“No, you’re not.”
“I’m definitely not,” Cam says from what sounds like across the room.
“Shush. I called to say we’ll be a few minutes late.”
All of that for a simple sentence that she could’ve texted me.
“More than a couple of minutes!” Cam yells, and I can hear the douchey smile in his voice.
“I will wipe this lipstick off if you don’t let me talk, Kahlo.”
Silence follows, and I decide to ignore that last comment. Kami and Cam go at it like rabbits, as we unfortunately learned last semester. I sometimes wonder if we know too much about each other’s personal lives, which concerns me.
Clearing my throat, I respond to what she’d said before. “That’s fine. Em too?”
“Yeah, we’ll all be at King’s Wolf in an hour.”
“No problem, I’ll see you then.”
“Sounds goo—” A happy, surprised screech comes out of Kamila, and thank fuck my phone is on speaker because that would’ve blown my eardrums if I had answered while wearing headphones.
“Kami’s no longer available,” her boyfriend says.
“Cameron, put me down now!” More screeching comes from my best friend.
Cam laughs diabolically. “We’ll see you in an hour.” And he hangs up.
Shaking my head, I check the time. Eight thirty p.m. It’s extremely early for a Friday night out in town, and I’m already dressed and groomed. Why not watch some TV? The last time I did was with Stevie a couple of days ago, when she got surprisingly more comfortable around me. We managed to finish two more episodes ofGilmore Girlsbefore calling it a night. We sat in comfortable silence, making comments here and there about the dramatic characters.
Although I was taken off guard by how much she told me about her condition, I answered with the first thing that came to mind, which was a simple “thank you.” She seemed to like that response. I can only imagine what other people have said about her story in the past, and she looked so tired that I wanted to give the poor woman a moment to rest. Of course, I did my own research on the subject?—
Walking into the living room, I pause when I seeGilmore Girlsplaying and Stevie eating a bowl of popcorn in what seems to be her workout clothes. It’s one of the few times I’ve seen her in semi-tight clothing since she usually sticks to oversized sweaters and jeans. My eyes roam the side of her figure, seeing toned long legs, her warm fair skin peeking out from under her workout shirt…
Nope. Not a good idea.
Her head whips to me, and a smile appears. She sticks the bowl out. “Want to join?”
Her voice is nothing but open and inviting, like usual. Nodding, I grab a handful of cheesy popcorn, careful not to get any on my shirt.
After a moment, she speaks up. “Are you going out?”
I turn to face her and see her head tilted to the side, waiting for a response.
“Yeah, I’m headed out with a couple of friends.”
Stevie nods. “Cool. That sounds fun.” She smiles, but her eyes do the opposite.
This doesn’t feel like the Stevie from a couple of days ago. Then again, she’s never mentioned one friend she might have from Driscoll—only someone named Jenny who lives in Georgia. I’m not saying the girl doesn’t have any friends, but by the looks of it, maybe not many to hang out with.
Shit, should I invite her? Kami, Em, and even Jake invite random people to tag along all the time, so why shouldn’t I? But Stevie’s in her workout clothes, maybe she’s too tired to go out.
When I look back over, she’s no longer staring at the TV, but now at the bowl on her lap with a frown on her face while she picks at the kernels.
Why is she so sad?
Fuck it. It doesn’t matter why.
“Do you want to join us?”
