I start typing back. “Yeah.” I can’t agree more. I would love to have my best friend back.
“Okay,” she says, standing. “I need to go.”
I wave bye to her and turn back to my phone.
Me:I’ll be by later.
I tuck my phone away and make my way to my Topology class.
Chapter 31
Lucy
Thewalkfromthemath building to my apartment is six blocks I have done forty thousand times since freshman year. The October air has gotten colder than it was a week ago, and I have Benson’s hoodie pulled up around my ears with the strings tucked into the collar so the wind cannot get under them. My tote is on my left shoulder. My keys are in my right hand.
My heart is on the same beat as my fast feet. I can’t believe I’m walking back to my apartment to talk to Gianna after I’ve spent the last several nights trying to figure out what I’m doing with my life. I thought I had lost her forever.
When I reach the front door, I exhale. I have my own key, but I don’t know whether to buzz or to use the key. Using the key feels like a claim I am not sure I get to make today. I’m nervous thatshe’s going to take it back or let me stay, and not knowing what happens next has my anxiety rippling through me.
I end up pressing the darn button and feel like an idiot when it buzzes.
Gianna’s voice through the intercom. “Hello?” she says, genuinely confused.
“Hey. It’s me.”
The buzzer goes. I push through and take the narrow stairs.
When I walk in, she’s standing in leggings and an oversized Camden Wolves t-shirt in the kitchen. Her hair is in a low bun that has half fallen out on the right side. Her face is bare. She looks like she hasn’t slept well in five days.
“Hey,” I say, closing the front door behind me. I kick off my shoes and walk towards the kitchen. I notice my bedroom door is shut, and I wonder how long it’s been like that.
“Do you want tea?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Earl Grey or the ginger.”
“Ginger. Thanks.”
She pulls two mugs out of the cabinet. The kettle is already on. She makes the tea as I set my tote on the stool. I take the hoodie off my head and run a hand over my hair to flatten it. She slides the mug across the island to me. I take it and wrap both hands around it.
“How was — how was your day?” she asks.
I shiver at the thought of waking up to Benson this morning. “Good,” I answer. “Just a normal Wednesday. How was yours?”
She shrugs, and I take a sip of the tea. An awkward silence fills the space between us. I don’t even know what I was planning to say to her. My mind’s gone totally blank.
She sets her mug down and says, “Lucy?”
I glance up.
“I––” She closes her eyes and exhales. She opens them. “I’m sorry.”
I set my mug down.
She continues, “I’m sorry for freaking out. I overreacted. I shouldn’t have kicked you out. I knew it the second you broke down and I—”
I look down.
