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Calvin dipped his chin.

“Maybe you should—”

“Yeah,” he interrupted. “I’ll apologize.”

She nodded. “Good.”

As she got out of the car and walked up to the house, she sent up a silent prayer into the universe, to whoever was listening, hoping that someday Jay would want to be her friend again. He’d forever be the boy she played spoon swords with, the guy who was always willing to get in trouble with her—like their annual tradition of locking newbies in the walk-in. She wanted to know everything going on with him, wanted to know about this program in Japan. She could only hope things would stop being so weird between them.

Rory reached for the doorknob and let out a long sigh.

She took a lot of chances this year, made a lot of decisions that went against what she thought her life was supposed to be. What she was supposed to do, where she was supposed to go. Deciding against going to a traditional university like her mother had always wanted for her, joining the yearbook, even going after her father. Kissing Tyler. Falling for him.

Her shoulders eased. Whatever befell her as she entered the house, she knew down to her core that she would never regret choosing herself.

She opened the door. Gabi sat on the couch, a box of half-eaten buffalo chicken pizza on the table as she watched Gilmore Girls. She looked up at Rory and paused the show. “How was the party?”

A mess. “A lot of fun.”

“Good,” Gabi responded, patting the cushion next to her. Rory took a seat. “And Melanie is doing okay?”

“As okay as she can be, I think,” Rory said. “I don’t know that she’ll ever be truly okay.”

“It’s a good thing she has you guys. A family to lean on in the hard times.”

She thought back to her conversation with Melanie a few nights ago, sopping wet on her bed, how similar Gabi’s words were to what her friend told her. “Yeah, exactly.”

“And I think, maybe, it’s been good for you, too.”

Rory gaped. This was not what she expected. “I don’t understand.”

Gabi sighed. “I’ve been so tunnel-visioned about us having enough money to afford college that I completely lost sight of my daughter and what she needed to be okay. And I’m truly sorry, sweetie. I screwed up.”

Tears lined Rory’s eyes. “But I’ve screwed up, too.”

“Yes, and we’ll talk about it,” Gabi said with a cock of her head. “But I just needed to start with that. To let you know that I understand why this all went down in the first place. That maybe my actions were the catalyst.”

Rory looked down at her hands, twisting them, not sure what else to say.

“So…why’d you skip school?” Gabi asked.

Rory looked up at her. “You’re not going to like it.”

To her surprise, Gabi smiled wearily. “He called me.”

Rory’s eyes went wide. “He did?”

Gabi sighed. “Yes, he called me right after you drove off, all in a huff. Said you are just as stubborn as me, that he couldn’t believe how low I’d stooped to send you his way.”

“Oh god,” she whispered.

“I told him that I was proud of my daughter for facing her fears, and glad that my Rory will forever know how much of an asshole he is.”

Her tears were falling now, and she let her eyes flutter shut. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have done it.”

“Gone behind my back? Yeah, definitely not,” Gabi said. “But standing up for yourself, for me? I could never be angry at you for that.”

Gabi was holding tissues toward her as she blinked her eyes open. She snatched one, blowing her nose.