I know I should probably head back to Wes’s family, but I hesitate, biting the inside of my cheek. I debate whether to ignore my gut and say goodbye, or listen to it and potentially upset the girl in front of me. My mouth opens before I can overthink it further. “Chloe?” I prompt.
She blinks at me. “Yeah?”
“I know it’s not my place, but I wanted you to know that if something, um, happened during spring break…something with Mason…I’m here. If you want to talk, I mean.” Her eyes widen, and she freezes, paralyzed. She looks like she’d rather be anywhere but here, talking to me, so I won’t make her. I rush out the rest of my words. “Ben has my number if you ever need it. I might understand more than you think. Anyway, I should go find Wes. It was nice to see you again.”
I raise my hand in a wave, but she doesn’t return it. She doesn’t say goodbye. She doesn’t smile, and so I walk away.
I tell myself it’s fine. It has to be fine. I said what I needed to say, and that’s all I can do.
She knows where to find me if she ever wants to talk.
Pushing through the bustling crowd, I hurry back to Wes’s family just as the graduates start emerging from the stadium. It’s easy to spot Wes, towering over everyone, and I push thoughts of Chloe and Mason aside.
“Wes!” I call, drawing his attention.
“There you are,” he says, beelining straight for me. He immediately scoops me into a hug, and my feet lift off the ground as he spins me around. When he sets me back down, he plants a kiss on my mouth, not caring that we’re standing in front of his parents. Though my face warms at the public display of affection, I can’t help but smile at him.
“Congratulations,” I say, and he kisses me again, grinning ear to ear.
“Thanks, baby.” He gives his family a round of hugs before scooping up Leo. Despite looking sleepy and confused after his impromptu nap, Leo beams at his uncle. “Hey, little man!”
The sight of Wes holding a toddler was not something I was prepared for, and my heart warms in response. I always assumed he’d be good with kids, and when he whispers something in Leo’s ear that makes him burst out laughing, I can’t help but grin.
For the next fifteen minutes, Wes’s parents take what Audrey says is “an insane amount” of photos in every combo imaginable, and then Wes slings his arm over my shoulder as we chat with Ben and Kaden’s families. I hang with them a while longer before saying goodbye, promising to see them at dinner tonight. Quinn’s parents are taking her home today, so we made plans to meet up before she leaves.
Back at the apartment, I find her standing in the middle of the kitchen with a look of disgust on her face.
“What’s going on?” I ask, but I come to my own conclusions before she gets the chance to respond. Empty liquor bottles litter the counter and some of the cabinets are ajar, as though someone was rummaging through them and pulling out only the things they needed. Down the hall, I see the doors to Kinsley and Ava’s rooms are open, and all of their belongings are gone.
“They left?” I ask in shock.
Quinn scoffs. “They just left all their trash here! Didn’t clean up a single fucking thing. Those bitches.”
Stomach sinking, I walk over to the refrigerator and open the door. Sure enough, all of Ava’s probiotic yogurts are still in the fridge, along with Kinsley’s overripe produce. I eye a few boxes of suspicious leftovers that definitely don’t belong to Quinn or me. “Wow. I can’t believe this.”
“Just when I thought they couldn’t get any worse,” Quinn grumbles. “This place has to be spotless by tomorrow, or we’re gonna get fined by the school. My parents will kill me.”
“What do you think the odds are that they cleaned their bathroom?” I muse.
Quinn levels me with a look that says it all.
“I know you have to go,” I tell her, slowly accepting that my night is going to consist of a long and painful deep clean. “I’ll take care of the apartment. I promise we won’t get fined.”
Quinn widens her eyes at me. “Ivy. No.”
I widen my eyes right back. “Quinn. Yes.”
“Ivy,” she repeats. “No.”
“Quinn,yes.” She opens her mouth to protest again, but I beat her to it.“Look, I realize I haven’t been a good friend to you over the past month. Consider this my penance.”
Quinn purses her lips, thinking through my offer for a moment. Finally, she shrugs and says, “Okay.” I laugh at how easily I was able to convince her to let me do all the work. “What? You were really shitty.”
My laughter dies. “I know I was. I’m sorry again.”
She gives me a small smile. “It’s okay.”
“There’s one more thing I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” I say, a bit nervously. “I never asked what your plans for a roommate were for next year.”
