The message whooshes away, and I drop my phone back onto the cushion beside me, feeling like I might throw up.
My head rolls to look at Lexi, who is staring at me with pride.
“You better be right about this.”
“Either way, you can’t be any more miserable than you are right now,” she points out with a shrug. “Like you said, I would know.”
Guilt coils around my throat like a boa constrictor, tightening to the point where I can barely breathe.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, but she shakes her head.
“Don’t be. You’re hurting. I understand.”
“But so are you, and it was shitty of me to throw that back in your face. Especially when you’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”
A smirk pulls at her lips and she winks. “Yeah, I know, I’m pretty great.”
I laugh, feeling the tiniest amount of levity at her teasing tone. But that’s why I love her. It’s what makes her a person I could never imagine my life without—and why I was desperate for a lifewithher for so long.
How ironic that it’s a picture I could never conjure now.
The sound of the basement door opening greets us, only for a familiar feminine voice to shout, “Guess who’s graduated, bitches!”
Lexi and I lean forward, finding Willow on her way down the stairs, still in her cap and gown. She’s holding a navy-blue diploma folder, which she promptly lifts in one hand to show us.
“Did you know they don’t even put the diploma in here before they give it to us? What kind of crap is that?”
“They have to mail it to you,” someone with a deep voice saysfrom behind her.
Not one, but two, dark-haired guys have followed her into the basement. They’re both well over six feet tall, and their size creates an illusion of them being her bodyguards.
“Well, that’s stupid,” she says with an eyeroll. “I worked my ass off for that damn piece of paper, so getting this empty folder is anticlimactic as fuck.”
The one with turquoise eyes arches a brow. “Will, do you understand how difficult it’d be to ensurethousandsof students got the right one if the diplomas were actually in there? Or how hard it’d be to fix if they got it wrong?”
Willow just rolls her eyes again.
“Logan, Lex. Meetmypain in the ass brothers. Biological and bonus,” she mutters, pointing to each of them.
And it all makes sense.
My hand lifts, absently waving hello while I check my phone to see if Camden’s replied. He hasn’t. In fact, the message still just saysdeliveredbeneath it. But if Willow’s home, then he’s out of the ceremony too. Meaning he should’ve checked his texts by now.
My gaze flicks over to Lexi, who’s staring at me. And apparently reading my damn mind when she inquires, “Will, did you see Camden after the ceremony?”
“Yeah, he left with his parents a bit before we did.”
My heart crawls into my throat, but I somehow choke out, “Did he say where they were going?”
She frowns and shakes her head. “No, but I’d assume he’ll be back soon, unless they all went out to eat first.”
Worry scratches at the back of my head, causing goose bumps to break out across my skin, and I start to spiral. My thoughts move at hyperspeed, playing out possible scenarios, and I glance over at Lexi, finding her phone in her hand now.
“Can you text him? On your phone,” I ask.
“Already on it.”
I watch as she types out a message, congratulating him, before hitting send. Meanwhile, Willow crosses over to us and drops down on my other side to look at Lexi’s phone screen.
