“Get the fuck outta here.”
“Wow—little baby Donny is kinda cranky this morning, huh?”
I stare up at my sister. “You know, I’m starting to miss the days when you just stonewalled me.”
“Adam says I should make an effort with you—but if you ask nicely, I can go back to the silent treatment.”
“Wow, you guys are the best.” I flash them my fakest smile. “Now leave me the hell alone.”
“Come on, dude. I hate seeing you like this,” says Adam, more serious now. “What’s up with you?”
I let out a deep sigh and haul my ass over to the table. I need to talk this through with someone—try to figure out exactly what the hell happened.
As quickly as I can, I take them through the talk I had with Carrie three days ago.
“So, did you try calling her since she went to Cincinnati?”
I eyeball Adam. “Sure, I just called her up and begged her to see me, like the world’s biggest loser!” I snort. “I already look lame as fuck, man—of course I didn’t call her.”
“Okay. I mean, what about calling her to make sure everything’s okay with her?” He shrugs. “She told you something was going on with her mom. Maybe that’s why she flipped out.”
Amelia nods. “Agreed.”
“For real?” I ask.
“Sometimes when you’ve got stuff going on, it makes you just kinda shut down. You find an easy target and you dump all your crap on them,” my sister offers.
I glance over at Amelia. I know exactly what she’s referring to. It’s insane how our relationship did a complete U-turn so fast, and I’m glad—but this Carrie thing is seriously getting to me. I fixed things with my sister, and now somehow I have to do it all over again with Carrie, too.
“That doesn’t mean it’s all her fault, by the way. I’m sure once she’s dealt with whatever she’s dealing with, she’ll be in touch.”
I frown. “I haven’t heard from her since she left, but Lane saw her on campus yesterday. Which means she got back to Sycamore Heights without telling me. Pretty clear message, if you ask me.”
“You guys have way too much history for her to just randomly ghost you.”
I let out a bark of laughter. “Guess you don’t know Carrie the way I do. She’s unpredictable—and crazy stubborn.”
“Notthatstubborn. She agreed to help you even though she couldn’t stand you, remember? You asked for help becoming the perfect boyfriend, and she said sure. Why would she bail now? It doesn’t make sense.”
I shoot Amelia a hard look. “You’re really up to speed on the whole situation, aren’t you?”
“The ‘whole situation’ is why I decided to give you a second chance.”
“This fucking sucks.”
My sister smiles at me softly before awkwardly patting my knee, and as they head back toward the bedroom, Adam clasps my shoulders.
Alone again in the living room, I start to think. I need to make sense of it all. I don’t want to call her, because I’ve always been the one to make the first move—at the same time, I’m worried, and this whole thing is driving me crazy.
I’m stretching my legs out on the coffee table when there’s a knock at the door. I freeze. There’s no way I’m dragging myself over to see who it is. I’m not in the mood for small talk. I’m hoping one of my roomies will move their asses, but it seems like today’s my unlucky day.
“Somebody’s at the door!” I holler.
“I’m looking for something on my desk!” Lewis yells from his room, and I roll my eyes.
Adam doesn’t make a peep, and I’m guessing he’s…Nope. I’m not going there. I don’t even want to think about it.
More knocking. Suppressing a sigh, I slope across the room, rubbing my eyes and raking a hand through my messy hair. I open the front door. And just like that, she’s there. I’ve spent so long waiting for her to show up—coming to terms with the fact that I might never see her again. But here’s Carrie now, standing right in front of me.Whatever you do, don’t smile.
