Christine’s Reviews > Sicken of the Calm > Status Update

“Ezra has impulse-bought a whole bag worth of chocolate, sweets, and some special-edition Captain Crunch. I’m just along for the ride, basking in his child-like energy, the feel of his wide grin every time he turns it toward me.

This is exactly what I want for the rest of my life, I think terrifyingly. Someone who will drag me out at one in the morning and gets this excited by a box of cereal.”

“his body turned toward me even when other people are talking, his eyes often drifting to mine. It’s an odd and exhilarating feeling, to be the centre of somebody’s attention by the virtue of simply existing close to them. It’s a warm glow in the chilly October air.”

It was as if we had created an alternate dimension just for us, where Ezra made the rules and I just had to followed them. I didn’t have to question the whys or what-ifs in that world. It was just him and me, and whatever his voice created.

“Um, ‘cause you’re straight,” he says, and my heart starts beating a little faster.
“No, I’m not.”
It takes a moment for him to react. For a few seconds, he just stares at me, and I can see the surprise rearrange the little muscles of his face—his eyebrows and his mouth, the skin around his eyes. He sits up, turning toward me. Our knees are almost touching.