“It’s not about a guy,” Megan interjected. “Not about Logan. I mean, yeah, sure, it’s not great seeing him—”
“Hey,” I said again. I was sure getting ripped on for just sitting here.
It was the most natural thing in the world for Megan to smile, reach out, and place her hand on my arm. Which she did. And then she remembered, pulling it back. “What I mean is… itisgood to see you. For sure. But my not coming here is about Chloe, not Logan.” She looked at me, meeting my eyes for the first time all night. Her features softened, her face relaxing, like it had so many times over the past two months. How it only did with me. “At least, more Chloe than Logan.”
“Ugh, don’t mention that bitch’s name to me,” Paige said.
Megan nodded. “See, that’s why.”
“That’s idiotic,” Bailey said, then she turned to Paige. “You don’t blame Megan for what Chloe did, do you?”
“No, of course not,” Paige said.
I snuck a look at Marlo to see if she was going to step in. It was all pretty rapid-fire, and the air seemed to crackle with tension. But she seemed content to sit and watch it all play out. She met my gaze, and although she gave nothing away, I nodded at her, givingmyconsent, at least, for whatever got dug up.
It hadn’t felt this heated since the night we’d argued over whether it was harder to lose your person via illness or suddenly. Which was fucked up in its own right.
And so was this.
“So then, what’s the problem?” Bailey asked Paige.
“I didn’t say I had a problem. Megan brought Chloe up. I said I don’t want to talk about her.” Paige turned her attention to Megan. “Do you plan on talking about Chloe here? Weekly?”
“No,” Megan said. “I only mentioned her—”
“Then there’s no problem.” Paige looked from Megan to Marlo, and then to Bailey. “I’ve got no problem with Megan. None. I just do not want to give any more space to—”
“It’s not that I’d talk about her here,” Megan said. “It’s just I didn’t know if you’d feel comfortable sharing around me, given that I still live with Chloe. Although I’m trying to change that.”
“Like we’d be afraid you’d, what? Leak what gets said here to her?” Dustin asked. “We don’t think that.”
Nobody else said anything. I hadn’t wanted to jump in on any of this, but had to second what Dustin said if nobody else was going to. I knew we all felt that way. We’d said as much last week when Megan was a no-show.
“That’s true, Megan,” I said. “Nobody blames you. And nobody thinks you’d give Chloe any info. And if we’re going to try to throw shit like that around, it was my house. Connor and Paige were drunk. Chloe is a vampire for clicks. A lot of factors went into that clusterfuck of a night.”
Nods and general agreement. Megan met everyone’s eyes and softly said, “Thanks.” She looked at me last, and our eyes held.
A flare of hope lit inside me.
“So, okay. That’s settled,” Connor said. “Megan, nobody wants you to leave the group over Chloe. Now, if it’s about the demise of Gans, that’s something else. That’s why Istrongly encouragedyou to come tonight.”
“Wait, what’s Gans?” I asked, confused. I looked at Megan and she shook her head, also in the dark.
Paige and Bailey looked down, a little embarrassed, but also smiling a little. Connor was smirking. “Oops, that slipped out,” he said.
I looked to Dustin, who was giving Connor an exasperated look. “Megan. Logan. We called you the Gans. Like your celebrity couple name,” he explained.
“Jesus Christ,” I murmured. Paige and Bailey looked at each other, trying not to laugh.
“Where did you call us this?” Megan asked.
“On the group text,” Paige said. When Megan reached for her phone, Paige added, “The group text without you and Logan on it.”
“Why was there a group text without us on it?” I asked.
They all looked at each other, smiles on their faces. “So we could talk about the Gans,” Connor said.
“Jesus Christ,” Megan said. The four of them laughed. Even Marlo seemed to be stifling a smile.
