Page 126 of Game Plan

“It’s fine. Classes are classes. I don’t feel like being social, though. I found a job at the library. My roommates are nice, but one is a serial dater, so there’s always a new guy in her bed every week. I had to buy earplugs and better headphones just to drown out the noise. We share a small three-person room with a tiny kitchen—so trust me, there’s nowhere to hide—but at least she’s not having sex right next to me since we each have our own bedroom. How is your roommate?”

“She’s amazing. Her name is Cassie, and she’s from Canada. She only wears black clothes and is kind of goth, but she’s the best. I wish you could meet her. I’m pretty sure you two would get along.”

“Good. I’m happy for you. Are you still swimming?”

“Yes. What about you? Are you still baking?”

“I’m taking a class two nights a week. At first, I didn’t wanna do it because it reminded me of home, but then I missed it too much. I put all my pain into my art, and it calms me because when I bake, I don’t think about anything else. It offers me an escape.”

“I wish your college was a short drive from here so we could visit.”

The ease we’d experienced so far in the last few minutes died as I spoke the words out loud.

“No. I don’t want us to visit. We can never go back to what we were. I’m glad you called, and I accept your apologies, but I don’t think we could ever be friends again.”

I swept my lips with my tongue, my heart breaking to pieces inside my chest. “Oh. I thought… I don’t know what I thought, but I was hopeful we could maybe resume our friendship or at least stay in touch.”

“I’m not sure I can.” Before I could say anything, she added, “I’m not sure I want to, anyway. It’s too hard.”

“Oh.” I blinked, trying to dissipate my tears and the wave of my sadness shaking me to my core. “It’s okay. I…I understand.”

“Have you…huh…have you seen Mason around campus? He’s the one person who’s always been on my team.”

“Yes. I have. I asked him about you, but he said you weren’t ready to talk to him after everything that had happened.”

“Yeah. I cut all ties with Elk River. No idea if it’ll help in the long run, but for now it does. I miss his friendship and his energy, though. Don’t tell him. It will only inflate his already giant ego.”

We both burst into soft laughter.

“As if Mase needs more ego boosting.”

“Exactly. I saw an article about him. It’s kinda crazy he’s the starting quarterback so soon. I’m proud of him. I know he’ll do great. After all, he’s a born leader, and he’s so talented.”

“True.” Should I tell her we were dating, or should I keep my mouth shut? I was done with all the lies, so I decided to come clean. “In fact, how do I even say this? Mason and I, we-we’re kinda dating.”

“You and Mase? What happened to Jayden?”

“We broke up at the beginning of the semester. I’m not sure he was the love of my life…”

“And Mason is?”

I smiled despite myself. “I think he could be. We’re happy. It’s still new, though.”

“Wow, you guys made up. How the hell did this happen?”

“You know Mase. He never takes no for an answer once he sets his mind to something. He walked me home a few times after work, and we bumped into each other here and there. I didn’t make it easy on him at first. I even went on two dates with another guy. He heard about it, and one night, he and Craig crashed my date. It was so infuriating. I wanted to kill him. The next day, I went to his place to give him a piece of my mind. We ended up having a big face-off, and after that, we started hanging out again. One thing led to another. Let’s just say it took a long time before I even kissed him, but when I did, I could tell I’d been wrong all along, and he had been right.”

“Ohmygod, I’m so happy for you two. I always knew if you gave him a chance, you’d see how perfect you two were for each other.” Her short-lived happiness faded. “I would have loved if the four of us had gone on double dates and stuff. I miss last year. I’d do just about anything to go back to when we were all happy, and things were easy between us. Huh…minus your struggles, though.”

“It’s okay. I’m doing much better these days.”

“You’re telling me the truth?”

“Yeah. No more lies.”

“Then I miss you.” Her admission beelined straight to my heart.

“I miss you too. If I could, I would go back in time too. College is fun, and I love that I don’t have to worry about bullies like Tanya here because most people mind their own business, but I miss us. I miss living close to each other. The sleepovers, the spa days in your bedroom doing our nails...all of it.” I paused. “Mason and I, we’re going to Elk River for Thanksgiving. Are you gonna be home?”