“No, Cary—stay.Stay.I can do today. I’m just surprised. When do you get here?”
“I’m at the airport.”
“Oh my god, okay. Cary! This is amazing. I’m going to show you everything. I’m going to give you a campus tour. Should I come meet you? When does your next flight leave?”
“Not till Monday.”
“Monday...” More not-good surprise. “Do you have someplace to stay?”
“Uh...” He closed his eyes. “I didn’t really have time to plan anything. I was hoping I could sleep on your floor.”
“We’ll work something out,” Shiloh said quickly. “I’ve got a roommate—”
“I can find someplace. I can go home.”
“No. You can sleep on my floor, or I’ll find you a floor. I’ve got friends in the boys’ dorms who’ll put you up if Darla feels uncomfortable.”
“Your roommate?”
“Yeah. She’s decent.”
“If it’s too much...”
“It’s not too much!” Shiloh had already decided now, and he wouldn’t be able to talk her out of it. “I’m really glad you’re here, Cary. Do I need to come get you?”
“I can get to you.”
Fourteen
before
She came rushing out of the elevator, and Cary stood a little taller. His mouth was dry. He swallowed.
Shiloh looked different. She’d cut her hair—it hung in a blunt shelf at her jaw—and she had bangs now. It made her look like someone in a foreign movie. And she was thinner. Her chin jutted out of her face. She was wearing a dress that Cary had never seen before—it was too tight over her chest and too short above her knees. She had on tights, but still. He wasn’t used to seeing Shiloh’s legs. He wasn’t used to this Shiloh at all.
She looked impatient; that at least was familiar.Thiswas familiar—the way she was standing, with her hands on her hips, looking around the lobby like she was trying to find something wrong with it.
She walked past him toward the door.
He grabbed her forearm. “Hey.”
Shiloh jumped away from him, no sign of recognition in her eyes.
“Hey,” Cary said again, softer.
Her eyes got big. And then her mouth opened. “Cary...”
“Hey,” he said a third time.
He knew he was changed. He’d been worried about it the whole way here. The uniform. The hair. Everyone who came through the lobby had looked at him like he didn’t belong here. Like he must be here for some strange and specific reason.
Shiloh’s eyes were jumping all over him. His shoes. His tie. The single decoration that he got for showing up.
“Hey,” she said finally. Like his friend.
They’d never hugged before, so Cary didn’t try to hug her. But he relaxed. He was relieved.
“I wasn’t expecting...” She gestured at him. “Do you have to wear this?”
