ding. KO! Trying to figure out what was up with Niko would prove to be an exercise in futility anyway. But it didn’t mean she couldn’t torture herself by going over the possible scenarios. He had the flu. He worked several odd jobs at night to survive. Or he helped fight crime as some caped crusader. Hitting a brick wall with the third one, she resolved to ask him again the next day, assuming they’d be chem partners again. Then she remembered the most exciting part of her interaction with Niko said.

“He said I was exquisite,” Arianne said. “What do you think that means?”

“Oh ho!” Carrie clapped her hands. “Maybe he likes you too?”

Ari frowned despite her heart’s fluttering beat. “Carrie, he didn’t even know I existed until today. I think he was just being nice.”

“Don’t be like that.”

“Like what?”

Carrie gestured at her older sister by a year. “I know you don’t look at yourself often, but seriously, sis, you’re gorgeous.”