Page 81 of In Too Long


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Dex and Phillywere in the living room when I got back to the house. They were both on the couch, both with their laptops on their laps, each with notebooks open and their backpacks at their feet. Studying. Something I had let slide a little since spending my nights with Megan.

Fresh pain ripped through me at remembering Megan walking away from me in the hospital.

“How’s Connor?” Dex asked.

“He’s going to be okay. They’re keeping him today, probably overnight too. His parents are on their way up and our counselor was there with him when I left. So was his roommate, the guy who found him.”

“Thank God he did,” Dex said. I nodded, sharing the relieved look Dex had.

Philly was staring at me like I’d pissed in her cornflakes. An expression my grandpa used to use that definitely applied now.

“What’s up? Why the look?” I asked her. I moved into the room and sat down in the recliner.

“Nothing. I just can’t—”

“Hey, now’s not the time,” Dex said, cutting her off with both his words and his look.

“The time for what?” I asked. Dex gave her another look. “Come on, Philly, spill. What’s your problem?”

“My problem?Myproblem? I don’t know why you—”

“Philly, shut it, okay? He’s had a shitty morning. He’s just back from making sure his friend didn’t successfully off himself after shit that happened inthishouse.”

“Not to mention getting dumped,” I added. Because, yeah, if Philly was going to unload on me for some bullshit like leaving the cap off the toothpaste, she should know what had just happened to the bear before she poked him.

“What?” Dex said.

“Good for Megan,” Philly said.

I stared at her. I’d been practically living with her for nearly a year since she and Dex became inseparable. And I liked her.Reallyliked her. We had a good brother/sister vibe going on. But this felt really cruel.

And a total pile-on.

Because what? I didn’t take the clothes out of the washer or something like that?

But no. Philly wasn’t like that. Something was going on I wasn’t aware of.

“What’s going on? Why are you not surprised? Happy, even?” I said to her. I leaned forward in the recliner, pinning her with my stare.

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “I’m not happy you’re hurt, Straw. Really. Getting dumped sucks. But come on, you can’t really blame her, can you?”

I was just about to explain that Megan’s reasons for dumping me were nebulous thoughts of things being too complicated and didn’t hold water after getting to the place we were at. But Philly’s statement seemed too concrete for that argument.

That thought was confirmed when she added, “You had to know what she’d do when you saw Chloe’s post.”

Okay, now I was really confused.

“Explain this to me like I’m five, ’cause I swear to God, Philly, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“You and Ches. Sleeping together,” she said.

My head was spinning as I thought back to the party we had when Megan and I were interrupted by Ches bursting into my room. Obviously she knew that I’d slept with Ches in the past. So why was this a problem now?

“She knows I slept with Ches. She’s cool with that,” I said. Both Dex’s and Philly’s eyes got big, so I quickly moved on. “I mean, you two don’t hold anyone you slept with in the past against each other, right? Why would Megan care now, like, today, about something that happened before she and I even met?”

They looked at each other, confusion on their faces. Thank God they were now in my realm of What the Fuckness.

“I mean when you slept with Cheslast night!” Philly exclaimed.