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Rory nodded, shifting her gaze away from her friend’s inquisitive one. “Yeah, we’re, um, all good now.”
“Okay but…” Melanie started, then hesitated. “Did you guys talk about, like…the fact that he likes you?”
“Uhhh, not exactly.” She opened her locker back up and shuffled things around for no particular reason. “I just kind of told him I wanted to forget everything that happened and go back to how things were.”
Melanie frowned. “Can he even do that? Can you even do that?”
Could she? “Everything seemed fine last night.”
Melanie tapped an index finger to her cheek. “Interesting.”
She closed her locker once more and pointed to Melanie’s jeans, desperate to change the subject. “Miss Mel, do I see a rip in the jeans you are wearing today?”
Melanie sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. They got caught in my bike gears the other night riding home from Calvin’s.”
“He made you bike home? God, he’s getting lazy.”
She rolled her eyes playfully. “Noooo, he just needed to study for a test, and I left so he wouldn’t have any distractions.”
She wiggled her brows. “Too much of a distraction then, huh?”
Melanie blushed. “Oh, shove it.”
She laughed. Never in a million years did Rory think someone might actually be interested in Calvin. He was the guy everyone loved to hate at work—always bossing people around, treating every aspect of the job like it was the damn military. Sure, it made sense why he was the way he was; Ron Parsons, the owner of Scoops, was Calvin’s only father figure. Hence why Calvin made the decision to take over Scoops from him someday. But still—was refilling hot fudge canisters or having enough homemade waffle cones really a matter of life or death?
All it had taken was Melanie moving to town for Calvin to become a whole new guy. His goofy side made a surprise appearance every once in a while, and he could not keep his hands off the girl. It was sickening sometimes; she and the rest of the Scoopers had to constantly yell at them to knock it off or kick them out of the tiny bathroom in the back of The War Room where they would meet to makeout between shifts.
Rory took her friend in for a moment, noticing how much Melanie had changed since she’d first met her back in May. Gone were the preppy clothes and the perfectly straightened hair. Haverport seemed to have taken hold of her; she now sported a pair of baggy light-washed jeans, a big knit cardigan over a flowy white tank top, and a pair of chunky sandals. Her beachy waves were held back by an elastic blue headband, and the faint glow of a tan still lingered on her skin.
Melanie frowned. “What?”
Rory shrugged. “You just look like you belong here now.”
Melanie gave her a shy smile, her eyes starting to mist over. “Yeah?”
Rory pummeled her in a fierce hug. She still didn’t know how to talk to Melanie about the fact that Duncan was gone—an event that’d undoubtedly and irrevocably changed her friend’s life. It had been clear to most people over the span of the previous summer that Duncan had a drinking problem, but the fact that he was taken so soon because of it? It just didn’t seem fair.
She wanted to say something to Melanie, something comforting or encouraging. But she couldn’t string together the right words, so she just hugged her tightly, ignoring the bustle from students heading to their homerooms.
Rory felt her phone buzz in her back pocket. She pulled away slightly, using the back of her sweatshirt sleeve to wipe away the tears on her friend’s cheeks before reaching for her phone. She swiped open the screen to a text message.
It was from Jay.
Hi
Rory’s stomach dropped.
“What?” Melanie asked, sniffling. “Who is it?”
She didn’t say anything, just turned the phone so she could read it.
Her brow furrowed. “That’s…odd.”
“No kidding,” Rory huffed.
“Have you guys talked at all since—”
“The day he shouted for all to hear that Tyler has a crush on me? Nope, not a lick.”
