“Have a great day, darlin’!” Lewis yells.
She gives me the finger without turning back. “Bite me!”
“You really need to sleep with her,” Donovan says wistfully.
“Why the fuck are you all so obsessed with that today?”
“She’s perfect for you, man. Rude, with a vicious streak—”
“And completely unhinged,” I finish for him.
“Like I said—perfect for you.”
I shoot a desperate look at Adam, but he offers no help.
I jump to my feet and stretch, high-fiving my friends before making a beeline for the main building.
I pass the huge calendar by the entrance and do a double take. “November,” all in big letters. I stand there for a few seconds and sigh, closing my eyes and pinching my nose shut. I hate this goddamn month. I wish I could snap my fingers and fast-forward straight to December, but I know how the story goes. The weeks will crawl by, day by painful day. The rest of the year, I can handle. But November… November is hard. Because in less than two weeks’ time, I’ll be plunged straight back into the night when everything went wrong. The night my brother died.
16LOIS
A whole week passes and I still haven’t gotten back to Adam about his invitation: I can’t decide whether to head home or stay on campus. I haven’t seen my family since the summer, but the idea of being in Fort Myers, wandering the streets I used to roam with Kirk, makes me panic. We grew up there. We were friends before we hooked up, and there’s an entire memory box of flashbacks I’m too scared to reopen. There’s another problem, too. While my parents don’t know we broke up or that I’m living with Lane, Kirk’s parents do. There’s a high chance the whole town is in the loop by now, my parents included, but I’d rather not think about it. There’ll be no escaping Christmas, but at least I can buy myself a few extra weeks by skipping Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad have never made a big deal out of that holiday, so I’m sure they’ll be fine with me staying in Sycamore. In fact, they’ll probably be super proud to hear their little Lois is busy making new friends. I’m torn, though, because I do miss them—and despite myself, I miss my nightmare brothers, too.
I’m so wrapped up in what I should do and what Icoulddo, that I miss whole chunks of the class I was just in and walk straight out of the room and smack-dab into a huge, unmovable mass, dropping my bag on the floor and bending to scoop up my things.
“Shit, I’m sorry!”
I straighten, and before I even have time to look up, I hear a voice I know as well as my own.
“Hey.”
Kirk and I lock eyes, and the air is sucked from my lungs.
I sling my bag over my shoulder. “Hey there.”
“Hey there”? For real? Jesus Christ, Lois.
He’s fiddling with his beanie. “What’s up?”
“Not much. I’m good.”
So smooth. I need to get it together, and fast.I’ve been waiting for him to come and talk to me for what feels like forever,and the big moment is finally happening. He’s right here in the flesh, but it’s like it’s Kirk and not Kirk, all at once. The guy in front of me suddenly feels like a stranger. But I can’t stop my heart from racing.
“How about y-you?” I stutter.
“I’m okay.”
“I saw you guys won all your scrimmages. That’s amazing.”
“Yeah, it’s cool.”
Our conversation isn’t exactly scintillating.
He shifts on his feet. “When are you heading back to Fort Myers?”
“Huh?”
“When are you heading home for Thanksgiving?”
