“I’ve already texted him. He’s on his way.” She lifts her phone, showing me the text message exchange between the two.
My lips slightly twitch at the contact name:Favorite Dumbass.
“You really didn’t have to?—”
She stops me mid-sentence. “You don’t watch true crime, do you? Or the news?”
“Not really,” I admit. My life’s tragic enough.
“Mmm,” she tsks, shaking her head. “Well even if you don’t, you shouldn’t be alone. It’s dangerous for us girls. We gotta stick together.”
“Right…” I trail off, unsure of what else to say to that. I know girls should stick together and I know about the dangers. Just never had someone so insistent to stay besides Daniel.
“Do you want to wait in my car? Yours is a lot closer to the road than mine. It’s really dangerous for both of us to be here. Someone could hit us.”
I hesitate because as thankful as I should be, I don’t know her.
She must sense that because she says, “Sorry. Stranger danger. We don’t have to wait in my car; we can stand off to the side, but we shouldn’t be here. Someone could hit us.”
She’s right and while I wouldn’t mind it, I’d hate for something to happen to her because of me. So, I shut off the ignition, grab my phone, step out of my car, and stand off to the side with her.
When we’re far away enough, I take a glance at the busted right back tire. There’s no way I would’ve been able to change that or even have known where to begin.
“Sorry. I never introduced myself.” The headlights from her car illuminates her face, showing off a friendly dimpled smile and straight long hair. “My name’s Penelope, but some people call me Pen. You can call me whichever, I really don’t care. But please don’t call me Penny.”
“Again, you didn’t have to stay, but thanks, Penelope.”
“Please don’t make me fight you. I know we don’t know each other, but stop saying that.”
I nod. “Josefine.”
“Do you shorten it, or is it just Josefine?”
“I’ve been called Josie, but if you want, you can just call me Josefine.”
“No way, Josie is so freaking cute. I love that name. If you don’t mind, I’d love to call you Josie.”
“That’s fine.” I internally wince, hating how awkward I am.
She either doesn’t sense it or does and doesn’t care. She proceeds to talk when her gaze coasts to my chest, eyes focused on the MCU Swimming & Diving logo on my shirt.
“You go to MCU too? And you’re a swimmer, which explains why your clothes are wet.” She lightly laughs to herself, eyes coasting to the damp turquoise cotton material. “I cheer there. Crazy how we both go there and have never run into each other. That’s going to have to change, you know, right?”
I uncomfortably shift from one foot and then to the other, folding my arms over my chest. “I was a swimmer.”
It’s been a year since I swam competitively, and I’ll never do it again.
As far as us not ever running into each other, it’s for the best. She’ll realize I’m a train wreck and run.
“I’m wet because I do swimming lessons and just finished a lesson not too long ago.” I cringe because why did I explain all of that?
“We’re definitely going to have to grab lunch or something.” I can see the gears shifting in her head, probably envisioning us hanging out and whatnot. I don’t tell her that’s not going to happen; I let her believe it will. “And that’s so cool and such a smart way to make money. You know my broth?—”
She stops halfway, when a light gray Acura pulls up in front of my car.
“That’s him. I promise he’ll have your tire changed in no time. He’s good at this kind of stuff.”
“Not just good, but the best,” I hear an arrogant voice say from behind me.
