Page 103 of You + Me – Against the World

February is shaping up to be a terrible month. Basile intends to spend the rest of his life locked in his bedroom. My parents are on the brink of divorce. Lily is consumed with guilt and has no idea how to make amends.

To top it all off, Vadim turns out to be far more traumatized than he wants to admit by his “failed” reunion with his brother, Roman. But he flatly refuses to talk about it. After classes, he takes his mind off things with community service. There, he sees Cheyenne, about whom he always has fascinating things to say. Other times, he is kept busy with phone calls from Michelle Kerry, the casting director who is determined to land him the photo shoots and commercials that will make him a star. I pray she isn’t giving him false hopes.

Clémentine, on the other hand, remains strangely distant and is still just as secretive about her mystery lover.

The only person who isn’t acting distant is Caleb. In fact, he’s anything but. After several more visits to Abrams’s place, during which I spend more time chatting with his son than working with my professor, I start having to turn down invitations that have become a little too persistent. Father and son both take it badly. Cal responds with flair though, despite his disappointment, with a few witty remarks and a handful of emojis in his texts. Mr. Abrams is colder about it, delivering a little lecture on commitment.

***

[I miss you. Come on,

let’s drop everything

and go open

a koala sanctuary.]

[I miss you, too.

How about we skip Abrams’s class?]

[Tempting, but no. He’s going to

fail you if you keep this up. I

want you to succeed, Vadim. So you can have the life

you’ve always dreamed of…]

[Too bad, I liked

the koala sanctuary idea better.]

My short film is coming along well. I should be ready on time for the May presentation, and I’m quite proud of having made my own choices, rather than letting my mentor decide for me. He doesn’t seem to appreciate my newfound independence, though.

The film Vadim is working on with his partner, Phoebe McPherson, isn’t progressing at all, but my boyfriend doesn’t seem the slightest bit fazed.

Clem is relying on the brilliant Hannah Goldberg to handle everything and help her to come out of it with an A+. Since kindergarten, I’ve never seen her care so little about her studies. Still, it’s her choice, even if it’s out of character.

“Clem, come on, what are you hiding from me?”

“Nothing.”

She walks through the classroom door and heads toward her desk. I follow her, giving a little wave to Vadim, who is already leaning back in his chair at the very back of the room.

“Are you still punishing me for Paris? Is that it? That was a thousand years ago, Clem!”

“Traitor,” she grumbles.

“Let’s go get a drink at the Sunset after—”

“Shh, the tyrant is here.”

Abrams’s dark circles have grown even darker. His stubble is now six or seven days old; it looks hard and bristly. I feel like I can hear it scrape when he runs his hand over it. His cheeks are even more hollow than usual—maybe its exhaustion, or maybe the holy trinity of tobacco, whiskey, and coffee has permanently replaced food. You can see his bad mood etched in the lines pulling down the corners of his mouth, and his irritation showing in the deep crease between his brows.

Without a doubt, it’s one of those days.

I head back to my desk and sit down, praying I won’t be the first to bear the brunt of it this morning.