Chapter 9
nine
Tate
Why’d Jeremy need to drive you home from the Halloween party?” Brinley tosses a fry in her mouth. We are sitting in our usual booth at Greystone Diner, waiting for Ember to get here after class. “Where was Fletch?”
“He was too busy flirting with a girl,” I respond and immediately regret it because not only do I sound like a jealous freak, but I told Fletcher we were moving past the whole situation.
“I’m sorry, your best friend left you alone at a party you didn’t even want to go to?”
“It’s fine.” I lie. “We’ve moved on.”
“You’ve moved on?”
“Yes.” I grab a fry as Maia slides into the booth next to me.
“Moved on from what?”
“Fletcher abandoning her at the Halloween party last weekend.” Brinley dips a fry into her strawberry milkshake.
“Don’t you hate parties?”
“Yes, Maia… she does. See, Tate, Maia has known you for what, a couple of weeks, and she knows that parties like that aren’t your thing. And Fletch has known you for—”
“Brin, seriously, it’s fine. He came over the day after the party and apologized. He was just trying to be a good wingman for Marcus. He ended up talking about me for most of their conversation anyway, so.”
“I’m sorry.” Brinley leans forward. “You’re saying Fletcher was talking to an attractive girl—”
“How do you know she was attractive?”
“You wouldn’t be jealous if you didn’t think he was attracted to her.”
“I’m not jeal—”
Brinley puts a hand up as if to tell me to stop talking. “And instead of flirting with her, possibly trying to spend the night with her, he talked about you?!”
“And?”
“And?” Brinley’s eyes widen, and she looks at Maia.
“Guys don’t talk about another girl to a girl they’re planning on sleeping with.”
“Unless they're clueless,” Maia adds.
“Exactly.”
“Have you met Fletcher?” My eyebrows furrow. “He’s pretty clueless.”
“I think he loves you and doesn’t want to ruin your friendship, so he tried to make you jealous by talking to that girl when, in reality, all he did was talk about you.”
“He told her stories, all of which involved me. It’s not like he told the girl my whole life story.” I press my lips together.
“You don’t know that. He could be lying to you.”
“Who’s lying to you?” I glance up at Ember, who pulls her jacket off and slides into the booth next to Brinley.
“Nobody,” I say at the same time Brinley and Maia say, “Fletcher.”
“What’s he lying to you about?”
“He’s not.” I sigh. “How was class?”
I hope the change in topic gets the girls to move on from Fletcher and me completely.
“It was fine. Sorry, it took me so long to get here. I got held up.” Ember removes her scarf, stuffing it into her coat, and that’s when I see the mark on her neck.
“You got held up?” My eyes narrow at her.
“Mmmhmm.” She shoves a fry into her mouth. “I needed to talk with my teacher after class, but everyone else wanted to talk to her too, and—”
“Is that a hickey?” Maia’s eyes widen as she notices what I already have.
“What?” Ember gasps, grazing a finger over her neck. “Oh, no, I burnt myself with my curling iron.”
Brinley grabs Ember’s face, gently turning her head to the side so she can see the mark we’re talking about.
“I’ve gotten enough hickeys in my life to know that is definitely one.” Brinley grins. “Are you hooking up with someone?”
“No,” Ember groans. “Jeez, guys, I’ve spent my whole life covering up a large mark I don’t want anyone to see. Do you think if I actually got a hickey, I would just leave it uncovered for you guys to see?”
“She’s got a point,” Maia replies. “She learned how to cover up her scar at quite a young age—”
“Thanks, Mom.” Ember rolls her eyes.
“There’s no way she wouldn’t cover up a hickey. She hates attention.”
“Maybe she just got it.” Brinley shrugs. “That’s a real—”
Ember pulls out a small makeup bag.
“I’m always prepared.” Ember sets the bag down on the table. “If I cared, I would’ve covered it up. Now, back to what you guys were discussing when I showed up.”
“Right, Fletcher!” Brinley jumps in her seat, and I cover my face with my hands.
“Brin. We don’t need to be screaming his name in public.”
“It’s not like Fletcher’s some guy you’re harboring a secret crush on; he’s Fletch,” Brinley argues.
“Exactly, he’s Fletch.”
“Okay, can I just ask you one more question, and then I’ll let it go completely?” Maia turns toward me.
“You can ask it; I’m not saying I’ll answer it.”
“If Fletcher wanted to be with you, would you?”
It seems like a silly question. It’s all I thought about in high school. God, I thought about it in middle school. I’ve thought about it since the day we met.
“I don’t know.” It’s not a complete lie.
Deep down, there’s so much that runs through my head when I think about heading down that road.
“If you had asked me back in high school, I would’ve said yes in an instant.
So much has changed since then, though. We’ve gotten older, and I guess I’ve realized how much is truly at stake if we go there and—”
“It didn’t work out?” Ember fidgets with the zipper on her makeup bag.
“Exactly. I’m not sure if it’s worth the risk. I think that’s why I’ve moved on from that. I told myself after Ryan—”
“Wait, who’s Ryan?” Maia’s eyebrows pop up.
“She met him during freshman orientation, same major, complete dipshit,” Brinley responds. “That’s all you need to know.”
“Anyway, I told myself after Ryan that there was only one thing to focus on during my time at college, and that was myself.”
“Here, here!” Ember raises her milkshake.
“You’re literally making sex eyes at my brother, so you’re not a part of that.” Brinley pushes Ember’s arm down.
“And you’re dating someone,” Ember twists toward Brinley, “so you are also not included in Tate’s focus on yourself agenda.”
“Alex and I are not dating!” Brinley groans.
“Well, I think focusing on yourself and your future is the perfect thing to do during college,” Maia agrees. “I’ve been focusing on myself since,” her eyes meet Ember’s and then come back to me, “my breakup, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
“Thank you. Somebody gets it.”
“But I also give you three months before you and Fletcher are jumping each other’s bones.” Maia grins.
“And Maia’s intuition is rarely wrong,” Ember begins.
“I knew Ember and Declan would be jumping bones in no time after I saw them at the diner for the first time, and she told me it would never happen. Now look at her. Brin made the guys throw a party just so Declan and Ember could—”
“Jump each other’s bones,” Brinley finishes.
“There’s been no bone jumping.” Ember sighs.
“Okay, Miss Hickey.” Brinley teases.
“I hate all of you.” Ember rolls her eyes and sinks into the booth.