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“I am,” she replies before holding the phone up to her face.
She’s chewing her lip again. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Faye.”
“Okay, bye!” I say, keeping it simple in case her mom is still standing there.
As soon as I hang up, I immediately text her:Make sureyou’re convincing! We need to go!
I’m going to Cuba! With Kellan. He’s going to be shirtless practically all week. We’re going to be around each other on the beach, in the pool, at the club . . . All. Week.
I squeal into my pillow.
—
I don’t hear any news from Lori that night or the whole next day, but the following day, when I leave my room with wet hair after my shower, a very distinct voice flows up to me. Cracking a smile, I comb my hair with my fingers and bound down the stairs. I almost miss a step when I hear the wordJenna.
My brother and his friend Dylan are on the couch, watching some game on television.
“What was that about Jenna?” I ask at the bottom of the stairs. Neither boy moves his eyes from the television or bothers to acknowledge me.
My nostrils flare and I move to block their view. They shout protests right away.
“You’re not getting back with Jenna, right, Adam?” I stare him down as Dylan tries to peer around me.
“What, Faye? Move,” Adam says.
I don’t move. “Adam!”
“Go to hell,” he retorts.
“If you get back together with Jenna, I’m already there.”
He exhales heavily and glares at me. “We’re not getting back together. Happy?”
I grin at him, plopping down on the couch and squeezing in between him and Dylan. “Extremely.”
Adam grunts in annoyance but makes room for me anyway.
Dylan drops his tattoo-covered arm over my shoulders and licks my ear.
“Ew!” I shriek, pushing him off me and swiping away the saliva. He just laughs and turns back to the TV.
Besides Kellan, Dylan is Adam’s other best friend, and one of my favorites. I’ve always been close to Dylan, probably because I’ve known him since I could walk, and sometimes I feel like he treats me more like a little sister than my actual brother does. Adam even once suspected me of wanting to date Dylan because of how close we are, and the mental image of me with a dude that’s like my brother almost made me puke. He’s never brought it up since, especially since I often announce that Dylan is my favorite “brother,” even if we like to flirt because of our personalities.
“So, if you’re not getting back together, why were you talking about her?” I ask Adam, not caring that he’s actively trying to ignore me.
Adam had been dating Jenna for about two years, until two weeks ago, when she dumped him after we graduated.
Like, literally. We had just thrown our caps in the air when my brother went to congratulate her, before he even congratulated me, and she was all,Oh yeah. We’re over.Not that I care. She tried to make my life a living hell the whole time they were together.
Adam was cagey about the reason and never told me, not that he tells me anything normally, but according to Dylan, the only person Adam confided in, it’s because she didn’t want to do long-distance. She must be using the term very loosely because Adam already goes to the University of Toronto, and she’s going to Western U in September, and they’re only two hours apart.
Unless that was a total bullshit reason that Dylan gave me to stop me from hounding him.
For some reason, my brother was like the golden child at school—everyone loved him, which totally baffles me because he didn’t even do anything. He wasn’t on any teams or clubs or councils; he just kind of . . . existed. Apparently when he’s not too busy being a complete dick, he actually has a sense of humor.
Personally, I think he’s just a giant, grumpy baby.
Jenna used tolovethat her boyfriend was Adam Murray. I don’t know much about their relationship, since Jenna is basically my mortal enemy, but it seemed like Jenna was dating Adam’s name, not Adam. She would strut around school wearing his sweaters and be all,Oh, this old thing? It’s just myboyfriend’s. Youknow. My boyfriend,Adam Murray? Yeah, it’s his. And I’m wearingit, because he’s my boyfriend.
