“I only met Zeke’s mom a couple of times when I was in high school, but she seemed like an amazing woman.” Maia wraps an arm around Brinley, scooting closer to her.
“I can’t stop thinking about her,” Ember sighs. “And I didn’t even know her as long as you guys did.”
Our minds are all preoccupied; this doesn’t feel like our usual get-togethers at Brinley’s. Even when we were here a couple of days after his mom passed away, we were able to find a lightness in our conversation. I think the closer we get to her funeral, the closer we get to goodbye, the more real it all feels.
“Fletcher and I are dating.” The words fly out of my mouth before I have time to lock them inside.
“What?” Brinley’s body flies toward me as if she’ll be able to tell I’m lying if her eyes are only inches from mine. “When did this fucking happen?”
“In February,” I mumble.
“I’m sorry… February?” Ember asks, and suddenly, all of the eyes on me feel overwhelming. “When were you going to tell us?”
“Everything just got really crazy. I mean, your brother found out about you and—”
“Wait, are you telling me you and Fletcher were together before Valentine’s Day?” Brinley falls back onto her butt. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Actually, it was on Valentine’s Day.”
“I don’t know how I haven’t seen it. I mean, maybe we were just focused on the fact that things seemed back to normal,” Brinley responds.
“Maybe that’s just proving the point they were basically dating without all of the benefits of dating,” Maia scoffs. “You guys haven’t been any more touchy-feely than usual, and the look in your eyes hasn’t changed.”
“I just can’t believe you were able to keep this a secret from everyone.” Brinley shakes her head.
“Jere’s known.” I bite my lip.
“You told him and didn’t tell us?!”
“I didn’t tell him, Brin; he kind of just figured it out. I guess he’s more observant than you,” I tease.
“No, no one is more observant than me.”
“You also didn’t realize Zeke was in a relationship, and we were seeing each other a lot longer than—”
“Okay, but I wasn’t seeing the two of you together, so that’s different.”
“Is it?” Maia leans back on her hands. “Shouldn’t you be able to observe the change in Zeke’s behavior and realize why he was acting differently?”
“Well—”
“I knew he was seeing someone before I found out for sure,” Ember adds. “I guess I’m also more observant than you.”
“I’m over this conversation. I’m going to the bathroom so I can get a moment of peace from the people who aresupposedlymy friends.”
She hops up from the floor, brushing her hands off on her pants before walking to the bathroom and slamming the door.
“Shit.” There’s a loud thud on the opposite side of the bathroom door.
“Brin?” I stand up and walk over to the door. “Are you okay?”
“I’m stuck.”
I glance over at Ember, Maia, and Avalon, who are standing up and walking over to me.
“What do you mean you’re stuck?”
“My door’s still broken. I can’t get out.”
