Page 64 of Okay, Cupid

Four words that end my world.

And four more are yet to come.

“I love you too.”

I close the door, forcing Cal to step away.

“We should give them privacy,” I tell him, and he nods just as Neve rounds the corner, a bottle of seltzer in her hand.

I block her at the door. “They’re having a moment.”

“Seriously? Alice hasn’t mauled him?”

“It’s complicated,” Cal says. “I’m Cal, by the way.” He holds out his hand, and Neve returns the gesture with a confused look on her face.

“Just give them some time,” I say.

“Okay, but I’ve got to get this to her.”

We stand out there, counting the minutes to ourselves before Neve has finally had enough waiting around. She knocks on the door. “Everyone’s decent?”

“Huy’s got his nipples out,” Alice says.

“I don’t mind if you don’t!” Huy laughs, but I can hear something in both of their voices. It’s clear that the tears, silent as they were, were heavy. Huy is indeed standing there with his nipples out, his binder folded on the sink because even it couldn’t escape the cake stains. The skin around both their eyes is red, rubbed raw, and there’s a pile of used paper towels in the sink.

“The store had these too,” Neve says, pulling two Tide pens seemingly out of nowhere and handing one to Huy. “Everything okay in here?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Alice turns back toward the mirror, brushing her hair away from her face. “I messed up my makeup again, Jude.”

“How do the clothes look?” Neve asks.

“Umm … well …” Huy looks at his shirt in the sink, soaked through now thanks to how he was washing it. “At least Alice’s dress looks okay.”

Alice steals a look at him in the mirror before she turns toward Neve and me. “Can you see it?”

There’s a dark stain on the front that you can catch in the right light, but I think that’s just because it’s still wet from where she’s cleaned it.

“It looks better,” Neve tells her, leaning against the sink. “So … we missed something, didn’t we?”

Huy looks at Alice.

And Alice looks at Huy.

I want to disappear, to vanish completely. I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to run out of the school and never come back here, never ever see the two of them happy ever again. And that is so selfish of me, I know that. I know what it’d mean to abandon this entire story after working with them for so long. But I hate how much love they have for each other in their eyes, and I hate how Huy is looking at her.

“No,” Alice says. “Nothing happened.”

“Riiiiiight,” Neve replies. “You two just look like you’ve been crying your eyes out for no reason?”

“We’re fine,” Huy says, turning away. “Aren’t we?”

“Yeah.” Alice stares down at her dress. “We’re fine.”

Huy’s eyes find my petrified form in the mirror. He smiles at me, and I crumble to pieces. “Just fine.”

“Impromptu sleepover tonight?” Cal asks as we step out onto the front steps of the school, leaving the event. It’s gotten so cold out, and I was stupid enough to leave my coat at home.

“Is it still impromptu if we plan it?” I ask.