Jioni giggled before she spoke. The color reappeared on her face. She closed the compass and held it close to her. “Thanks. It’s lovely.”
“Mhm.”
“I always knew at the end I’d get to keep the photo,” Jioni teased as she approached the window.
“Yeah, I guess there’s no changing fate when you want something. You’ll always end up getting it.”
Jioni frowned briefly, trying to figure out if that was sarcasm or not. Brandon wasn’t the sarcastic type, but something about his tone rubbed her the wrong way. She brushed off his comment and held her smile long enough for him to see.
“I’m going—but, um, I don’t know if I told you before, but I just want you to know that you’re an amazing friend.”
“You told me that two days ago,” Brandon said. There was sadness written in his eyes, but he grinned.
Jioni sat on the ledge and smiled back for a while—she was frozen; she couldn’t leave; she didn’t want to leave.
Her eyes then shut and she sat on the ledge with her hands folded. Cold air seeped into the cuts on her face, stinging, and everything stung and hurt some more. A hand fell on her shoulder.
“Listen,” Brandon started. “I just want to say before you make such a big decision, you should sleep and think about it first. Think a lot about it. Please.”
Jioni nodded. “Actually, I’ve thought about it. I’ll stay.”
“Good. Then give back your birthday present.”
“Not happening,” She waved then ran down the fire escape.
