I turned on the radio. Tomorrow was my fourteenth birthday, and I wanted to make my possibly last day alive as perfect as possible. Soul Sister started playing.
Jack, who was sitting next to me, began to sing along.
"Why are you singing?" I asked.
"I just like this song." My could-be or could-not-possibly-be-boyfriend readjusted himself. "Why?"
"I don't know." I looked at the remote nearby. "Do you want to watch Steamboat Willie? Daisy's Dilemma? Brave Little Tailor?"
"What are those?"
I rolled my eyes. "Nobody has any culture these days." I grumbled. Jack looked confused. "Old Mickey Mouse films."
"It will be your fourteenth birthday tomorrow." Jack said, trying to cheer me up.
I turned down the volume on the radio. "Quit it."
"I'm just trying to cheer you up."
"When I might possibly die tomorrow?" It was odd that I'd said that, even though I'd nearly died once in LA and Jack saved me by using a shard of Loculus.
"You know my parents arranged for you to have some Loculus of Healing energy inserted into you so you could live? And they arranged for your family to come and stay on the island with you."
I stared in shock. "My family's coming? Permanent?"
"Yes." Jack smacked his hand against his forehead. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that. It was supposed to be a surprise."
"It's okay," I reassured, trying to think of a way to tell him he did the right thing. "I'm really happy."
"I knew you'd be," he said.
I turned up the radio again. Soul Sister was still on. Beside me, Jack began to sing-along. Only now, I joined him.
For once, it didn't seem like a bad idea to be cheerful.