I knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but that didn’t stop my intoxicated body from heating up at the possible implication.
Before I could say anything else, Kacey directed me toward the bed. She helped me get settled under the covers, then searched around the room, grabbing a small trash can and putting a new bag in it before setting it beside the bed.
“Do you have any bottles of water or Tylenol?”
I shook my head. “Probably not. I have no idea though.”
Kacey nodded slowly, as if she was pondering something. “I have some. I’ll be right back.”
Just like that, she was out the door. Part of me figured she wouldn’t come back, but a few minutes later, she returned with a bottle of water and two pills. She bent down by my bed and held them out. “Take these pills and make sure you drink the whole bottle of water before you pass out. Otherwise, I have a feeling you won’t be too happy in the morning.”
I blinked at the girl in front of me, trying to bring her into focus. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
Kacey brushed me off with a small shrug. “I guess I just have a lot of experience taking care of drunk people, so it’s kind of instinctual for me.”
In my drunken state, I didn’t think about what she’d said too much. I was only worried about how I appeared to this enigma of a girl in front of me.
“I’m not normally messy like this, you know. If you can believe it, this is only like my fifth time drinking.”
Kacey chuckled lightly. “Yeah. That wasn’t too hard to figure out.”
She looked toward the door and I worried she was about to leave, so I said the first thing that came to my mind. “I’ve never kissed a girl.” My eyes widened when I realized what I had just admitted, but my drunken brain couldn’t tell my mouth to shut up. “I mean… I know I’m gay. I just… haven’t had the opportunity. Not that I couldn’t. I just wasn’t out. Have you kissed a girl?”
An amused grin surfaced on Kacey’s face. “I have.”
“I’m Kari Adelberg, by the way.”
Kacey lifted an eyebrow at that. “Adelberg as in the Adelberg dining hall?”
I groaned internally. I didn’t want to be known as the girl whose parents donated so much money to the university, their alma mater, that they had a dining hall named after them. That’s exactly who I was though.
I put a hand over my face. “That would be correct.”
“It’s the better dining hall by far, so that’s cool.”
I wasn’t sure if she was being serious or sarcastic, but I was too awestruck (and drunk) to care.
Much to my disappointment, Kacey chose that moment to stand up fully and take a few steps away from the bed. “I better get going, but take care of yourself, Kari Adelberg.”
It looked like she was about to move toward the door, but then she turned and came back to the bed instead, bending down to place a quick kiss on my cheek. I stared at her as she pulled back, and she simply shrugged one shoulder. “Now you can say you’ve been kissed by a girl.”
“Yo, Kari. You’re being awfully rude right now.”
My mind snapped back to the present moment, and I looked toward Bo. He was talking, but I couldn’t register what he was saying.
He put one arm around me and looked at Kacey. “You’ll have to excuse my friend here. Since she looks like she just saw a ghost, I’m going to guess it’s because you somewhat resemble her ex. Seems about right given the detailed descriptions she’s—” Bo paused and quickly moved his eyes between the two of us. “No shit. You’re Kacey Caldwell, aren’t you? Well, shit.” He ran a hand through his hair then looked down at Bailey. “I mean crap. Or… umm… poop. Hell, what are kids your age allowed to say?”
Bailey put a hand over her mouth and giggled. “You could say caca. It’s Spanish.”
Kacey put her hand on the young girl’s shoulder and smiled down at her, rather than looking at us. “She has a word of the day app and one of the latest words had something to do with being multilingual, so now she is trying to learn multiple languages in addition to being very well-versed in the English language. My daughter, the child prodigy.”
Hearing her say the word daughter felt like a punch in the gut. There was a time when Kacey Caldwell and I talked about starting a family together. Now, here I was ten years later, heart beating rapidly at the sight of her, while she stood there with her daughter. Her daughter who couldn’t have been younger than seven or eight, which meant Kacey had moved on much more quickly than me.
“I’m a polyglot.” Bailey’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“A poly-what?” Bo asked.
Bailey smiled proudly. “A polyglot. It’s someone who can speak more than one language. I just think it’s a really cool word.”
“Well, I agree,” Bo said, bending down and reaching out his hand to give Bailey a high five.
When he stood back up, we all continued to stare down at the little girl. Bailey looked between all three of us, her face scrunched up in thought as if trying to solve a mystery. After what felt like a lifetime of awkward silence, Kacey cleared her throat and reached out a hand toward Bo. “My name is Kacey Caldwell. This is my daughter, Bailey. As you can see, we’re moving in.” She looked toward the house, then her dark eyes landed on me again. “Kari, it’s nice to see you. It’s been a while.”
Nice to see you? Ten years ago, she dropped out of school with no explanation, then barely talked to me for months before dumping me over a text message and now all she had to say was that it was nice to see me? I could have screamed. All of the years I spent thinking about what it would be like to see her again, I never imagined it would be like this. I knew this wasn’t the time or place to bring up old wounds though, so I straightened my shoulders and put on my best fake smile. “Nice to see you too, Kacey.”
Clearly catching on to my sarcasm, Kacey lifted one eyebrow, so subtle that it’d be missed by most people, but I noticed. Of course I noticed, and I hated that I did. I hated the effect that one slight movement was having on me, causing a feeling that started in my gut and spread throughout my whole body.
“You know my mom?” Bailey asked, tilting her head.
I blew out a breath as I thought about how to answer. She had no idea just how loaded that question really was. I smiled down at Bailey, hoping she wouldn’t realize how hard this was for me. How much I would give to be anywhere but here right now. “I do,” I answered simply.
When I looked from Bailey to Kacey, her eyes were studying me in a way that only Kacey’s could, and I felt like I might melt. I hated it and loved it, which only made me hate it even more. I refused to let her have this effect on me. Not after all these years. Not without any explanation as to why she left me brokenhearted. I forced my eyes away from hers before I spoke again. “Well, I did. But that was a long time ago. I don’t know her anymore.” I glanced down at my phone as though I had somewhere to be. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get going. It was great to meet you, Bailey.”