Now #2
She rolls her eyes, exhaling. “Honestly, I’m hanging out with the idiot club too much. They’re handing out motivational speeches like candy on Halloween.”
We both break out into laughter.
It’s nice to have a friend who’s a girl. Growing up, I didn’t have any female friendships. I was happy with my romance books and Grayson. I didn’t need to deal with maintaining a friendship that had the chance of not lasting.
Dani was the one girl who I wanted to be friends with. I loved how she wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is and how confident she was. It was hard to be friends with her because she’d spend her time and energy having screaming matches with Noah.
I did become friends with Willow, one of the employees who started working at Sweet & Salty during my freshman year at SCU. It’s weird having friends now.
I snap myself back to reality. “You know I’ve never really had any female friends.”
She giggles. “Female friends?”
“Oh, you know what I mean. Friends who are girls.”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. There was always one girl I wanted to be friends with back then.”
“Who?”
“You,” I say.
Her lips turn into a cute little frown. “Really? Me, too. And I’m so sorry I never made an effort to talk to you more when we were younger. I was so wrapped up in War of Words with Noah. That, and I lost my dad my freshman year of high school. It would’ve been nice to have you there.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. Whether we were friendly or not, I should’ve been there for you.”
“Violet, you don’t need to apologize. You did nothing wrong.
If there’s any consolation, I should’ve been there for you.
When we ran into each other at Just One More Chapter a couple months ago, all I could think about was finals week during senior year.
I was on my way to my English final, and I saw Grayson walk by you.
He didn’t look at you once. I could feel your heart shattering.
I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that alone. ”
Placing both of my hands on my heart, I smile. “I wasn’t alone. I had your boyfriend. I’m lucky I did because I don’t know if I’d be here right now without him.”
“Noah has a way with words, doesn’t he?”
“I think you’d know better than me.” A suggestive expression writes itself all over my face.
“He always tells me how I made him fall under my spell. When in reality, it’s him who cast me under his spell.”
“That’s so cute. It makes me want to throw up.” I chuckle a little bit.
“You’d think it would make me feel like that, too, but it doesn’t. I think when you’re a romance author and reader, it changes you and your perception about love. It gives you hope and unrealistic expectations at the same time.” Dani glances at the clock in front of us. “Shit, it’s getting late.”
“It’s almost midnight! Grayson is going to be at the apartment twelve hours from now.”
“You guys are meeting again?”
“Yeah, we have a lot more to talk about. We barely scratched the surface today.”
“Well, go. Get some sleep. Text me in the morning.”
Opening the car door, I grab my purse and stand in front of Dani. “Aye-aye captain.” I stare at her. “I’m happy Noah sent me to you.”
“I’m happy Noah sent you to me, too.” I walk away from Dani’s car, waving at her as she pulls out of the parking spot.
I make my way upstairs to the apartment, unlocking the door as quietly as I possibly can.
Setting my purse on one of the bar stools and grabbing my phone out of the larger compartment, a light switch flips on.
What the hell?
Sage appears, sitting on one of our soft chairs in the living room. “Where have you been?”
She’s wearing a pajama set, a black crop top with spaghetti straps and black shorts with ruffles at the bottom. Her dark brunette hair is in its natural curly state, and the light from the lamp is reflecting onto her amber skin.
“I don’t need to tell you where I am all the time. You’re not my mother. And I know you don’t really care.”
“Fine, don’t tell me.” She huffs, getting off the chair.
“Just want to let you know that Grayson’s coming here at 11 a.m. tomorrow.”
She whips her back, bringing it back down. “You don’t mean Grayson Becker, do you?”
“What other Grayson is there?”
“I don’t fucking know.”
I speed-walk past Sage, heading into my bedroom with her following me. She stands in the doorway with her arms crossed.
“What?” I scoff, turning around to face her.
“I’m worried about you.”
“Since when have you ever been worried about me?”
“You’re setting yourself up to get heartbroken…again,” she blurts out.
“I don’t need this right now, Sage.”
“What don’t you need?”
“This.” I gesture around the room with my hands. “I don’t need your negativity. I’ve already battled with my mind enough today. Please don’t make things worse.” My eyes narrow. “Also, what do you mean by again? You knew where I was going earlier. Don’t try and deny it. You wished me luck.”
“Yeah, mainly because you were pressing me to wish you luck. Actually, I had no idea where the hell you were going or what you were doing. Dani texted Bella and I to tell us what was going on.” She looks down at the floor, lifting her head back up and avoiding any eye contact with me.
“I know it doesn’t look like it, but I do care about you. ”
“Who are we kidding here? I know you don’t. We both know I’m still here because you wouldn’t be able to afford rent by yourself. I wouldn’t even be here if you…” I trail off, realizing what I’m about to say would be incredibly selfish and rude.
“Oh, just say it. You wouldn’t be here if I had the means to live here by myself. Let me tell you, I was totally fine living on my own.”
Walking over to my bed, I sit down on the edge and lie back. “Why don’t I just pack my stuff and get out of your hair then?”
“Violet, I’m not asking you to move out.
” She sits down next to me. “When I first met you, you were the human version of everything I hate. I could tell that you were fighting inner demons when I talked to you on the phone the day you called me. I don’t want to watch you turn into that again.
I wouldn’t be able to deal with you if you were like that. ”
“You wouldn’t be able to deal with me. That’s fantastic.” I roll my eyes. “You know what? It’s getting late. I’m tired, and I need to get up relatively early tomorrow.”
“Are you seriously kicking me out?”
“Yes, I am.”
She gets off the bed, walking over to the entrance to my bedroom. “What is it about me that makes you so angry?”
“I don’t know. I guess it's one of your special talents.” I sit up, combing my fingers through my hair.
“I do want to make something clear before you go. I’ve never judged you.
Not one time since I moved in with you, and that was a year and a half ago.
Do you know why? Because I have no place to judge you about anything.
We all have our own experiences, and there’s no reason to ridicule anybody for them.
It’s ironic since I still don’t know a lot about you.
You never talk to me about anything. And I’ve learned to respect that because I would never force you to talk about anything that brings up painful memories for you.
” I exhale. “I know you don’t love people, and I get it.
People suck sometimes. The thing is, you can’t shut everybody out, Sage.
The world is still going to be rotating on its axis no matter how hard you try to make it stop.
I want you to know when the day comes when you’re ready to talk to me, I’ll be here and ready to listen. ”
“Well, you’re going to be waiting a long damn time for that,” she says.
“I’ll wait for however long it takes.”
“You do that.” She leaves without a single glance at my face.
I thought I’d be gaining a friend when I moved in with Sage, but I was wrong.
No, we don’t hate each other. We respect each other’s space and everything. I wish she’d talk to me. I know something horrible happened to her. I don't know why, but I feel it somewhere deep in my soul.