The next morning, I pulled the blanket tight around me and reached over for my phone. It was nine, and I had a message from Curtis from the night before. He’d been at Lana’s party and heard I was there, but he hadn’t seen me. He wanted to know if I was OK. Word had gotten around that I’d been fighting with someone. He added, with the obligatory eggplant and peach emojis, that he’d hooked up with some girl in the education program.
I’m great, I wrote him.I just woke up. I wasn’t feeling well last night and I decided to go home early. Lying to my friend. What a way to start my day.
He asked if I was better.
Yes?, I wrote.Really?he asked. I told him to quit beating around the bush. I knew what he wanted was to tell me about his hookup. He sent me a GIF of a dancing monkey and told me all the gory details before inviting me to breakfast. He wasn’t dumb, so he had to have known Jack was the person I’d been fighting with, and he probably wanted to offer me an escape hatch in case I didn’t want to deal with it.
I told him not to worry, I was supposed to have breakfast with Naya. That was my second lie of the day.
I just wasn’t hungry, and I didn’t want to get out of bed. But I neededto wash my face. I had gotten into bed fully dressed without taking off my makeup, and when I turned on my phone camera to take a glance at my face, all I could think was:You look like a hungover raccoon.
I groaned and changed into a pair of pajamas. On my way to the bathroom, I noticed Will was talking in the kitchen and stopped. I knew that tone. The tone of a concerned father. I didn’t want to eavesdrop, but I was curious about what he might be saying. I heard Jack’s voice: “She still hasn’t come out yet?”
“No,” Will said.
I heard what sounded like a spoon stirring coffee. Jack expelled a breath in frustration. “I figured she’d be out for a run.”
“Nah. She’s given that up since she’s been back. I don’t think it’s really her thing anymore.”
“Something’s up. She used to be a fanatic.”
“Ross,” Will said, “I know you’re not going to like to hear this, but it’s not your business anymore. She can run or not run, she can sleep in, she can hang out with other guys, it doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t concern you. You should just focus on your things.”
“Yeah…”
They talked a bit longer, but I missed most of the rest of it, deciding I should really go to the bathroom instead of trying to get into their heads. I undressed, wiped off my makeup, and took a long, hot shower. When I was done, I wrapped up in a towel and put on my pajamas. I recoiled when I opened the door and saw Jack there, about to knock on the door. He stood stiff for a moment before letting his arm drop. For a moment, it seemed as if we were both about to ask each other something, but then I looked at the floor. He realized I wasn’t in the mood to talk and walked past me into the bathroom without saying a word.
Will was gone, which was a relief, because he must have known everything that had happened the night before, and it was too early to get intosomething that serious. Mike and Sue were in the living room jabbering, and when he saw me, Mike said playfully, “Jenna! I heard you put on quite a performance last night!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your argument with my brother.”
“What do you know about it?”
“I’ve got a mole,” he said, pointing at Sue, who grinned and rolled her eyes. Sue the snitch… I sat on the couch between them and they both looked at me like children greedy for a treat.
“Aren’t you going to give us the deets?” Sue asked.
“Why do you two care?” I asked. “I thought you hated gossip.”
“This is a question of self-interest,” Mike replied. “The sooner Ross starts sleeping with you again, the sooner I can have my place on the couch back. It’s not easy, you know, having to find a new place to crash every night.”
“I don’t know why you think he’d want to sleep with me,” I said. “Things got pretty uncomfortable between us last night.”
“Yeah, we know that much,” Mike replied. “Your future husband didn’t even want to let me in. There was quite a bit of tension in the air.”
“There’s nothing new for me to tell you, though,” I continued. “I mean, I guess the argument touched on some deeper things. I told him he was still in love with me. He didn’t take that well.”
“I don’t know why he’d be so upset,” Sue said. “You’re clearly still in love with him, too.”
“I don’t know,” I responded. “Maybe.”
Why was I talking about my inner life with those two? I liked them, but they certainly weren’t the most understanding people I’d ever known. It was comfortable, though, natural, even if they kept grinning at me like a couple of morons.
“You know what I think, Agent Susie?” Mike asked.
“I don’t, Agent Mike. But if you call me Susie again, I will gladly chop your balls off.”
