Somewhere Between Black and White by Rosa Sophia, Shelly Hickman

themselves. 
If anything, she would have guessed kids their age would think themselves too
cool to partake in such silliness.
    On and on they played like children. During
the next activity, they pretended to talk on the phone, hearing something
hilarious on the other end of the line. They walked around the room, holding
out their imaginary phones to one another as if to share the joke, laughing at
each other’s stories. Sophie caught Evelyn paired up with muscle spasm man, and
she was laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes—at what she did not know.
The man still didn’t look like he was having such a great time.
    In another part of the room, a tiny old
Hispanic woman handed her invisible phone to Sam. The phone must have been
microscopic because she presented it with two fingers rather than her entire
hand. Sam accepted the phone in the same manner, with two fingers, held it to
his ear and said, “Qe pasa?” Then he busted out laughing as if he had just been
told the raunchiest joke he’d ever heard.
    Sophie turned around as the teenage boy brought
his phone to her ear. “Dude! You gotta hear this!” He held his chest,
pretending to catch his breath. She leaned her ear toward his hand, when again
came Sam’s uproarious howling.
    That was it. She could no longer
maintain her composure and began giggling uncontrollably at the ridiculousness
of this whole scene. Evie and Sam were standing opposite each other, and Evie
was doubled over with laughter. Between Evie and herself, Evie had always been
the more reserved, but she was really letting loose. Her mascara had even
smeared at the corner of her eyes. Poor thing. She really needed this, more
than Sophie would have guessed.
    By now, the room could have easily been
a rain forest, it had become so sticky. However, Sophie could not stop laughing
in the midst of the muggy chaos. She pulled her shirt away from her body,
waving it back and forth in an attempt to dilute the humidity. Soon her stomach
muscles ached from her laughter, and she was rapidly overheating, in need of a cool
shower.
    Sam caught her eye from across the room,
and they watched Evie laugh her little heart out. He gave Sophie a wink. She wrapped
her arms around herself before bringing her hand to her mouth, trying to subdue
her amusement, and silently thanked him.
    This day had been a lovely gift. Given
by him. It made her wonder how many days like this she had overlooked in the
past. Since he entered her life, she had acquired this new awareness of such
moments that before had gone unnoticed, taken for granted.
    The crowd of people, the commotion
around her, fell away. This could be it; she may have finally struck it rich.
What did she see in his face that made her feel as if she were the only girl on
the planet?
    His expression softened as he smiled at
her warmly. She marveled at those genuine, thoughtful eyes that conveyed affection
so sincere, so selfless, she was overwhelmed with a gratitude she never thought
possible. Her heart beat evenly, peacefully, strangely locked away from any
fear she had ever possessed.

 
    Fourteen
    The morning after laughter yoga, Sophie
got up feeling more rested than she had been in a long time. Normally, she woke
several times during the night. Last night she didn’t recall a thing after her
head hit the pillow. If only she could laugh like that every day—imagine the
sleep she could get.
    When she called Sam to talk about where
they would have lunch that day, there was despondence in his voice, something
she was not used to.
    “Is everything okay?”
    “No, it’s not,” he said. “We’re gonna
have to cancel lunch.” The emotion in his words scared her. Maybe his mom had
taken a turn.
    “What’s wrong, Sam?”
    “I gotta take Abby to the vet. It’s
time.”
    “Oh, no. You’re sure?”
    “She’s in bad shape, Soph. I can’t watch
her like this.”
    “Do you want me to come with you?”
    “You don’t have to do that. It’ll