It started with a dare.
They were at the local summer festival, the kind with hanging lanterns, paper goldfish scoops, and yakisoba sizzling in the air. Leyah wore a pale blue yukata with tiny white cranes printed along the sleeves. Her short hair was pinned with a small flower clip.
Harvey wore his usual hoodie. He refused to let anyone put him in a yukata, no matter how much she begged.
"You're lucky you're cute," she muttered, dragging him through the crowd.
They stopped near a small stage where people were signing up for karaoke. Leya's eyes lit up.
She pulled out her list and tapped number four:
4. Sing on a public stage.
Harvey frowned. "You're not seriously going to—"
"I seriously am."
"What if you pass out?"
"Then you'll catch me."
He stared at her. "Hana—"
She reached out and took his hand. "I'm not asking to be saved. I'm asking to be remembered."
---
When her name was called, Leyah climbed the stage alone.
The lights hit her like the morning sun. She held the mic with two hands, exhaled, and waited as the instrumental began—a slow ballad, an old love song from a movie Harvey barely remembered.
Then she sang.
Her voice wasn't perfect. She trembled at the high notes. But there was something raw, something luminous in every word. The crowd hushed. Some people even cried.
Harvey stood frozen.
He wasn't looking at a sick girl.
He was looking at someone who'd chosen to shine before she burned out.
---
After the final note, silence lingered for a breath. Then applause.
Leyah bowed awkwardly, her eyes wide with shock and joy.
She ran offstage straight into Harvey's arms. "I did it!" she beamed. "I didn't fall!"
"You sounded terrible," he said, but there was a smile tugging at his lips.
"You liar. You were about to cry."
"Was not."
She reached into her yukata sleeve and pulled out a pen. "Number four—done."
Harvey watched her scribble a note beside it:
—And people clapped like I mattered.
He didn't know what to say.
So she took his hand and pulled him toward the fireworks field.
"They're about to start. Hurry."
"Why?"
"Because I want to remember this moment. With you. Before the next one takes it away."
And they ran.