“Nothing,” I said. “Nothing in the most nothing form.”
She pulled some pages out from under me. “Are you writingby hand?”
“Not by choice,” I told her. “But I guess it’s kind of nice. I can’t really go back and fidget without a backspace button, ya know? And it’s just a baby idea, anyway. Just a little brain detour. A distraction.”
“I promise not to stage mom you and tell you how proud you’ve made Mommy so that you don’t panic and never touch this thing again.”
“And I appreciate that, Mommy.” I gave her a grateful smile and patted the seat beside me for her to sit down.
She reached for the remote and flipped through streaming services until landing onNever Been Kissed, a staple of ours in college.
And that was the start of a very perfect night.
Eli made gnocchi while we watched movie after movie. Tess and I cuddled into each other while I tucked my toes under Eli’s butt and only wiggled them a few times, which elicited some sort of shrill noise.
As we all started to fade and get ready for bed, Tess pushed me toward Eli’s bedroom.
I shook my head. “I’m not missing a chance to have a slumber party with my best friend.”
Eli squeezed my shoulder before Tess and I broke off toward my bedroom.
“Good night, ladies,” he said as he shut the door behind us.
Tess took a good fifteen minutes to find the perfect configuration of pillows and then she tossed for a few minutes before deciding she wanted to be big spoon. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m too used to sharing a bed with Max.”
“It’s okay,” I told her, as she nestled into my shoulder. “It’s nice to know you’re still a big spoon.”
She sighed. “That candle, huh? V, that’s some lore shit. He’s got it bad. Hell, he’shadit bad.”
“I don’t know,” I said, trying not to let myself read too much into it. “Maybe the candle is just a dumb nostalgia thing. Or more likely a coincidence.”
“I miss a lot about those days. But your body spray isnotone of them.”
It was an inoffensive enough scent that conjured memories of cinnamon pretzels from the mall and ironic T-shirts from Spencer’s. But definitely not something I would actively choose for myself now. But during college, those little bottles of body spray were my most beloved splurge purchase. The thought of Eli buying that candle because it reminded him of me made my chest swell to the point of stinging.
“It was really sweet of Max to let you get away for the day,” I said.
“Ummm.” She unhooked her arm from around my waist and plopped back against the pillows.
I turned over to face her and sat up with my arm propped behind me. “Um, what, Tess?”
She gritted her teeth but said nothing.
“Um,what, Tess?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “I might not have told him where I was going. Or that I was leaving at all.”
I sat up fully now and shook her shoulders. “Are you telling me I’m harboring a fugitive?”
“I didn’t break a law, Vera! I’m more of a... missing person.”
I shook my head and crawled over her body to dig her phone out of her purse on the floor.
When I finally came back with it, I found that it was dead. “It’s off?” I asked. “The last time you were without a phone was when you accidentally ran over your BlackBerry freshman year.You, the same woman who thought airplane mode was a conspiracy theory until five years ago!”
She shrugged. “I kind of still think it is.”
“Did he do something to you?” I asked, reining myself back in. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
