Chapter 23

I told him Joshy knew the importance of a secret. Kalil said he figured as much, but he laid down some ground rules. They were all very basic; no PDA, no talking about New York around family members, and he suggested we delete any incriminating texts in case of snooping parents. It sounded reasonable to me, especially since the tradeoff was a deeper relationship with Kalil.

The remainder of our high school years were spent balanced between appearing normal in public and finding ways to be affectionate in private without being caught. We both took girls to school dances, but we always found an excuse to bump into each other or dance next to each other in groups. I never did anything without his permission, though. If our dancing became too suspicious, he would give me a look and I would respectfully go back to my date.