"Whatever," she says, taking off. She's going to be mad I didn't call her last night but I wasn't ready to talk about it. I wasn't ready to admit that Dean and I are over.
Later that morning, I see Danny in the hall. I catch his eye, but then look away, assuming he knows what happened and that he'll be loyal to Dean and avoid me.
Instead, he comes up to me. "You hear from Dean last night?"
"No," I say, not looking at him as I continue down the hall.
"This morning?"
"Nope." I glance at him. "I'm kind of in a hurry. I'll see ya later."
He nods and heads the other direction.
At lunch I find Eve at our usual table and sit down across from her with a bottle of water and a bag of pretzels.
"That's all you're eating?" she asks.
"I'm not very hungry."
"So what happened?"
I tell her the story, starting with my dad's offer to send me back to Haverhill and how Dean told me to go. I end by telling her about my talk with my mom and how she wants to move back but won't if I don't agree to it.
"What are you going to do?" she asks.
"I don't know."
"Wait—you're seriously considering this? You'd really go back there, after telling me how much you hated it?"
"I didn't hate it. I just didn't like the people. The school itself was great. I loved all my teachers and I liked my classes."
"So you're going back there," she says with a sigh as she rolls her eyes. "Because some stupid guy broke your heart."
"That's not the only reason. Haverhill is a good school. It'll help me get into a good college."
"You could stay here and still get into a good college. Why would you want to go back to a school where you don't even like the people? You'll have to be around your ex-boyfriend again and all your fake friends. Is that really what you want?"
"It'd only be for a few months. I could put up with those people for a few months. And you and I would still be friends. I just wouldn't see you as much."
"I can't believe you'd let Dean control you like this. He totally bullied you when you got here and you fought back. And now you're letting him tell you what to do? Why? What changed?"
"He's not telling me what to do. I'm deciding this on my own."
"So if you two were still together, you'd still be thinking of going back to your old school?"
"Maybe. I may not even have a choice. My dad already enrolled me and my mom could force me to go."
"You said she was letting you make the decision."
"She could change her mind. She really wants to move back. If she starts telling her friends about this, they'll convince her to make me go."
"You're really annoying me," she says, getting up. "I have to go before I reach across the table and slap some sense into you."
"Eve, wait. Let's just talk about something else. I've barely seen you all week."
"Why do you care?" She sits back down. "If you move, you won't see me ever again." She rips the lid off her chocolate pudding and picks up her spoon.
"I'll still see you. And I don't know for sure if I'm moving."
