My favorite purpleVans stick to the floor as we make our way through Rowdy’s. Cheap beers and bad lighting seem to have brought the entire campus out tonight. This kind of turnout is normal after any game, and tonight is no different. Everyone here is hoping for some face time with the Linden Creek football team after winning their fourth consecutive game this season.
“Alright. I lasted all the way through coffee this morning, and the entire walk here,” Savannah says, slapping her palms on the high-top table in front of her. “I might actually explode out of my skin if we don’t talk about it now.”
I take a slow sip of my drink, buying myself just one more minute, but Savannah’s eyes bore into me so hard, I half expect them to spark a flame. I was able to avoid her yesterday with an early morning tutoring session, and she worked late enough last night that when I faked being asleep by nine o’clock, it was somewhat believable. But I know she hasn’t forgotten about the bomb Nathan dropped the other night.
“Okay, well.” I shift, tugging at the hem of my jeans shorts, suddenly too aware of the backs of my legs sticking tothe stool beneath me. “I guess I should start by telling you about Nathan…” I hesitate.
“Nathan?” She rears back. “What?—”
I must look like a guilty puppy because I see the second Savannah catches on. “Aw, Chlo. Again? I thought you were done with him?”
“I was. I am! I just…” I glance down at my napkin, tearing the wet spot in the corner with my thumb. “I saw him when he got back from summer break, and I swear I went over there just to prove to myself that I was over him, and that he didn’t have the same effect on me anymore.” I’ve told myself this story so many times, I think I actually started to believe my own lie. That might have been what I wanted, or what I wished I was doing, but if I take one single second to be honest with myself, I know that I went over there with the hopes that maybe that time would’ve been different.
“Anyway, hindsight is twenty-twenty and all that, but when I saw him, we just picked back up like no time had passed. It was like nothing had changed.”
“Andthat’sthe problem.” She flings both arms in the air the way I imagine an Italian mom would do.
My napkin has turned into a small pile of confetti, and I use my fingernail to comb it all into a straight line. “Are you mad?”
“I’m bummed you didn’t tell me.” Her voice is soft despite the loud bar.
“I just didn’t want you to pity me,” I say, finally able to look at her.
She reaches a hand across the small round table and squeezes my clenched fist. “Chloe Addison Cooper, you know I think you’re the greatest thing sinceAbFab. I would never pity you. I would have whacked you upside your beautiful blonde head, showed you thirst videos of Charlie Hunnam, and reminded you of all the reasons Nathan’s notthe guy for you.” She spits the words out so fast it’s like one long, unstoppable sentence.
I nod my head, twisting my lips into some sort of smile.
“But if you still wanted to go and be with him, I would have been there for you in the morning to listen when you wanted to talk.”
A laugh bubbles from me, and I blink away the moisture I hadn’t realized started pooling in my eyes. I feel so stupid for not telling her sooner. I’ve wanted this soul-crushing, all-consuming love my whole adult life, while ignoring my first and favorite love that is the one between my best friend and me.
“Real quick, though, can we circle back to what this has to do with Maverick Hall?”
I roll my eyes, reaching for my drink that I’ve done nothing but swirl around for the last twenty minutes.
“I made the mistake of telling Maverick the wrong pieces of information about Nathan. He thought he was helping by telling Nathan that he was my boyfriend. Long story boring, we’re dating now.”
I lift my glass to her, take a gulp big enough to already regret, and wince as I let the vodka set fire to my insides. When I set the glass down, I expect to find Savannah staring wide-eyed at me in horror, but to my own shock, a mischievous little grin is tugging on her lips.
“What?”
“You’re dating Maverick Hall.” Her grin grows wider with each word.
“But it’s fake! Did I forget to mention that part? It’s all part of a plan.” I wave my hands around, not fully understanding my own dumb idea. “We’re going to stage a breakup before the end of the semester.”
“Sure, babe.”
“I’m serious, Sav. I just didn’t want Nathan to think that all of a sudden, now that he’s shown the possibility of havingreal interest in me, that I would breakup with myboyfriend.” I finger quote boyfriend, and my eyes are starting to get tired from how hard they’ve been rolling lately. “I don’t want him to think I’m like a fair-weather lover or something.”
“If Nathan took more than two minutes to get to know you, he would see the endless depths of your loyalty.”
The line of napkin crumbs begins soaking in the condensation pooling under my glass. I poke at it, trying to force down the emotions now clogging my throat. Savannah’s personality isn’t a very sentimental one. I’ve known this about her since we met almost ten years ago, so when she verbalizes things like that, I’m not prepared.
“Do you think pretending to date Maverick is safe?”
I turn my head to look at her. “What do you mean?”
“Well.” Her lips purse and her shoulders lift. “You’re just such a lover girl. And I love that about you,” she rushes to add. “I just worry about feelings getting involved and how messy that can get.”
