Until the Sun Burns Out by Amber Garza

a fire in my belly. I had to show her. I had to prove her wrong.
    I wasn’t sure why it was so important to me. Grace was having a terrible summer. I shouldn’t have wanted to flaunt Austin in her face.
    Then again, a part of me always felt like I was below Grace. I knew that if a boy was to want to date one of us, it would’ve been her. She did have those two boyfriends, after all. It’s not that she ever made me feel that way, I just did. This was the first time I had something she didn’t.
    The only caveat was that I had no idea how to get the picture. Like I said, sneaking it wasn’t working. Besides, even if I was successful I’d look like some crazy stalker if he caught me.
    “Summer girl,” Austin interrupted my thoughts.
    My face flamed as if he could read my mind. “Y-y-yeah.”
    “Luca beat me at the game, so what do ya say the three of us get some ice cream?”
    “Sure,” I answered, my gaze sliding over his shoulder to a smiling Luca. I giggled at his look of pure triumph.
    “Cool, because I promised Mr. Video Game Champ over there a triple cone.” Austin pointed to Luca with his thumb, and Luca’s smile widened so large it looked like it might split his face in half.
    “Wow. A triple cone, huh? You think Dad’ll be okay with that? We haven’t even had dinner,” I pointed out.
    Luca shrugged, wrapping up the video game chords. “He’s busy working. We don’t even have to tell him.”
    “Nice try.” Walking past him, I mussed his hair with my hand. It was sticky with sweat, and I winced. “I’ll go tell him, and I’ll be right back.” Leaving Austin and Luca in the family room, I sauntered through the kitchen toward the office. Dad’s voice floated under the door. Assuming he was on a work call, I pressed my back to the wall and waited. Blowing out a breath, I listened to him. But something about his tone caused the hairs on the back of my neck to prickle. Shoving off the wall, I moved closer to the office. The door was open a crack, and I peeked in. His chair faced away from his computer, and the screen saver was up, bubbles popping all over the screen. His lips were curled up at the corners like he was smiling, but he was talking so softly I couldn’t make out what he was saying. It seemed intense though. He swung his chair to the right by pushing on the ground with the toe of his shoe. I couldn’t move out of the way in time. He spotted me, his eyebrows shooting clear up to his forehead. After saying a swift goodbye, he clicked off his phone. Dropping it on his desk, he stood.
    “Hey, Mina.” The casual smile he offered did nothing to erase the reminder of how he appeared a moment ago. Clearly, he hadn’t wanted me to know who was on the phone. As if sensing the question lingering on my tongue, he said, “Just a work call. What’s up?”
    Studying him, I decided that he must have been telling the truth. Why would he lie? And it would make sense that he would seem intense talking about work. He loved it. It was his passion. Letting it go, I said, “Luca beat Austin in a video game and so Austin has to buy him a triple cone. That okay?”
    Dad chuckled. “A triple cone, huh? Yeah, I guess it’s fine just this time. I still have a lot of work to do anyway, so we’ll have dinner late tonight.” Reaching into his pocket, he fished out his wallet. Yanking out a twenty, he thrust it into my hand. “Here you go. Get yourself a triple cone too.”
    “Ugh.” I glanced down at my stomach. “I don’t think I need a triple cone.”
    “You’re gorgeous, Mina,” Dad said, causing my cheeks to burn. “You can have as much ice cream as you want.”
    “Thanks,” I mumbled, a little uncomfortable. But the truth was that I appreciated the comment. It made me feel more confident as I strutted into the family room to meet Austin.
    “Triple cones it is,” I announced in response to Luca’s expectant expression.
    “Yes!” Luca punched the air the way he always did when excited.