Page 64 of The Beta Test

I wince.

“But I appreciate your honesty. I guess I can understand where you’re coming from—you felt trapped by all the things you didn’t want to tell me,” she adds.

“Exactly.”

She tilts her head thoughtfully. “And now that I think about it… it makes sense you’d be connected with Analiese. You two are a lot alike.”

A scoff immediately rises. “Excuse me? We are not. I thought you and I were friends.”

Jenna tuts at me. “And I thought you were trying to turn over a new leaf today? And anyway you are alike. You are both motivated high achievers, both organized, both on the swim team. AND you both had crushes on Braden before you started dating him.”

Wow, I’d forgotten about that. A memory of seeing Braden read an overly amorous (in my opinion) valentine from Analiese in fifth grade clearly surfaces in my mind. Maybe Braden was the origin of the unspoken competition between us.

Fine. Maybe we do have some similarities, though I think it’s quite the exaggeration to say we are “a lot alike.”

“I think you should be friends with her,” Jenna continues. “You should apologize for making her feel like she wasn’t valued as a friend that day and keep talking to her.”

My face scrunches in distaste, which doesn’t escape her notice.

“No, listen. I think Connection Services is on to something here. You guys are mega compatible as friends. And, I’m pretty sure her parents got divorced a few years ago, so although that may not happen to your family—and I really hope it doesn’t—it’s still another thing you two can relate to one another about. Maybe you actually need her right now. Who knows, maybe she needs you too. I don’t think she has a lot of friends.”

I abruptly stand and walk to the window, gazing out over the wintery neighborhood towards Braden’s house. It’s true that Analiese doesn’t have a lot of friends, but I’d always assumed it was out of choice—that she was too busy or too snobby to condescend to fraternize with the rest of our age group. This is the first time I’ve ever been confronted with the idea that perhaps there were deeper reasons for her actions. And if there are, it would explain why she had such a strong reaction that day we watched the movie. If she wanted to be friends and thought I had ulterior motives or looked down on her in some way, it would make sense for her to get defensive and lash out. I would do the same.

I turn back to face Jenna. “Alright. I’ll try.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Later that afternoon after Jenna is gone, I hear my school tablet ping with a Connection Services message.

31415: How’d it go today?

80085 [Me]: Good, you were right.

31415: Of course I was.

31415: Proud of you.

A smile crosses my face as the tablet gets set down, but then—wait. How did he know about Jenna today? The tablet comes back up and a quick scroll through our messages reveals nothing that would have told him we were meeting—only that I'd agreed to take his advice. Weird. But if he is Jake… then he would have known where Jenna was going.

The sound of the front door opening and my dad calling out “hello” makes me toss the tablet aside and bolt down the stairs. My feelings about our family are a mess, but the thrill of him being home for good is undeniable. And at least that Instagram picture, while still questionable, likely wasn't what I'd first feared.

Dad’s still in the entryway kicking his shoes off when I skid towards him and throw my arms around him. The warmth of his body and the smell of his cologne feel so familiar and my heart aches for all the days and nights I’d missed him. Even before he went to the southern hemisphere, he’d been busy on local projects too, putting in long hours.

We are jolted by Hunter flying into the entryway and throwing himself against us as well, causing all of us to be locked in a group hug. Dad laughs and squeezes us tightly.

“Man, I missed you guys,” he says. “Let’s have spaghetti for dinner and play some Uno. What do you say?”

“Yeah!” Hunter yells. “And ice cream!”

“And ice cream.” I can feel the grin in Dad’s voice even though my face is still buried against him, with Hunter’s smaller arms wrapped around me to the side.

“Loser has to do the dishes,” I add.

Dad holds on for one more beat, then lets us go. “I have a better idea. Let’s do everything together today. Even clean up.”

Hunter and I glance at each other. For a moment, it truly feels like everything will be ok. Maybe it won’t be, but maybe enjoying the moments we have now is good enough.

“Deal,” Hunter says.