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“I’ll be the one in navy!” Rory quipped.

“Aren’t we all supposed to wear navy?” Blake asked, looking confused.

“That’s why it’s funny, Blakey-boy.”

Blake frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“And that’s why I didn’t show you the silly vagina TikTok—you never understand my humor,” she teased, meeting Melanie’s eyes and sharing a grin with her.

Blake shook his head as he walked away from them. “You are a strange, strange human.”

Once Blake was out of earshot, Melanie placed her hands on Rory’s shoulders. “Update me on this little situation at lunch?”

Her stomach twisted, realizing she still hadn’t responded to Jay. What were you even supposed to say to an out-of-the-blue Hi? Who did that?

“If I have an update by then,” she responded.

“And I think you now owe me a sleepover.”

“Oh, trust me…” She pulled her backpack over her shoulder. “There will be plenty of opportunities for sleepovers now. Gabi picked up another job, so I’ll constantly be in an empty house. Want to come over, I don’t know, every night?”

“Don’t tempt me.”

The second bell rang, letting them know they were both sufficiently late for homeroom.

“Look at you,” Rory teased. “New wardrobe, no AP classes, getting in trouble with a teacher, late for class. Who are you, and what have you done with Melanie Albertson?”

Melanie cocked her head as she backed away, that grin still on her face. “She moved to Haverport.”

* * *

Does this mean we’re still ignoring each other?

Rory sat down on the metal bench next to the high school’s soccer field, drenched head to toe in sweat. It was the second to last practice before their final game next week, and this one was especially brutal. Coach Konicki had them run their winning plays over and over again, and by the end of it, her legs felt like goo.

She huffed, grabbed her water bottle out of her bag, and squirted the top of her head. She had yet to respond to Jay, going back and forth on what to say to him. Would a simple “hi” back be enough? Or was it alright to jump right in and tell him off about how angry she was that he left Haverport without saying goodbye?

She looked down at her screen and decided to be cordial. At least…for now.

Sorry, been busy

Hi back. How’s college?

Rory sat there and watched the little gray dots dancing.

Fine

How was the last day at Scoops?

She shook her head. He left the way he did, yet he actually wanted to know how things were going? It didn’t make sense. He was always the one complaining at work about how much he hated it and that he wasn’t making enough.

Don’t tell me you actually care

I do care!

Sure didn’t seem like it when you left without saying goodbye

She couldn’t help herself. He made her angry—especially when it really didn’t seem like he cared about any of them.