Chapter 13 #2
They set their bags on the dining table.
Gianna and Mara talk about something while I work around in the kitchen to clean up my baking mess.
Then I start cooking the chicken because Penelope is in the zone right now.
She doesn’t want to stop to cook, so I take over.
It takes me about twenty minutes to finish cooking it.
I ask who’s hungry and plate the chicken and veggies for the girls that are.
We sit at the dining room table with our laptops and notebooks, talking about our classes. Mila and Mara need to work on essays. Gianna has spreadsheets to fill out. Penelope is almost done with her drawing. I open my social work theory textbook.
I eat my dinner and then have a cookie after. Then I drink an entire glass of water.
Mila lifts her head when I’m at the sink. “I am going to die.”
“You might not be able to tell, but I’m so frustrated,” Gianna says, not looking up.
“You don’t seem like it,” Mara says. “Good for you. You have better self-control than me.”
Gianna says, “Thank you.”
Mila looks at me and whispers so she’s not interrupting everyone again, “I’m rewriting the intro over and over and over.” Her eyes widen, turning back to the screen.
I pour myself a glass of wine and walk back to my chair. I tuck my left foot under me and return to my assignment.
Mila makes a noise that sounds like a dying frog.
All the girls look over and giggle.
Mara says, “What the hell was that?”
Penelope walks over to Mila and looks at her paper. She reads it for a silent minute, then says, “Okay. If you start tonight, eight hundred words. Tomorrow night, eight hundred. Friday morning, eight hundred. You have a paper. What you have isn’t bad. Keep going.”
Mila stares at her. “Penelope. You are a goddess.”
Gianna says, “She’s very good in a crisis.”
Mila looks back at her laptop. “Pen, you are a deity.” She slouches a little when she taps on a few buttons. “Will you do all of my college for me?”
Penelope pats the top of her head. Mila’s eyes immediately find mine. She covers her mouth to muffle her laugh. “Did you just pat me like a dog?”
Gianna laughs, reaching over to Mila. She pats her head and says, “It’s going to be okay.”
The girls chuckle.
Mila points at me. “I’m so glad you’re single. I don’t think you’ve picked up your phone once since I’ve been here.”
Gianna says, “Just wait until Lucy gets here. Ugh.”
Mara laughs. “Wait, are we all single?”
We all look at each other and nod.
Gianna looks at Mara sideways. “Aren’t you in a situation?”
Mara shrugs. “Not after he blew me off today.”
Mila says, “That’s not fun.”
Penelope asks, “When’s Lucy getting here?”
Gianna picks up her phone. “Later. She’s at her mom’s every Wednesday and doesn’t usually get back until late, but she said she’d cut it early to come here.”
The apartment falls quiet as we focus on our homework again.
We last forty minutes.
“Break?” Penelope calls out.
We agree. “Break.”
I say, “Cookies?”
The girls nod. “Cookies!”
Gianna slaps her laptop shut. “I cannot read another word.”
Mila closes her laptop and grabs three cookies.
The five of us drift into the living room. Penelope brings the cookie plate. Gianna and Mara bring their wine. Mila brings the Hershey’s Kisses because the Hershey’s Kisses have been waiting, she says. I bring my glass of water.
“Okay,” Gianna says, twisting her wine glass in her hand. “I have to tell you guys something.”
Mila and Mara lean forward.
“There’s a guy in one of my classes. He invited me to a frat party on Saturday.”
“What about Hawthorne?” Mara asks.
Gianna shrugs. “I think they have away games this weekend, don’t they?”
Mara shrugs. The rest of us don’t know either.
“I’ll ask Lucy when she gets here, but I think we should go! It’ll be fun to switch it up.”
Mara asks, “Are you sure he wasn’t asking you out?”
She scoffs, shaking her head. “No. He told me to bring friends. And we’re all single, so…”
Mila and I look at each other. With her eyes, she’s telling me that we’re going. And I’m telling her that we definitely are.
Mara claps. “I love a good frat party.” She looks around. “Everyone in?”
We all nod.
I sit up. “I think we should put on a movie.”
Mila adds, “And eat more cookies.”
Mara and Gianna say, “Yes.”
The doorbell rings.
“Lucy!”
Penelope is already up.
She crosses to the door, pulls it open, and Lucy is on the other side in a jacket and boots.
“Hi, you guys,” Lucy smiles.
We all smile back. “Hi, Lucy.”
“I made cookies,” I say. “And we’re going to put on a movie.”
Lucy takes her boots off. “It smells so good. I’m sorry I’m late.”
“How was your mom’s?” Gianna asks.
“Tyr would not stop talking.” She continues talking, but I look at Mila, confused. Tire?
She walks in and smells the cookies. “I have a sweet tooth right now.”
Mara points at the tray. “They’re so good. I’m eating them all.”
Lucy sits next to Gianna and eats a cookie. “Wow.”
Penelope opens Netflix and puts on a chick flick.
Lucy opens her phone and starts texting. We notice, so all of us look at each other and burst into laughter.
Lucy puts the phone down and asks, “What?”
Gianna says, “It’s nothing.”
Mara says, “Mila mentioned that Melly isn’t on her phone anymore because she broke up with her boyfriend, and then G made a joke that you’re going to be on yours.” She holds up her wine. “Plus we’re a little tipsy from the wine.”
The movie plays.
Then Gianna says, “Oh. Tomorrow night.”
“What?” Mara asks. Mila looks over. Lucy puts her phone down.
Gianna says, “Home game. Wolves play UMass. You guys are coming.”
Mila’s head comes up off the couch. “To the game?”
Lucy says softly, “Yeah. I’m going. It would be nice if you guys came.”
“Melly and Mila. You’re coming, right?” Gianna asks.
The cookie is halfway to my mouth. I lower the cookie and look at Mila.
Mila knows right away why I’m hesitating.
I haven’t gone to one of his games in person in years.
Watching it on a screen while I’m falling asleep has been my routine for the past two years.
I don’t know if Blue will want me there. I don’t want him to feel crowded.
“I don’t know,” I say finally.
Lucy is watching Mila and me. She looks down at her phone and tucks it under her legs. “You guys should come.” She raises an eyebrow. “Melly?”
I look at her, confused. I don’t know why she’s pinpointing me.
She gives me a half smile. “I don’t think Blue would mind.”
Gianna and Mara make a shocked face.
“Um, what?” Gianna scoffs.
Mara’s eyes dart to mine. “You’d better start talking. Did something happen on Halloween?”
I glance at Penelope and then look down. I say to Lucy, “Did he say something?”
Mila makes a sound. I already know she doesn’t want any of this to feed my ‘delusion’.
Mila answers Mara for me. “We’ve all known each other since we were kids.”
Mara’s brows raise. “Oh.”
Lucy waits for her turn to speak. “We came home from the diner, and he saw his hoodie near the front door.”
I blush, waiting to hear what else Lucy has to say.
“You’re not going to believe this,” she raises one brow. “But the guys called a house meeting and sat him down. At first, he refused to talk about you.”
Mila looks surprised. Gianna and Mara are gawking.
“Blue Golding does not date,” Gianna says.
Mara shakes her head. “No, not at all. The guys joked last year that they thought he was gay.”
I swallow. “Did he?” I ask Lucy. “Did he talk about me?”
She nods. “He tried to leave a few times, and Stanley kept forcing him to sit back down. The second time he stood up, Stan told him that you broke up with your boyfriend.”
Mila interjects, “What did he say?”
Lucy looks at her. “He sat back down and demanded to know what else Melly said.”
Mila looks at me. I stare back. We’re both looking at each other with the same question. Because it doesn’t make sense. This whole situation sounds exactly like something Blue wouldn’t do.
“You guys can’t say anything, okay?” Lucy says. She looks at each of us. “Promise me? It stays between us.” She points. “If it gets out, I won’t trust any of you again.”
Mara puffs out a sarcastic laugh. “We’re not going to tell anyone. Now, continue the story because we’re all dying to know why the boys at Hawthorne would call a fucking house meeting over this.” Mara shoots me a glance. “Right?”
I nod. Mila nods too.
Gianna waves her hand as in to hurry up. Penelope is the only normal one in this room.
“Okay,” Lucy breathes. “He told the guys that you’ve known each other since sixth grade.”
I look at Mila.
She continues, “And that you guys lost your virginities to each other.”
The room gasps.
I have to cover the sound that leaves my chest. Even Penelope gasps, and that’s saying something.
Mila’s eyes widen at me. Her and I can’t stop looking at each other.
Mara gasps, “You took Blue’s virginity?”
Lucy continues, “In high school. And then you went to college in your hometown, and now you’re here.” She shrugs her shoulders. “Without a boyfriend, and the guys––”
Gianna shrugs. “The guys –– what?”
“They think that Blue is in love with you.”
My heart squeezes in my chest, so I literally clutch it. I keep my eyes on Mila. She looks as horrified as I feel.
Have we been wrong this whole time? Has Blue actually had feelings for me? And I –– what? –– misunderstood it as indifference? But what about all the times he ignored me, called me names, or told me to stop staring at him?
Something’s not adding up. Mila’s calculation isn’t adding up either.
“Did he deny it?” Gianna asks. I think she can read the horror on my face.
Lucy shakes her head. “And he warned everyone that he’s never going to talk about it again.”
Mara turns to me. “So, what the fuck happened between you two?”
My eyes are locked on Mila’s. I need her to save me. It feels like Lucy just picked me up and tossed me into a thrashing ocean, and it’s keeping me under. And Mila’s the only person in this world who can pull me out.
Lucy says, “I think he likes you.”