Page 88

He slinked past her and tiptoed down the stairs, the sound of him talking to Melanie’s parents muffled as she closed the door.

Melanie held out her arms to Rory, and instantly, Rory was crying. Still in her wet uniform, she curled up, her chest heaving as Melanie held her, brushing her hair away from her face and holding her close. They remained there in their embrace for a while, until Rory’s sobs finally slowed.

“Is it Tyler?” Melanie asked.

Rory just nodded. “He’s going to move, Mel. Really, really far away.”

“Football?”

“Yeah,” she answered, wiping her runny nose with her sleeve.

“Did something new happen with him?”

She sighed. “Y-yes.”

“Tell me everything. Leave nothing out.”

So, Rory did. From cuddling under the blanket on Christmas to their confessions in the rain a few weeks ago. Then tonight at Scoops when he almost kissed her, held her, looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered in the world. Then how Jay barged in, and the way Tyler protected her from him, the pain she saw in his eyes.

When she was finished, she looked up at Melanie, who, annoyingly enough, was trying to hold back a smile curling up her lips.

Rory glared. “Stop that right now.”

“I…what? I’m not doing anything.”

She flicked Melanie off, which made her friend chuckle.

“Do you think he has a thing for rain?” Melanie teased, pointing to the wrathful thunderstorm out the window. “Or maybe precipitation in general? Because snow got him going, too.”

“Oh my god,” she said, rolling her eyes. Melanie was belting out a laugh now.

Rory poked her friend in the side before lying back down and hugging Melanie’s waist. “None of it matters, though. Everyone is going to leave.”

“Not me,” she whispered.

She perked up, looking up at her friend. “No Yale?”

Melanie nodded. “No Yale. After our conversation the other day, I knew right away that I wasn’t meant to follow this dream anymore. It’s time to follow a different one.”

Rory grasped her hands. “And what’s your new dream?”

Her friend smiled. “I want to help other kids like me. Like Duncan. Families struggling with addiction. I want others to know they are loved and seen, and that they are never alone.”

She rubbed at her arm. “That just gave me chills, Mel. I can feel it. It’s what you’re meant to do.”

Melanie squeezed Rory’s hands.

“So…what’s next?” Rory asked. “Are you going to college?”

“I’m enrolling as a commuter student at UCONN,” Melanie explained. “I’ll be living at home.”

She exhaled, closing her eyes and leaning her head back in relief. “Oh thank god.”

“You’re stuck with me, Gilmore.”

“I hate you.”

Melanie chuckled. “Anything from Baybrook yet?”