ALMA

I said those words, barely breathing, almost as though it ripped out of that deepest part of my psyche, and I was as awed as Carl, watching him slowly turn after my request. I was thinking about it, yeah. But actually, saying it wasn't in the books for me. My eyeballs flickered from wall to wall as I tried to avoid looking Carl in the eyes.

Even before he showed up here, I'd imagined hundreds of scenarios of me asking him over— for Velma's sake. Maybe that was just a terrible excuse, ...