Page 103 of Not Your Little Girl Anymore

Alec.

The smile I grew while reading his note he left for me faded quickly, and I hate that for him. My eyes linger on those three little words… Three simple words that mean so much, but I can’t get myself to say them back. Has he noticed I haven’t? I’m sure he has, but he hasn’t mentioned anything. I shove the thoughts aside, saving them for later.

A throbbing in my temples start, adding to the headache in the center of my forehead. I grab the two small aspirin and a bottle of water, plopping the pills into my mouth and turning the cap off to guzzle some liquid down. When I twist the cap back on, I lay the bottle beside me and pick up my phone.

It doesn’t surprise me that I haven’t heard from my father, but I check anyway with slight hope. I scroll through my contacts to find Chloe’s, thinking of the conversation that Alec and I had, and press the call icon.

I nibble on my cheek while the phone rings a few times.

“Hey, girly. How’s your time with Alec?” I roll my eyes at the droopy voice she has.

“Good… very good, actually,” I say with a smile.

“Ohh. So, tell me… how’s the sex?” She spells the word as if she's not supposed to be saying the word.

“Oh my god. I am not discussing that with you, or anyone for that matter.” She laughs, and before she comes up with something else to question, I dive into the main reason I called. “Why didn’t you tell me you were messing around with the drummer?”

There’s silence for a while, but then she asks, “Would you have believed me if I had told you?”

I think about that for a few beats. She has me there because I wouldn’t believe her. Going by every guy she’s dated in the past, he is the least I’d expect.

“Tyler, though?” I rest the phone between my ear and shoulder, using my arms to scoot to the edge of my bed, swinging my legs off the sides.

“The funny thing about love is that it’s unexpected. When you know, you just know. I didn’t anticipate a relationship with him; it sort of just happened, kind of like you and Alec.”

I go to stand, keeping all my pressure on my uninjured foot. “How long?”

It takes her all of ten full seconds to answer.

“A couple of months before you came home.”

I blink, pausing in place, and grab my phone with my hand again. “A couple of months… before I came home,” I repeat, all the while a knot forms in the middle of my belly. This is who she's been texting every time I've seen her.

“I wanted to tell you. I planned to, but Summer… you had a lot going on. Mom’s funeral, then an argument with your dad and Alec. It never seemed like the right time.”

“Never the right time, right…”

“You’re mad,” she states.

I’m not mad. Not precisely. Maybe a little hurt. “Is that why you’ve been going to their shows downtown? To see him.”

I attempt to put slight pressure down on my ankle, only to bite back a scream. God, it hurts. There is no way this is just a simple twisted ankle.

“I have gone to every show since we’ve been seeing each other,” she admits.

“Wow… OK. So, you knew the entire band long before I had?” There’s no anger in my tone, just curiosity.

“I haven’t met the rest of the band. Only heard a lot about them from Tyler. We’ve kept a lot of our relationship private for a while.”

Resting my phone back between my shoulder, I use my hands as leverage to hop on one foot and make my way into the living room. Small grunts and short breaths come from me.

“Are you OK?” Chloe asks.

“I’m wonderful.”

“Right, OK. Are sure you're not mad at me?”

I plop down onto the couch, needing to catch my breath. “I’m not mad at you. I was taken for a loop when I found out. Not hearing it from you really hurt.”

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