Unscripted - Nicole Kronzer Page 0,13

side. “I breathe in one,” she said softly, a hand on her back, “I breathe out one. I breathe in two . . .”

Emily nodded, and struggled to match her breath to Sirena’s words.

“What’s the matter?” Hanna turned around. For the first time since I’d met her, she was completely serious. Paloma looked up from brushing her hair, startled.

Sirena held up a “one-minute” finger and continued counting for Emily. “I breathe out three . . .”

I exchanged a look with Paloma, and she snagged Hanna’s sleeve.

“I breathe in four,” Paloma said, raising her eyebrows.

Hanna and I nodded. “I breathe out four,” we said.

Paloma kept brushing her hair, and Hanna and I took her lead in not staring and changed into our pajamas. We continued counting breaths in and out for Emily until she released the bunk bed and stood up straight.

“Thank you,” she said. “That was really nice of you. I’m sorry I freak out, I just—”

“I’m sorry.” Hanna interrupted her. She twisted her hand around awkwardly. “Part of my albinism is my eyesight is pretty crappy, so I can’t always read facial expressions. Sometimes I don’t know when to stop.”

We all just sort of stared at each other with half smiles on our faces. Finally, I said, “I think we just had our first Gilda bonding experience.”

“You’re right!” Paloma exclaimed, reaching for her toiletry kit. “Let’s go brush our teeth, because then I think we’re ready for our next bonding experience: ‘My First.’ ”

“Dental hygiene be damned,” Hanna said, climbing on the bed and pulling Paloma down after her. “Let’s do this now.”

“My first what?” Sirena asked. She knotted her robe at her waist and sat on the bottom bunk across from Hanna and Paloma.

All pretense of us getting ready for bed was swiftly abandoned. Picking up her stuffed owl, Emily clambered next to Sirena, and I sat on the floor.

“Pick a category,” Paloma instructed. “Like, my first job. Then everyone says what their first of that thing was. I can start. My first job was babysitting the next-door neighbor’s twin three-year-olds. It was horrible. They used pee as a weapon.”

We all groaned, except for Hanna, who grinned evilly, clearly having heard this story before.

“Not sure if this counts,” I said, tapping my fingers on the floor as the groans died out, “but technically my first job was tutoring my slightly older brother in telling time.”

“This was last week?” Hanna deadpanned.

I chuckled. “Third grade. He got so angry when any adult tried to help him, so my parents told me they’d let me pick out five books at the bookstore if I could get him to learn to tell time.”

“Nerd.” Hanna coughed into her fist.

“Just wait until you hear what one of the books was,” I said, climbing onto my knees.

“Chess Strategies for Kids?” Paloma joked.

I shook my head. “Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.”

“What? What were you thinking?” Hanna demanded, laughing.

I peered up at the ceiling. “It was really hard, teaching Will to tell time. That book was big. I think I wanted my money’s worth.”

“Did you go on to become a child prodigy in cooking?” Sirena asked.

I shook my head. “The closest that book ever got to the kitchen was on the seat of my dining room chair. I was a really short kid.”

I looked around at four beaming faces. My brain felt all buzzy and warm. I liked it here in Gilda Radner, I decided. I was glad we’d be staying together.

“My first job was super boring compared to Julia Child over here,” Hanna said, thumbing at me. “I just bussed tables at a brew pub.”

“I bussed tables!” Sirena exclaimed. “At my parents’ restaurant.”

“My first job was also working in Sirena’s parents’ restaurant,” Emily said, smiling at Sirena. “Washing dishes.”

“That’s how we met,” Sirena said. She glanced at all of us quickly, then back at Emily. Emily returned a tiny nod. Sirena took a breath. “Then we started dating like two months later.”

“Oh!” Paloma cooed, clasping her hands together. “That’s so nice! I had a feeling, but I’m so glad to know for sure.”

“That’s awesome,” I agreed. I hadn’t really thought about it, but now that I knew, their closeness made even more sense. I couldn’t help but ping a little with jealousy—they had a person, the way Will and Jonas had each other.

“Thank you,” Emily said, blushing. “My mom says we’re lucky to be both girlfriends and best friends. She loves my dad, but her best friend lives in Baltimore.”

“My mom likes