Page 51 of Crazy for this Girl

Cal’s arm reaches out for me and immediately pulls me into his warm embrace, something that can always soothe me, but it doesn’t change any of this. Not the ache in my chest, or the fact that I need to face the facts.

It’s almost like he knows.

As if we’re connected; like he can feel it dripping slowly off me and causing complete misery to reside inside me.

I’m pathetic.

Squeezing me tightly to his chest, he whispers, “Please don’t leave me upset.”

The dip in his tone, the silent apology, it digs into my chest and claws at our friendship. We’re getting older now. He’s going to date, and I have to be okay with that if I still want him in my life.

I just don’t know if I’m emotionally strong enough for this.

I can’t help the way I feel and how it grows. I’m terrible at freezing it out and being just the good best friend I know I can be.

He deserves it. He doesn’t ask for anything more than to be my bestie and hang out. To tell each other everything and be there through thick and thin.

I’m the one ruining this, and I was the one who didn’t want it in the first place.

“I’m not,” I lie into my chest, thankful that I’m here because I don’t think I could face him and look like I mean it.

“You are.” I feel his nose in my hair, then his deep inhale of air when he says, “I broke up with Hallie. I don’t want to be with her anymore.”

I move to look up at him, but he holds me tighter, needing this maybe more than I do.

“Why?”

He waits a few seconds, making me hold on to hope that I didn’t mishear him when he confirms it. “Because I like someone else. And she treats you like shit. The rest of the summer...is ours, Tone Deaf. I’m not dealing with this anymore.”

Oh, Laynee. Are you really going to let him stand here and drop a girl who came all the way from California to be with him?

“Just talk to her,” I retort defeatedly because I’m not about to jump for joy and make it look obvious that she sucks. “She’s just insecure because I’m a girl, and—“

“It doesn’t mean she gets to be a bitch without consequence. You’re my best friend. She knew about you before I came here and didn’t make a big deal about it.”

That’s maybe why she came.

“Well…you could do better,” I reply into his shirt.

“Think so?” I nod once and wrap my arms tighter around his middle. This is home. Cal is an entity that always takes everything else away. “She’s coming back with Cokes. We need to get out of here.”

This time he lets me pry away and I owl-eye stare at him. “What?”

“She’s coming back.”

“Wait…didn’t you just say…you broke up with her?”

He nods. “Yeah.”

“Then why would she—”

“Because she won’t take no for an answer. I told her like three times, and she won’t drop it. She won’t accept what I said, nor will she respect it.”

Be the good friend. Put his happiness above your own.

“Well…” I shove my hands into my jean shorts. “Maybe you guys need to talk some more.”

He rolls his eyes, clearly over it, but that nagging best friends feeling of wanting him to have the best begins to annoyingly overtake me. Not that Hallie is the best he can do, but maybe she—who am I kidding? She sucks.

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