“Curl up into a ball and die,” I throw my head back and pray for the fluorescent lighting to kill me. “Wait.” I look down at Sunday. “Did you know?”
“I had no idea he was home,” she says, “I’m just as surprised as you are.”
“Daisy hasn’t said anything,” I sigh, pushing my hands through my hair. “He hasn’t been working?”
“He got home Monday, said he had shit to take care of before he got back to it,” Boone explains. “He wouldn’t tell me anything else.”
“Good to know he’s still buttoned up,” I try to joke, but my bottom lip trembles.
“Oh, Reap.” Sunday pushes to her knees. “He’s an idiot, give him some time.”
“He’s been gone five months, Sunny…” I swallow the disappointment. “I think a point comes when a girl just gives up on the Nicholas Sparks movie ending.”
Cosy tosses her arm around my waist and presses her cheek to my shoulder. “Wanna go play DND and get sushi?” she asks.
“Can I come?” Boone interjects, and all three girls simultaneously deny him access to girls' night. “Yeah, fine, whatever. Make Boone drive around town, but don’t invite him to the fun stuff. You guys suck,” he groans, and Kaia pinches him, which starts them fighting, but the air returns to normal, and everyone starts shopping again.
I pull my phone out, staring at the lock screen.
Idiot.
I never changed it from the photo we took at WWE. Brighton’s got the biggest smile on his face, staring down at me, and every time I look at it, the butterflies stir in my chest. But today, an anvil sits there.
He’s been home for a week.
By the time I get home that night, I’m so sick of people waiting for me to explode that I barely greet Crosby as he pads to the open apartment door. He follows me down the hall and into the bedroom, taking his spot on the bed and waiting for me to join him.
“You’d come see me, right?” I flip the blankets back, and he moves up, putting his head on my chest. “If you didn’t see me for five months, would I be one of your first stops?” I ask him, pressing my fingers between his ears for a good scratch. “I mean, yeah, things ended rocky, but…”
Crosby lifts his head.
“Well, not that rocky,” I argue with the sound of silence. “Just like… a rough break.”
I reach over and pull out my phone, hitting play, knowing that the playlist was loaded and letting the sound of stupid pop music and its stupid, sad lyrics flood the quiet. In the morning, my lunch is sitting beside Daisy’s, and I can hear Boone in the shower. Usually, I’d wait to thank him, but I don’t need him asking me if I’m okay again, so I slip out before the water stops.
Today is going to be long. Even more so now that I know Brighton is within reach and doesn’t want to see me. I’m in the Bronco on the way to school when I get the text from the group chat.
Bones:
911. Meet at the field.
Sunny:
Seriously?
Killer:
Can it wait?
Bones:
911 literally means an emergency…
I sigh, messaging the principal that I have a family emergency, and turn myself around back toward the field to meet the girls. Only their cars are in the parking lot when I arrive, and I kill the engine, leaving my phone behind.
“This better be quick,” I yell as I stomp across the grass. It’s still that pretty pink color outside—the one that happens when the sun just starts to touch the clouds, and the field is fucking empty.
I fucking hate these girls.
