I knew she was joking…but still.Well, the thing is, I imagined whispering back.They already have.
Charlie had called me after midnight on Saturday, as I was torturing myself in bed, clicking through old pictures of me and Nick on my laptop. Just buddies, just pals, now nothing. “Hey,” I’d said into my phone, trying to keep my voice level. “Where’d you go after pizza?”
He didn’t respond right away; I could hear him breathing, but he didn’t say anything. “Are you alone?” he eventually asked.
I stared at a shot from two summers ago, me on Nick’s shoulders at a Dierks Bentley concert. My eyes were shut as I screamed, and he was smiling up at me. I’d never noticed it before. “Yes,” I said. “I’m alone.”
“I kissed Luke,” he said in a rush. “I kissed Luke tonight.”
Both my heart and I jumped. “What?! Oh my god, Charlie!” I sucked in a breath. “Was it a good kiss?”
“Good?” His voice sounded different than I’d ever heard it before. I knew he was smiling. “Sage, I can’t even…” He sighed again, dreamy and dazed. “I mean, youknow, you know?”
Yes, I’d thought, my eyes prickling but glancing at the picture of Nick and me again.Yes, I do know.
While we officially deemed Charlie’s “concussion” fake news, the second tidbit was nothing but the truth—a confirmation of a rumor that had circulated Saturday night. “Holy crap,” Nina said in the middle ofCrazy Rich Asians.“Guess what Val texted me.”
Reese hit pause. “Do tell.”
“She says she heard some sophomore saw Emma Brisbane tonight.” She paused. “In Mortimer’s common room with Nick Carmichael.”
My stomach sank, a string of words spilling out: “That means nothing.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure…” Nina tapped a text back to Val, then smiled. “Because apparently this junior saw them later, walking toward…”
Not the sixth hole, I prayed.Please not the sixth hole.Nick wouldn’t do that; he wouldn’t point out constellations to Emma. Granted, it was way too cold for the golf course, but I couldn’t think clearly. Something was snaking around and strangling my heart.
“Sounds like Val was right,” Jennie said. “This must be their year.”
“Well, I won’t believe it until I see it,” Reese replied, and resumed the movie—but now, in Addison, we were seeing it. Cody Smith whistled from the boys’ hockey table when Nick and Emma walked into the dining hall, hand in hand. He half-smiled and ducked hishead, not wanting the attention, while Emma absolutely beamed, loving it.
Nina nudged me. “Pay up,” she said. “Twenty bucks, remember?”
I suppressed a sigh. Nina had been so thrilled about the possibility of Nick and Emma that I’d impulsively made a bet with her that it was bullshit. I begrudgingly nodded. “I’ll Venmo you later.”
She laughed. “Can’t wait to see your caption.”
“Yeah, it’ll be a winner,” I mumbled, the lineHe’s my husbandflashing through my mind. Another quote fromSweet Home Alabama.My stomach twisted.
Jack pretend-pounded the table. “Well, all right then,” he said. “Now that Nick and Emma are sorted, let’s talk about the real deal.” He gestured to Charlie and me. “We’ve been passing the popcorn back and forth for long enough, don’t you think?”
The flock went silent.
Had Jackreallyjust asked that?
Charlie and I looked at each other. His jaw wasn’t tight, exactly, but stillclenched, and there was a flash of fear in his eyes. I wondered what he saw in mine. A quaver, probably.
Because I was fighting tears.
Our friends stayed quiet. Either waiting for the usual brush-off, or for us to finally profess our love for each other.I do love him!I thought about saying, to settle this for once and for all.Just not like that!
“You know, Jack,” Luke suddenly piped up. “I bet that popcorn’s pretty stale by now.” He swiped into his phone, shrugging casually. “Might be time to toss it.”
Luke and I slid into our usual Pandora’s booth around 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. We’d fallen into a routine of doing homework here after dinner, just the two of us.
“I saw you at practice today,” he said as we unloaded our heavy backpacks, books banging onto the table. “You were killing it.” He and I were both doing indoor track this term, but while Luke ran long distance, my specialty was pole-vaulting. It was the ultimate rush.
“I know,” I said. “I didn’t knock the pole once.”
