“What the hell was that?” I yell.
“You wanted answers, and I tried to get them. For what it’s worth, he seemed shocked about the bet.”
“Yeah, well, he’s a convincing liar.”
My door flies open, and Jay sticks his head in. “What the hell is going on? It sounds like you’re demoing your room.” His gaze lands on us still tangled on the floor and his eyebrows shoot up.
“Get out!” I shout, throwing the closest object at him, which ends up being a neon pink bottle of nail polish.
His shocked face disappears for a second before coming back into view. “What is your problem?”
“Did you really have to drag her out of the restaurant like a toddler?” Scarlett asks, shoving my legs out of her lap.
“Shut up, Scar,” I hiss.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He steps into the room, arms crossed over his chest.
“Sounds like you don’t either, but you strike me as the kind of person who doesn’t let people explain themselves. You heard a rumor and were quick to think the worst of your best friend. Friends don’t do that even when they do stupid shit.” She cuts a glance over her shoulder at me and it’s clear she’s referring to her antics at camp. “Did you even let him explain?”
Jay’s scowl falters for half a second. “No. There was no need to. Because in the next breath he was spewing bullshit about thinking he’s in love with my sister.”
Scarlett and I both gasp at the same time.
In love?
“You’re such an idiot!” Scarlett screams and starts shoving him into the hall. “Go fix this right now!”
The door slams in his face before he can respond, and Scarlett flicks the lock for good measure.
“Hey. Are you okay?” She crouches down in front of me.
“In love?” I swear my heart is trying to beat a hole in my chest. He said he liked me, but I never got the impression it was more than a simple crush.
“That was years ago if that makes you feel any better?” Her knees bump mine as she takes a seat next to me.
“It doesn’t.”
How should I even feel right now?
“I’m not gonna lie. This is better than any of the rom-coms we were watching. Lifelong friends torn apart by a misunderstanding? Classic.”
“How do we even know it was a misunderstanding? What if he was trying to use me?”
“Come on. Deep down you realize how stupid that sounds. I saw him when you were around. He got this gross, lovesick look on his face.”
“But how can I ever know for sure?”
“You could talk to him.” She jostles my arm. “You’re good at reading through all that fake BS. That’s why you figured out Dax and Jason were nothing but turds.”
“Turds?” I crack a small smile. “I haven’t heard someone called a turd since elementary school.”
She shrugs. “I call a spade a spade. Now, you need to clear the air with Shane. You won’t feel better until you do. If it ends up being some lie, then great. And if it’s the truth, we’ll take our revenge on his truck.”
When she stands abruptly, I whip my head toward the door, ready to deal with Jay’s wrath. He’s picked my lock before when I stole his comics when we were kids.
“Call him.” She hands me my phone but then groans when we both catch sight of the destroyed screen.
“I won’t be using this any time soon.” It must have hit the wall because it’s so cracked nothing is legible.
“Do you remember his number?” When I shake my head, she thumbs toward the door. “Come on then. I’ll drive you to his house.”
“I’m not going to ambush him. Clearly, he doesn’t want to tell his side of the story or he wouldn’t have ditched me at lunch.”
“Uh, your brother can be scary when he wants to be. I wouldn’t want to go toe-to-toe with him at a restaurant where we might get arrested.”
“Let it go, Scar.” I lean my head against my bed. If he was concerned about clearing his name, he wouldn’t have left.
I’d never imagined in a million years that this was how my summer would turn out. One last summer of freedom with my best friend before college, and now here we are. My heart is broken, which I never saw coming, and Scarlett is taking the side of the breaker.
“Do you want to finish our movies, then?”
“I think I want to be alone.” I can tell she wants to argue. Instead, she nods and stands, typing something into her phone. “I would say call me if you need to talk but…”
“Yeah. I have my computer though so I can text you or video chat later.”
“I can stay—go for a run or something and give you a second.”
“Might need a million seconds to sort out my thoughts.”
I take a seat on the bed as she gathers up all the nail products she brought over. One by one she places them into the holder, in color coordination no less. I swear it’s almost as if she’s stalling, waiting for me to change my mind. She hates being home, so I guess I can’t blame her.
As selfish as I am, I can’t bring myself to ask her to stay. At this moment I need to figure out what I’m going to do, with not only Shane, but also Jay. He’ll be impossible to ignore and judging from my mom’s family togetherness, we’re going to be forced to spend a lot of time together.
Right as she finishes collecting all of her stuff, the doorbell rings and we both freeze. My heart jumps into my throat, and a satisfied smile spreads across her face.
“What did you do—” is all I get out before shouts ring out in the living room.
I can’t believe I’m standing on this porch. The night Jay told me to stay away I figured I’d never be back in town, let alone this house.
When Lyla’s name flashed on my phone, I almost knocked a pan of soup on the floor in my urgency to pick up. After what happened at the diner, I never expected she’d speak to me again. Not when I left her there to fight with Jay. I was too much of a coward to reach out first. If my mother hadn’t called and said she mixed her meds, I would have stayed and hashed things out, and maybe I wouldn’t be here now with my heart threatening to burst from my chest.
I can only imagine the things she’s thinking, especially after Scarlett told me they are under the impression that dickhead Donnie and I had a bet to sleep with her back in high school.
Of course, Jay would only know half of the story because he was so quick to assume I was the bad guy.
So, when Scarlett texted me on her phone, I hopped in my car and raced over here before thinking it through. And now here I am, shifting from foot to foot, hoping it’s my unlikely ally, Scarlett, who opens the door.
When it swings open and a pair of dark, angry eyes greet me, I realize this will go downhill. Quick.
“What are you doing here?” Jay asks, but it comes out a snarl.
“I came to explain my side since no one ever asked.”
“Didn’t seem important this afternoon when you raced out of the restaurant.” Jay leans a shoulder against the doorframe, the picture of ease as he stares at me with judging eyes.
I clench my fists to keep from punching him in the face. How could someone call himself my best friend, then ditch me the second a rumor hits his ears?