Page 97

No state line.

Just me and Vinny in the same place, single at the same time.

I press my lips together, trying to contain the smile that keeps appearing anyway.

Maybe all these years I spent waiting for him weren’t pathetic. Maybe timing really has been our only problem.

Speaking of timing, he said he’d be here around seven. It’s seven o’clock.

I stand in front of the mirror in my room, fluffing my hair again, waiting to hear his car door slam outside.

At seven-fifteen, it finally does.

He’s here.

My heart leaps so violently I press my hand against my chest as I run to the window. I peek through the curtain, trying to be discreet.

But his car isn’t there.

Then I see it.

Movement next door.

Vinny’s car in front of Juliet’s house.

Vinny walking up to her door.

My head presses against the warm glass, trying to get a better view, but he disappears out of sight.

I step back, letting the curtain fall.

For a second, I just stand there.

Thinking it through.

It’s fine.

Of course he’d stop and see Juliet. They’re friends too.

There are a hundred perfectly reasonable explanations for why he’d go to her house.

Maybe he’s returning something of hers he’s had since high school.

Maybe he wants to see how her mother is doing. He and Kayleen used to be really close.

Maybe he’s only staying long enough to say hello.

I sink down onto my mattress.

He said he’d come over around seven p.m. Around is a flexible word.

But the clock ticks on.

7:33.

So not just a quick pop-in.

7:58.