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“Yeah, yeah,” she says, and I can literally see her waving her hand around with that dismissive twirl thing she does. “Another day. Right now, I need to know a few minor details—you know, like where the fuck are you and why aren’t you incollege?Hold on. Let me find the Doritos and get comfortable.” I take a deep breath and wait for the rustling. “Okay, go.”
“Right. Well, there’s this guy—”
“Always is,” she interrupts with a loud crunch.
“I knew him from back home. We… had a thing before I left for college and I’ve never really been able to get over him. He turned up to surprise me on my birthday, and I just… decided to go back to Boston with him. I know I missed the last semester of school, and I didn’t expect to stay all summer but… well, here I am.”Half-true.
Crunch, crunch. “There are a few plot holes I’m happy to overlook in the name of love, and there’s a few I can’t. Like why the fuck couldn’t you have sent a text?!”
“Uh, my phone broke,”true,“and I’ve only just got around to getting a new one. But yes, I’m a shit friend, I know.”
More rustling. “So, Sam’s been pranging out.”
“Don’t even talk about that asshole.”
The rustling stops. “So, is it true?! ‘Cause we went to the police—yeah, now I know you just rode off into the sunset with a mystery man, I feel like that move was a bit dramatic—and they wereverycagey about Sam. Did he ever…?”
I snort down the line. “Hurt me? Hell no. Heard he cheated on me though.”
“No fucking way.”
“Way. It’s a long story, I’ll explain when I see you.”
“And when will that be?”
Resting my head against the window, I close my eyes. “Soon.”
“Very mysterious. I didn’t know you had it in you. Remember our first night out together? You practically had a chastity belt on under that frumpy maxi dress, and now you’re like, swept up in your very own romance novel.”
“It’s always the quiet ones.”
“Clearly. So, looping back to when I’ll see you—I’m going to need a more definitive date. Like, are you planning on coming back to college this year?”
My heart sinks.Who the fuck knows?Even if, by some miracle, Lorcan let me, I doubt the college would let me pick up where I left off. I trace the pain on the windowsill with my fingernail. “Not sure yet.”
“Jesus,” she mumbles, still crunching away. “Look, girl. You know I’m all about going balls to the wall when it comes to spontaneity, but Stanford’s not exactly community college. You busted your ass to get in here, and you’re going to give it away for some dick? I hope it’s at least ten inches.”
“Yeah, it’s a bit more complicated than that.”True.
She pauses. “Do you love him?”
My turn to pause. “Yes, I do.”
Also true.
I manage to get off the line, but not before dodging another fistful of awkward questions. I feel a million times lighter now that I’ve spoken to my best friend. Hell, she’s the only person in this world that cares about me. It used to be her and Sam, but I’m pretty sure that after what happened last week, he wouldn’t piss on me if I was on fire.
Tugging open my bedside drawer, I reach for the scrap of paper I folded up into the smallest square possible and stuffed into the joint. Nova’s number. I don’t know why, but I feel even more nervous calling her than I do my best friend who I mysteriously vanished from.
Maybe because she’s so… cool.
She answers in two rings.
“About time.”
In the reflection of the window, I see my brows knit together. “How do you even know who it is?”
“Baby, nobody else calls me.” I laugh. “Thanks for the phone. I have no idea how you winged that one.”
