Sweet as Candy: A Novel in Verse

Happy Fourth (And To All, A Good Night)

After another twenty minutes of hushed talking

Izzy returns inside

Alex close behind her.

She sees me on the couch

And sighs

Resting her hand on her temple.

“Go to bed,” she tells me.

“We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

Knowing it’s best not to say anything

I nod in response

Standing up and heading towards my bedroom.

Izzy takes this as a cue to do the same

Turning around and heading in the opposite direction.

Alex gently places his hand on my shoulder.

I turn around to face him

Only to find nothing but kindness in his eyes.

“It’ll be alright,” he promises me.

“She’ll come around eventually. No matter what you do, Izzy’s always gonna be your biggest fan. I promise.”

It’s all I can do not to burst into tears at his words

So I hug him instead.

I wrap my arms around him and squeeze as hard as I can

Burying my face in the soft white fabric of his T-shirt

Still smelling of the coals of the grill.

He hugs me back before pulling away.

“I’ve gotta go take care of Izzy,” he tells me.

“Go try to get a good night’s sleep, alright? We’ll fix everything tomorrow.”

I nod, releasing him and turning on my heel

Heading back down the hallway to my bedroom.

I climb underneath my comforter

And lie awake, listening to the fireworks.

I squeeze my eyes shut

Somehow too full of emotion to even cry

And fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.