Page 100

Gianna

emergency

meet me downtown

wear shoes you can shop in

Twenty minutes later, I find her outside a boutique on Main Street wearing enormous sunglasses despite the sun having made only a token appearance all day. She has a coffee in each hand, which in Gianna terms is the equivalent of a distress flare.

“Before you ask,” she says, passing one to me, “I’m fine.”

“Ohkaaay.”

“I broke up with Mark.”

I stop with the coffee halfway to my mouth. “You what?”

“Last night. Technically this morning, because it went past midnight, but that feels unnecessarily precise even for you.”

“Oh, Gianna. I’m sorry”

“I’m fine.”

I put both coffees on the windowsill and hug her. Her body goes stiff for half a second before her arms close around me.

“I said I’m fine,” she mumbles into my coat.

“I know. You’re still getting hugged.”

Her fingers tighten at my back. She lets out a small, shaky breath, and I hold on until she’s the one who pulls away. When she does, she immediately adjusts her sunglasses.

“I cried already,” she says. “An undignified amount. Sydney put spoons in the freezer for my eyes. It actually worked.”

“That was surprisingly practical of her.”

“She also tried to order emergency mozzarella sticks at one in the morning.”

“That’s more like it.”

Gianna gives me a weak smile.

“What happened?” I ask.

“Nothing.” She picks at the lid of her cup. “That’s sort of the problem. He didn’t cheat. We didn’t have some dramatic fight. He didn’t reveal a secret family in Ohio. I just kept waiting to want the relationship more than I did. You know, after we talked about the whole sparks thing. I just knew, I knew before then, really.”

I stay quiet.

“I thought I needed a better reason. He’s kind. He remembers my coffee order. My parents like him. On paper, he’s exactly the sort of person I should want.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No. And apparently not wanting to be someone’s girlfriend is a valid reason not to be their girlfriend. Who knew?”

“It is.”

“He said he’d been feeling it too.”

“Ouch.”