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“Good,” Jess said. She turned back to her box of chips and resumed tossing them onto the shelves.

Rory grabbed a few bags, far from where Jess was stocking to make sure her chips were actually intact, then hesitated before turning to leave. “Um, good to see you, Jess. And Jay said to say hi to his mom.”

Jess perked up, looking over at Rory. “Jay? You talked to him?”

Rory shrugged. “Yeah, that was him on the phone actually. We’ve been talking.”

“Like…talking, talking? What happened to Tyler?”

To her shock, Jess seemed invested. Probably wondering what happened after the Great Scoops Showdown. When everything had gone to shit.

“Tyler has a girlfriend,” Rory admitted. “If you picked up a newspaper last week you would have seen her. He’s quite literally Haverport royalty now.”

“Wow,” Jess breathed. “I honestly never thought Tyler would get over you. Seems weird.”

“Um—”

“And Jay? Does he like you?” Jess asked. Before Rory could answer, Jess shook her head. “God, forget I asked. I literally do not care about this.”

Rory smirked. “Seems like you do a little bit.”

“Nope.” She was back to restocking her bags. “The opposite actually. Couldn’t care less.”

Her face fell. She turned to walk toward the checkout.

“Wait, Rory.”

She whirled back around, startled to find Jess sauntering across the linoleum floor.

“But if I did care,” she said, stopping when her shoes almost touched Rory’s, “you could probably talk to me. I know things haven’t been…easy.”

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

“People talk,” Jess explained. “I know your mom took that bartending gig at Wilson’s. And that Melanie hasn’t been doing well.”

Her throat tightened. Okay, maybe she didn’t want Jess to care. This was crossing the line.

“I’m—fine. Really. Cool as a cucumber.” She winced after she said it, feeling like she’d hit an advanced level of awkwardness.

Jess’s brows furrowed. “I don’t believe you. But fine, forget I said anything.” She turned on her heel and walked to her boxes, not bothering to look back in Rory’s direction.

Rory bought her snacks, her insides churning. When had Jess ever cared about her? It had been obvious that Jess favored Melanie after their summer working together at Scoops. It only took a few months for Jess to ask Melanie to help her with making the ice cream cakes, a job she never trusted the rest of the Scoopers with. Rory tried not to be bitter, not to show how much it stung.

So what changed? And did Rory just screw it all up by pushing her away?

She groaned, resting her head against the steering wheel of her car. She was really good at pushing people away. Maybe that was what she should major in if she went to college.

* * *

The following morning, Rory poured her coffee to the brim with a loud yawn. She hadn’t stayed long at the party, just a couple hours of screaming rowdy chants and singing through their game-day playlist one last time before they all dissolved into a puddle of tears and told each other how much they were going to miss this. Rory didn’t drink—she wasn’t ready. And thankfully, it meant she got to drive home that night and tuck into her own bed instead of on Kayla’s couch or one of the deflated air mattresses on the floor.

As promised, she called Jay when she got home, talking to him for another half hour on speakerphone as she got ready for bed. He kept asking her if she was okay, wanting to know if she was feeling better from before. Despite her conversation with Jess, which still made her feel a little on edge, she did feel better. Even though Jay had his moments of being a complete dickhead, he was also a loyal friend. He stayed on the phone with her until she was in bed and her eyes were drooping.

She took a slurp of her coffee and carefully balanced it as she went out to the back deck, sliding the glass door open and stepping out into the chilly air. Fall had officially made its appearance. The trees were covered in burnt oranges and reds, leaves slowly gliding down and settling on the damp earth in her backyard. She shivered, tucking her knees inside her big sweatshirt as she leaned back in one of their plastic Adirondack chairs. Gabi hadn’t woken her to talk through their fight before leaving for her shift, but she did leave half a pot of coffee, which almost felt like an apology. While hot coffee would generally be the way to her heart, she knew it wasn’t going to work this time. There was a lot more baggage between the two of them that needed settling.

She heard a door swing open and watched as a flurry of pink charged at her. Bea took the stairs two at a time as she climbed up Rory’s deck.

“Rory, are you free today? Can you take me to Lacey’s?”